Merry Christmas everybody!

It's Christmas Eve!!!!!!!!! Only one more sleep to go!

It's Christmas Eve Eve! Only 2 more sleeps.....

3 more sleeps!

Slapped cheek virus (fifth disease)

Unfortunately William came home from school yesterday feeling a little out of sorts.  As the evening went on, his cheeks became redder and redder!

Today he has a slight temperature, a rash on his arms, a bit of a headache and a slight tummy ache, but on the whole he is ok. 

Its one of those viruses that you may not have heard of and may not even realise that your child has.  You may just presume that the red cheeks are due to temperature. 

I've taken a photo of William so you're able to recognise the virus.  Also, here is a link to the NHS site with more details:

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/slapped-cheek-syndrome/Pages/Introduction.aspx

It isn't a bad virus and often children aren't really ill with it.  If your child does develop the illness then they are ok to attend as long as they are well.  If they have a temperature or are poorly in themselves, then they would need to stay at home (see our sickness policy). 

Hope this information has been useful to you and I will keep my fingers crossed that all of your children aren't ill, especially over Christmas! 

4 more sleeps :)

Christmas biscuits

The children iced some Christmas biscuits that Jake's mummy sent for all the children to decorate and share. 

5 more sleeps!!!!!!!!!!

6 more sleeps :)

7 more sleeps!

8 more sleeps!

Ho!  Ho!  Ho!

Helping children to flourish

A nice blog from Jeni Hooper (child psychologist).

http://whatchildrenneedtobehappy.wordpress.com/2012/12/10/helping-children-to-flourish-doing-something-every-day-to-boost-wellbeing/

Happy St. Nicklaus Day!

Eszme's mummy was born in Germany and they still have family living there.  They celebrate St Nicklaus Day, which is today, 6th December.  Eszme's mummy has made every child who attends today a little goodie bag to celebrate.  Thank you Tasha :)

I've copied some information for you from this website: http://www.examiner.com/article/german-culture-europeans-celebrate-st-nicholas-day-activities-pictures

German culture: The history of St. Nicholas Day
St. Nicholas Day (Nikolaus Tag) honors Sankt Nikolaus, a Greek Christian bishop from Myra, according to The Local. People knew the saint for his gifts and ability to work miracles, and today he is considered the patron saint of little children, sailors, merchants, teachers and students. Traditionally, December 6th is said to be a day that he performed a great many miracles, and German-speaking countries celebrate these miracles with the Nikolaus Tag celebration.
These days, Sankt Nikolaus shows up at people's doors as well as at traditionally German Christmas activities like the German Christmas markets. (See slide show)
He's making a list, checking it twice...
The idea that children could be naughty or nice and therefore earn a small treat from St. Nicholas stems from this German cultural tradition. In Germany, one of the St. Nicholas Day activities includes the tradition of children leaving their shoes out for Sankt Nikolaus. Good little children received treats in their shoes, and children who were not so good might have gotten a lecture from Knecht Ruprecht (Santa's helper) or even from one of the devils that accompanied St. Nicholas on his rounds. Today, many European countries kick off St. Nicholas Day activities with the Devil's Parade (see slide show). In this version of the legend, various devils walk along with the Saint to ensure that children have been good.
Where the German tradition of Nikolaus comes from
St. Nicholas with his long beard and warm red robes most likely was a combination of German religious tradition along with the pagan mythology involving Odin. Although Santa Claus is based on him, there's a different man that Germans know as Santa Claus, der Weinachtsmann.
The tradition of St. Nicholas is celebrated throughout Europe.

Brrrrrrrrr It's cold outside!

Goodness me it's cold out there!!

Not to worry, we've all been wrapped up!  We had a walk to the duck pond this afternoon.  We thought the ducks might be hungry with the lake being frozen.  They were!  On our way we found an icy puddle so we had a walk on it to explore how it felt.  It was very slippery!  We had a go at cracking the ice - it was great fun and very noisy :)

 



 Earlier this morning we did some painting as well as some Christmas crafting.  You'll all have to wait a little while though to see what the children have been making for Christmas....

Early Learning Centre 25% off toys!!

