This week in Reception we have been learning about different celebrations and how families around the world mark special occasions. We began the week exploring Lunar New Year. Ms Lowe shared some Chinese traditions with us and we enjoyed learning about how the festival is celebrated. The children loved getting creative and made their own colourful Chinese lanterns to decorate the classroom.

Later in the week we learnt about Ramadan, a special and important time for Muslim families. We talked about how people may fast and spend time praying and being together with family. The children created beautiful moon and star pictures and we tasted dates, which are often eaten to break the fast. Many of the children were curious about the taste and enjoyed trying something new.

Our book of the week was The Magic Paintbrush by Julia Donaldson. The story inspired lots of imaginative thinking. We drew pictures of what we would like a magic pen to bring to life. There were some fantastic ideas including racing cars, a sweet machine and even a swimming pool in the playground. The children loved sharing their creative ideas with their friends.

In phonics we have learnt the sounds oo and ar. We have also been practising recognising rhyming words and listening carefully for words that sound the same at the end.

In maths we have been learning about odd and even numbers. We drew Mr Odd, a very funny looking character with all odd numbered parts such as three eyes and five legs. The children enjoyed counting carefully to make sure each part was an odd number.

We have also been enjoying some new resources in our provision, especially our new car race track. The children have been exploring forces and speed as they adjusted the track to investigate which angles would make their cars travel faster. There have been lots of great discussions about what makes something move more quickly.

Next Thursday is World Book Day. The children are invited to dress as a book character. Please do not feel you need to spend lots of money, a homemade costume is absolutely fine. We are looking forward to celebrating our love of reading together.

‍