We will be learning all about the farm this week at The Children’s House, always a popular topic! During the week, the children will make mud slime (using cornflour, washing up liquid & brown paint), & do farmyard vegetable painting, as well as doing MOOvement to music!! Following on from last week’s very successful grandparents theme, we would like to reiterate that grandparents – or any family members for that matter – are always more than welcome to visit the classes throughout the year, we would be delighted to see them at any time!

Old MacDonald

Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O,
And on that farm he had a cow, E-I-E-I-O,
With a moo moo here, & a moo moo there,
Here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo…
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O!

…And on that farm he had a pig…

…And on that farm he had a duck…

…And on that farm he had a horse…

…And on that farm he had a dog…

This week at The Children’s House we will be celebrating grandparents, and the women in our lives!! The children have brought home a project to do about their grandparents, which they can either do with their grandparents themselves if they are lucky enough to have them in their lives, or with their parents. They will be asking questions about when their grandparents were their ages, 3/4/5 years old, e.g. what was their favourite game or toy to play with, did they have any pets, what was their house like etc… If any grandparents would like to come in & speak to the children we would be delighted to facilitate this!

Later in the week the children will be drawing family pictures, & then doing an art activity about the women in their lives, & we will be celebrating Mother’s Day. We will also be practising some yoga & mindfulness!

When I See my Grandparents

When I see my grandparents this is what I do,
I hop up & give them a great big hug or 2!
I’m glad to see my grandparents, they’re glad to see me too,
I give them each a big smile & tell them ‘I love you’!

Happy St Patrick’s week everyone!! It’ll be a short week, as we’re closed for the bank holidays on Thursday & Friday, so we’ll be doing a lot of preparing for the celebrations by decorating the classrooms, learning about why we celebrate St Patrick’s Day, listening to traditional Irish music, colouring our maps of Ireland, & making flags! ☘️🇮🇪

In a gesture of solidarity with our Ukrainian friends both home & away, we are asking the children to come in dressed in blue & yellow, or green, on Wednesday for our St Patrick’s Day party & we are also doing a collection to help send medical supplies through 1 of our parents. Thank you for your support in this 💙💛💚

Lámh, lámh eile

Lámh, lámh eile, a haon, a dó,           (Hand, other hand, one, two)
Cos, cos eile, a haon, a dó.                  (Leg, other leg, one, two)
Súil, súil eile, a haon, a dó,                 (Eye, other eye, one, two,)
Cluas, cluas eile, a haon, a dó,           (Ear, other ear, one, two,)
Ceann, srón, béal, smig,                      (Head, nose, mouth, chin,)
Agus fiacla bána i mo bhéal istigh.   (And white teeth inside my mouth.)

We are learning all about the food pyramid in The Children’s House this week, & will be doing a lot of activities about healthy eating along with it – we will start off the week with a discussion with the children on why they might think it’s important to eat healthily, talk about what our bodies need from food and which foods are best for us, and continue from there to look at the food pyramid. After this we will introduce practical activities such as matching sample jars of food to the food pyramid, making super smoothies! At the end of the week we will be philosophising with the children about ‘what if children were big & adults were small?’….should lead to some interesting discussions!!

We emphasise the importance of having a good balanced diet and a healthy relationship with food – to know which foods are healthy and which are not, but to stress that having a treat is not a bad thing either!

Staying Healthy (tune: If you’re happy & you know it)

To stay healthy, you should always eat good food,
To stay healthy, you should always eat good food,
Eat some apples, eat some peas,
Eat bananas & green beans –
To stay healthy, you should always eat good food!

Spring is definitely here at last, with March rolling in!! This week we have a lot of activities going on with the children – we will be talking about the new month of March, & looking at the life cycles of both frogs & butterflies, as well as learning about the water cycle, & making pancakes on Shrove Tuesday!! We are very lucky that our village of Sallins has recently set up a Biodiversity Group under the umbrella for the Tidy Towns group  (https://sallinsbiodiversitygroup.wordpress.com/), who have kindly donated shamrock seeds to the school so that we can sow them in time to have shamrock for St Patrick’s Day – a really wonderful activity for this week, illustrating to the children how they can plant & care for their own plants.