I received an email today with 25% off all toys until Wesnesday 5th December.

Use the code SANTA25 at the checkout. 

Happy shopping!

Poorly children

We have some poorly children at the moment, lots of horrible bugs doing the rounds.  We hope that you all get better very soon and will soon be well enough to come and play :) xxxxxxx

Week 1 this week

When Santa Got Stuck Up The Chimney

We have been singing this with the children and just wanted to remind you of the words, if you don't already know them!

 

When Santa got stuck up the chimney

He began to shout

You girls and boys

Won’t get any toys

If you don’t pull me out

My beard is black

There’s soot in my sack

My nose is tickling too

When Santa got stuck up the chimney

Atchoo! Atchoo! Atchoo!

 

 

Week 3 this week

Food for Talk

I have been on some training this evening all about the important benefits of sitting together as a family at meal times.  How it provides lots of learning opportunities for children and improves their social skills. 

I will be giving out leaflets from the course to everyone over the next week or so.  If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. 

Painting and water beads

Craft items and cakes

Just to let you know that Eszme's mum has set up a business selling lovely craft items and delicious cakes!

She is on Facebook on the following page, and I am sure she would appreciate a 'like' if you are on Facebook too. 

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151355183003804&set=a.427967303803.217142.14622883803&type=1#!/Allthingsnice82

New plans have been emailed

Please check your inbox for our latest plans. 

Week 1 this week

Hedgehogs

We made playdoh hedgehogs today using our home-made orange playdoh and some sticks we had collected from the duck pond yesterday. 

Autumn walk today

We had a lovely walk to the duck pond and through the wood today.  All the leaves had turned and there were lots on the floor. 

Just a reminder....................

that we are on holiday all next week and the following Monday (as it's William's birthday).

Please check your emails

I have emailed quite a few pieces of information to you, such as what you can do to help your child with their physical development, communication skills and also information on rotavirus which is a rather nasty stomach bug!

Interesting report on nutrition for children

I have just been reading a very interesting report from the Caroline Walker Trust.  It is quite long but well worth a read if you get chance!

http://www.cwt.org.uk/pdfs/Under5s.pdf

Week 3 of our menus this week

Mowgli has been found!

I went on the 'missing pets register' earlier to see if there had been any news on Mowgli but the link had gone.  I texted the owner and he has been found!  He was living rough at the artificial eye centre at the end of our road, so it would've been him we saw the other evening. 

I am so happy that he is safe and well and back with his family.

Missing cat, last seen in our garden!

Please keep a look out for this missing cat.  We saw him in our garden the other day but unfortunately he ran away.  We have contacted the owners about him, and apparently he was seen further up Pinewood Avenue too on the same day. 

Mowgli

He really needs reuniting with his owners so please, please keep your eyes open for him.

His owner is called Sarah and her numbers are 07969 408176 or 07817 435587.

Here is the link to the missing pets register:

http://www.nationalpetregister.org/mp/42221.htm

Our display

Shaving foam and blocks

We had lots of fun with the blocks today, building and talking about the different colours. 

Later we played with the shaving foam.  The children had a great time.  See the private blog for some fab photos!

Quite an interesting article on play.......

http://jenihooper.com/wp/the-positive-psychology-of-play-how-play-helps-children-to-flourish/

Orange items

We have started our 'orange' display but seem to be struggling a bit!  If you have anything orange we could add to it, we would be grateful. 

Evaluation sheets

We sent some out a week or so ago and we have had some back, thank you.  We would be very grateful if those of you who haven't yet had chance to complete one would do so.  They are used to improve our practice, reassure us that we are providing the best care for your child and to provide evidence for Ofsted that your opinion is very important to us. 

Week 1 this week

Daffodils

The children planted some daffodil bulbs this morning. 

After our toast, we had a walk up to the prom so that the children could have a look at the illuminations.  They had photos taken with some of them, so have check your emails for them later in the week.

Children's private blog

Don't forget to have a look every now and then and feel free to add comments.  Tyler's mum writes regularly on it and its lovely to hear Tyler's news.  She adds photos too which is lovely (thank you Karen). 

