7th January 2020 Welcome to our January/February newsletter, and a Happy New Year to you all! New children We would like to welcome the following children and their families to our nursery: Annabel, Inari, Lev, Meredith and Philomene (all Baby Room). New staff I am pleased to announce that Anita Ape, Renata Fidrych, and Mahboubeh Nikakhtar joined the Monkey Puzzle team in December as Nursery Assistants. Anita is L2-qualified and currently studying towards a Master’s degree, Renata had previously worked as a childminder, and Mahboubeh had previously worked at a primary school. Welcome Anita, Renata and Mahboubeh! Babies and Teenies activities The Babies and Teenies have been learning about different shapes and colours through different art activities, reading, and singing songs. The older babies have been talking about the weather and the days of the week, and counting from one to five. The children have also been learning to tidy up and to be gentle towards the younger babies. The younger babies have been learning to look at books, and to follow their teacher when reading in smaller groups. Almost all of our babies are now walking, and a few are learning to crawl and to stand. The babies have also been learning how to hold bottles by themselves. We had several special days and celebrations over the past two months, and our babies provided a lot of beautiful art for their displays during this time! Why not continue this activity at home by joining in with an art activity at home with your child, following our themes for January (you can see our planning on our Planning Board in the Baby Room). Please feel free to share this with us. This will provide your child with the opportunity to explore different colours and materials, and also provide quality time at home. This also allows you to teach your child to recognise colours and pronounce new words. Toddler and Preschool activities The Toddlers (2-3 year-olds) and Pre-school (3-5 year-olds) children have been talking about months and days, and also about shapes. The children also talked about similarities and differences in celebrating Christmas through different countries. The children produced some wonderful art work, which we are proud of, and the Toddler Room display won our best displays in-house competition in December. The criteria was that the work must be age-relevant for the child, must have followed our planning clearly, and have clear links to the Early Years Foundation Stage. The art in the Preschool and Baby Rooms have also been great! The children talked about the weather and winter holidays. The Toddlers have been practising potty/toilet training and we are happy with their progress. The Preschool children have been concentrating on recognising and writing the letters of their names, and counting from one to ten, then up to 20. The children have also been learning how to be kind to each other and about our planet. They use the term “sharing is caring” almost each day as they learn how important it is to share with friends – we are proud of this! The children have also been learning about animals, the favourites being dinosaurs and farm animals. Why not take your child to The Natural History Museum, or to an animal farm, as a family trip. Take some photos, and feel free to share these with us. It will be an extra special trip if you use the tube or bus for your visit! Word of the month ‘Equality’ is our word of the month for January. We will be talking about ‘responsibility’ as our word of the month for February.
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