Little Bo Peep

Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep
And doesn’t know where to find them.

Leave them alone & they’ll come home,
Wagging their tails behind them!

Mary Had a Little Lamb

Mary had a little lamb, it’s fleece was white as snow,
And everywhere that Mary went the lamb was sure to go.

It followed her to school one day which was against the rule,
It made the children laugh & play to see a lamb at school!

Welcome to the shortest week in a long time at The Children’s House!! As we will be having our mid-term break from Wednesday until Friday we have only 2 days to pack in lots of fun! We will be talking all about the season of Spring, & what signs to look out for – the children might already have noticed spring bulbs like daffodils & crocuses starting to flower, & also may be enjoying the fact that the days are getting noticeably longer & the nights shorter. We will discuss the seasonal weather – all the storms at the moment should be very topical!! – & look at Spring animal matching cards, as well as listening to some appropriate music, Vivaldi’s Spring!

Spring Poem

The wind told the grass,
And the grass told the trees,

The trees told the bushes,
And the bushes told the bees,

The bees told the robin,
And the robin sang out clear –

“Wake up!
Wake up!
Spring is here!”

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!! This week we’ll be continuing on with our love theme, especially on Monday when we have our annual Valentine’s Ball!! We will be talking about our different families, looking our family trees, & discussing what we love most about our families! We will also be continuing on with our group project, at this stage we’re looking at the continents of the world & which one we live in. At the end of the week we’ll be musically focused, & listening to everyone’s favourite songs – we’re looking forward to a good mix of tastes here!!

This Is Me

This is me,
From my head to my toes,
I have 2 little eyes & 1 little nose!
I can wiggle my ears,
And stamp my feet,
From my head to my toes, I’m pretty neat!

We have 2 themes this week at The Children’s House – recycling, & Valentine’s Day! They may not seem related at first glance, but we will be talking about all the things that we love this week, an important one of which is our earth, & how we care for things we love & show that we love them – hence the recycling!! The children will be learning about the 3 R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) & then making crafts for Valentine’s Day using recycled materials. We will be doing an outdoor science experiment later in the week, & ending the week with a lovely bit of self care in the form of yoga – after all, one of the most important things to look after & love is our own selves!!

Valentine’s Song (tune of: London Bridge is Falling Down)

If you want to show your love,
Show your love, for your friends,
If you want to show your love,
Share a smile!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!! It’s the Chinese Lunar New Year on Tuesday 1st February, so this week we will be learning a bit about China – looking at where it is in Asia, learning about some customs & superstitions, and looking at some photos and objects from China. It’s the Year of the Tiger, and the children will be making Cherry Blossom tree art pictures and learning about the lucky Red Packets/Envelopes, and at the end of the week we will be dancing with streamers in the garden to a special Chinese New Year Song – link as below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl_eiQ9BzwU
Chinese New Year Poem

Dragons, lions, red & gold,
In with the New Year, out with the old.

Banners flying, bands playing,
Lions prancing, dragons swaying.

Fireworks crackling, lanterns swinging,
People laughing, dancing, singing.

It’s all about Art Appreciation this week at The Children’s House!! The children will be learning about 2 abstract artists: Jackson Pollock who pioneered the “drip technique” of splashing paint onto horiontal canvases in a manner which was called “action painting”, & Wassily Kandinsky who used colours & geometric shapes in many of his paintings. They will be experimenting with different methods of painting & shape-making, looking at the colour wheel & colour mixing, painting to music, thinking about whether different types of music reminds them of different colours, & much more!! Any art at this stage is all about the process & the enjoyment that brings, not the end product!

The Colours Song (tune of: If You’re Happy & You Know It)

If your clothes have any red, any red,
If your clothes have any red, any red,
If your clothes have any red,
Put your finger on your head….
If your clothes have any red, any red!

Blue – finger on your shoe
Yellow – smile like a happy fellow
Brown – turn your smile into a frown
Black – pat yourself upon the back
White – give yourself a hug with all your might!