If you get chance to have a look please do as we do show it to the children an it would be great for them to see some family photos on there.  It is completely private and your password is needed to view it, so its secure. 

Reviews

We are sending out each child's reviews (of their own personal plans) this week.  Please read and add comments if you wish.  It is really important that these do not get lost as our original copies are being sent out and we do not have additional copies. 

We may send out your child's learning journey too ~ this isn't the one containing the end of term summary, it's just to let you have a look at what your child has been learning with us.

Please return them as soon as possible.  Thanks. 

Chris and Siobhan

Week 3 this week

Just a quick reminder.....

if you're working from home or send your child to us when you're off work, please don't forget to let us know where you will be in case of illness or emergency. 

Thank you.

Training this evening

Siobhan is on a training course from 6.30 to 8.30 this evening, at the City Learning Centre, regarding the two year check which is to be carried out by all childcare professionals. 

Week 2 this week

Evaluation sheets

We are sending out our evaluation sheets this week and we would be very grateful if you would complete and return them to us.  Any comments are welcome!

Sad post :(

Just to let you know that we had to have our beautiful cat, Jasper, put to sleep on Wednesday evening.  He had an abdominal tumor and unfortunately deteriorated very quickly overnight so we had to make the awful decision to have him put to sleep.  As you can imagine, we are all very upset.  We have buried him in the garden with his 'brothers and sisters'. 

xxxxxxxxxx

Week 1 this week

Birth to Five Timeline

Below is a link to the NHS birth to five timeline, which might be of interest to you:

http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/birthtofive.aspx#close

Red playdoh

We made red playdoh yesterday (ingredients below) and the children had a great time playing with it today. 

Playdoh recipe (really easy and no cooking required!)

• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
• 2 cups boiling water

Combine all dry ingredients together.  Add oil and mix together.  Add boiling water and food colouring or natural fragrance, i.e. peppermint, lemon. Mix together.  If too wet, add more flour, if too dry add more water.  To make a chocolatey dough you can also add cocoa to the dry mix before adding oil and water. 

This makes quite a lot of dough so for just one child I'm sure half would be plenty. 

Week 3 this week

Please label your child's clothes

We have nearly all girls now and they are all a similar age.  Please label their clothes - the ones that are removeable, such as hoodies, cardigans, coats etc.  Thank you.

Number one and the colour red

The children coloured-in a number 1.  With the older children, we looked for a red crayon to use.  The younger children chose their own colours and made marks on the paper. 

Eszme and Tyler took photographs of red items in the garden:

 

 

We practised representing number 1 with our fingers.  We called it 'wiggly one' and wiggled our pointy finger.



We've made a start......

....on our 'red' display!

Week 2 of our menus this week

Some info that I found very interesting

It is an article on drowning and something that I wasn't really aware of.  It may be of interest to you.

http://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/

Play food

The children have had lots of fun playing with the play food today.  Alice and I have had lots of delicious meals made for us!

Pizza

We made our own pizzas yesterday, using ham, sausages, tomatoes and cheese.

Olympic Games

We had our own Olympic Games on Friday.  We did running races, long jump, throwing and lots more!

I have put some photos on the private blog for you to look at :).

Happy Mount Park

We had lots of fun at Happy Mount Park yesterday!

More photos on private blog.

Olympic medals

The children made some Olympic medals today.  They painted some circles yellow and then sprinkled gold glitter all over them. 

We are going to have our own Olympic Games on Friday, weather permitting.

More water play

Week 1 this week

Water!

The sun is out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Squidgy paint!

We had fun with paint this morning.  We squeezed different colours into a plastic pocket, sealed it and then 'squidged' it around to mix it all up.  It was great fun!

photos

Instead of putting your child's photos on a memory pen, we are going to email them to you regularly.  I have emailed you all today with the ones we have to date. 

Please check your emails :)

Labels

Please could you label your child's clothes with their name, particularly things like cardigans, hoodies and coats.  With the weather being so unpredictable at the moment, children are coming in t-shirts, cardigans, hoodies etc as well as waterproof coats so we have loads of items lying around.  There are usually six children here each day, so you can imagine how confusing it can get!! 

