Hello nursery children and families!

We hope you enjoyed finding out about bees last Friday and were able to make something special for Arts Week.

This week in nursery we were planning to be thinking about journeys and places near and far such as the seaside and the countryside. At the moment we need to stay at home but we can still enjoy thinking about going on a journey! Our story of the week is all about a little girl going to visit her grandma on a train.  It's called The Train Ride and it's written by June Crebbin and illustrated by Stephen Lambert.

The Train Ride by June Crebbin and Stephen Lambert

Talking together

What an exciting journey! It's fun looking out of the window as you're travelling along - there's so much to see! I noticed something about the rhythm of the story - it actually sounded like a train moving along! Did you notice that? In this story, the little girl is travelling through the countryside and sees lots of different things through her window. She begins her journey at the station in the town...

• Can you remember any of the different things she sees on the way? 
• Where does her journey end?
• Who does she go to visit? 
• Have you ever been on a train ride? Where did you go? What did it feel like?
• Where would you like to go on a train?
• What did you like best about the story?

I liked the part where they go through the tunnel because that was exciting but my favourite part is when she sees her grandma and they have a big hug!

Here is a version of the story without words where you and your grown-up can read it together. You can hear a rhythm that you can read along too - it’s a bit like karaoke!

•  Imagine you are going on a train journey. You can go anywhere! Draw a picture of what you can see out of the window. Are you going to the seaside, to the mountains, to a big city? Use your imagination - your journey might take you through another country in another part of the world/. I wonder what animals or buildings you might see out of your window? 

• All aboard! Please have your tickets ready for inspection, ladies and gentlemen. 

Create a pretend train using chairs or cushions and role play going on a train journey. What can you see out of the windows? Are you a passenger, the train driver or maybe the ticket collector? You could make some pretend tickets and sell them to members of your family.

Letters and Sounds

Let's look again at all of the letters and sounds we have been learning about so far this term. Can you remember the letter sounds we looked at last week? Look at the slideshow below and practise saying the sounds as you see each letter.

Letter Sound of the Week

Have a look around your house to see if you can find anything that begins with the d sound. How many can you find? Maybe you could draw them too and bring your picture into nursery next week to show us.

Now you can practise writing the letter d. Here's a video to help you.

Robot Talking (Blending and Segmenting)

Let's practise some Robot Talking!  If you get really good at understanding robot talk (blending) and can begin to do your own robot talking (segmenting) that will really help you when you start in your new F2 class in September!

Here is a game you can play...

At the Shops

Set up a pretend shop selling lots of things that are also simple cvc words. For example, jam, pot, hat, cup, pen, jug, bed, boat, goat, bus, soup, tin, box, fox - anything with 3 sounds in it! Use your imagination - it could be a silly shop! You may want to use a soft toy or puppet to be the customer and do the robot talking and your child can be the shop assistant. The customer will ask for an item using their robot talking - Please can I have a c-u-p? The shop assistant has to find the item and give it to them. When your child becomes confident with this, let them have a turn at being the customer and practise their segmenting. Go at your child's pace and remember the more they hear you modelling segmenting and blending, the sooner they will be able to do it for themselves! Try to keep it fun and stop when your child has had enough. Continue to weave robot talking into daily routines and everyday conversations - that way it won't feel like work!

Here's a song to listen to and join in with - it's another way to practise blending!

Writing your Name

Remember to keep practising writing your name and saying the letters and sounds in it as you do. Think carefully about where your letters begin and end! There are lots of different fun ways you can do this - with a paintbrush and water outdoors, with a stick in sand or mud, with chalk on the path, making playdough letters, tracing letters with cotton buds and paint, with a finger in a tray of salt or shaving foam. The list is endless!

Mathematics

Shapes

Can you make a train using lots of different shapes? What shapes would make good wheels? What shape would make a good carriage? 

Shape Treasure Baskets

Put together treasure baskets or boxes of everyday objects - round, square, rectangle and triangle shapes. Look at, feel and explore the objects. Talk about the shapes and find other objects or shapes that are the same. Tip all the objects out and then sort them back into the baskets. Along the way, encourage your child to notice what is the same and different about the shapes. Count the sides, corners and edges and think about whether the sides are curved or straight.

Numbers and Counting

Last week we were learning about number 6 so this week it must be number... What comes next? Yes number 7! Can you count to 7 and then stop? Can you count to 7 on your fingers? There are 7 days in the week. If you sing the days of the week song you can see for yourself!

Let's watch the numberblocks video where we are introduced to 7. Numberblocks 7 is made of all the colours of the rainbow!

Make a collection of 7 objects - pasta, lego, teddies and so on - and look at the different ways you can split the group. Here are some examples:

• 3 teddies on the floor and 4 on the sofa
• 2 Lego towers - are they the same height? 
• 2 teddies on the bed and 5 under the bed
• Can you draw 7 things - 7 fruit, 7 animals or put 7 spots on a ladybird or a leopard

Our World

Steam Trains

Did you notice in the story of The Train Ride that the train was a special kind of train? Look carefully at the pictures and you will see that there is a big funnel on the front of the engine with  smoke coming out of it. It's actually smoke and steam! The steam is made by burning coal and heating water. Trains have changed over the years. We don't use steam to power our trains anymore but there are still some old trains around that you can visit and even go for rides on. Shall we find out a bit more about steam trains? Here's a short video for you to watch.

Woolly and Tig go on a steam train journey too. This will give you some ideas for making your own train journey at home!

Make your own model train

Maybe this week you could make your train out of materials from your recycling at home. Here are some pictures to give you some ideas. 

Let's sing a song!

Do you remember the big hot air balloon in the story? That would be such an exciting way to travel! I've never been in a hot air balloon but I'd like to pretend!  Have you ever seen a hot air balloon in the sky? You usually see them in the summertime in the early evening. This is one of my favourite songs that we sing sometimes in nursery. Listen to it and see if you can remember it!

We are going to leave you with lots of stories, rhymes and books all about trains for you to listen to over the week! Look on our nursery webpage each day as there will be something new for you to see and do!

See you all back in nursery on Monday 19th July!