Little Acorns News 14.02.25

It is hard to believe that we are already at half term! It has been a wonderful start to the year in Little Acorns, and whilst the weather isn't quite spring like yet, we are excited for what the rest of the term will bring. The children have done so well, bonding as a new little group and growing and developing every day. They are a joy to watch!

We would like to wish you and your family a happy and restful week, we look forward to seeing you back at school after the break.

Book of the week

Following on from Children's Mental Health Week, this week we have been looking at 'In My Heart' by Jo Witek.

It is a book all about feelings, centred around both naming and describing emotions. This is such a crucial thing to encourage from a young age and has huge benefits in terms of emotional regulation and mental wellbeing.

We had an interesting discussion about what events make us feel different emotions, but also the importance of knowing that feelings come and go. Here are a few snippets for you:

Ottilie 'I felt brave when I had to go on a big ride'.

Luca 'I'm mad when my Paw Patrol's get messed up!'.

Zara 'My heart feels heavy when Mummy leaves, but my cuddly toy makes me feel better.'.

Hugo ‘I am kind when I help look after Mika!’.

Our quote of the week

Whilst Debbie was doing this beautiful painting, she told me ‘I’m painting an ox, it’s all dirty from jumping in the muddy puddles!’. We love your imagination Debbie!

Maths

As part of our maths continuous provision this week, the children spent time working on an activity to match the correct number of pasta hearts to the correct number symbol written on the tuff tray. 

A crucial part of this was that there were exactly the correct number of hearts. This is the concept of 'control of error' as championed by Maria Montessori, and allows children to see their own mistakes, e.g if they have too many or too few pieces left at the end of the task. Through this, they discover learning outcomes independently and learn that mistakes lead to growth.

Disco time!

We had great fun taking part in a 'dough disco' session on Wednesday. This involves carrying out a series of tasks with a little ball of play doh, set to some popular tunes. It is fantastic for encouraging little fingers to move and building strength and dexterity in preparation for writing.

If you play the song 'Happy' you might get a demonstration!

Something to look forward to

We are very much looking forward to the School Art Exhibition on Friday 24th February, where every child will have some of their work. Please do come along if you can!

Reminders

*Please could all children have a water bottle in school for snack and lunchtimes.

*If your Little Acorn comes to school on a Monday, please ensure they have wellies and suitable warm clothing for Outdoor Learning. We aim to get out whatever the weather!

*Resilience Awards – please see the Acorn this week about our school resilience awards. It would be wonderful if the children felt able to work on a new skill over the half term and we could award some shiny gold stickers!