Thank you :-)

Water beads

I've read a lot about these recently so ordered some from Ebay.  They are fantastic!  They arrive in a little bag and each bead is about 5mm in diameter.  They need soaking in water for 24 hours, when they expand to marble-sized squidgy beads.  They feel great and the children had a lovely time just feeling them.  We added some scoops later on and they filled a big jar with them. 

I've ordered some more from Ebay for future play.  If you fancy getting some for home, just search 'water beads' on Ebay and mine were only £1.75 for 20g, which I think is a bargain!

I like this!

Tax credits audit

Just to let you know that tax credits are auditing a lot of parents at the moment and require invoices issued by childcarers. 

Please keep all your invoices safe in case they contact you in the future.

Great website for craft ideas

I've just found a great website for craft ideas that might be great fun to do with your children.  We will definitely be having a go with some of them here.  I have already ordered some water beads!

http://www.theimaginationtree.com/p/about.html

I will post a link in 'our links' on the right side of the home page.

Painting

The children did a fantastic painting today.  We covered the table in paper and squirted different coloured paints all over the paper.  The children then used various items, like brushes and sponges, to spread the paint.  They explored the paint with their fingers and the sharp end of the brushes to make lots of marks in the thick paint. 

The painting is drying outside on the decking at the moment and we will put it up in the playroom if it dries without breaking!

EYFS 2012 parents leaflet

I have emailed this leaflet to everyone today, so please check your inboxes when you get chance. 

Please speak to us about anything you're unsure of. 

Teddy bears' picnic

We had fun today at our jubilee teddy bears' picnic! 

We decorated buns and had teddy bear sandwiches

Even the sun came out for us!

Jubilee

On Wednesday 6^th and Thursday 7^th June, so that all children will get a chance to join in, we will be having a teddy bears’ picnic in aid of Action Medical Research.  We thought this year that we would combine it with the queen’s diamond jubilee, so would have a red, white and blue theme for this.

It would be great if your child could wear red, white and blue on these two days and bring with them a teddy or other cuddly toy. 

We will have a picnic with a red, white and blue theme and will make cakes, teddy biscuits as usual. 

We would be very grateful if you would donate £2 in aid of Action Medical Research which is a UK-wide medical research charity dedicated to helping babies and children.  We will collect all the donations and send it off to them.

We are really looking forward to this!

Tesco vouchers

Tesco have now finished the vouchers for school scheme so if you have any spare vouchers we would be very grateful.

Diamond Jubilee

Erin was chatting to us today about the queen's jubilee which has prompted me to order some jubilee bits and bobs for crafting.  Think we might have a little jubilee picnic too that week to celebrate.

If anyone sees any crafty bits in the pound shops when they are out and about please will you let me know and I'll go and get them.  :-)

New EYFS

As you may know, they EYFS is changing in September so Chris and I are on a training course tonight from 7-9 to get some more information on the changes. 

We will keep you informed of any alterations to policies etc as and when we do them. 

Fun at the duck pond and park

Weekly Learning Journey sheets

There are some weeks that we don't get chance to fully complete a sheet to send home but this doesn't mean that we are not providing your child with lots of varied activities during the day, we just haven't had chance to record them!

We mainly complete the learning journey sheets in an evening and sometimes we don't get chance, due to family activities, and have to catch up with them the following week.  As you will appreciate, they do take quite some time to complete as we link many of the photos and observations to the EYFS learning and development records.   
 
If you don't get a sheet one week, please don't feel like you can't complete a sheet of paper at home letting us know what your child has been doing at the weekend.  We love to hear about their home life and any milestones they have reached.  Any sheet of paper would be ok, we will just slot it into their file here.  We know you're all busy people too though, so if you don't get chance to complete anything then please don't worry. 

We hope that you all enjoy the sheets that we create for you.  Although the EYFS doesn't require even half as many observations, we feel it is good for you, as parents, to be able to get a glimpse of your child's time with us.  We would have loved a diary of our children's lives whilst they were at playschool/nursery so hope that these files bring you lots of pleasure.  :-)

More pictures of our week this week.....

We planted some sunflower seeds

We had a walk down Robins Lane to see the horses

We went to see the ducks at the duck pond