Pre-Nursery Term Three Term Report Dear parents, The theme that we chose for term three was Transportation. The children were taught about land, sea and air transportation. They learned about the various vehicles in each category, the characteristics of these vehicles, the possible sounds they make, what causes them to be able to move, and about road safety. The vehicles that were emphasised on this term were the horse cart, the bicycle, the car, the train, the sailboat, the ship, the helicopter, the hot air balloon, and the aeroplane. Language Arts Stories with interesting pictures were shown to the children to reinforce learning. Some of those we read were: 1. Things that Go by Marie Linney 2. The Wheels on the Bus by Raffi Songs to Read Pictures of different vehicles were stuck on the wall and this was used as a learning corner wherein the children learned to recognise and identify and match the vehicles on the wall with flashcards of vehicles in their hands. Interesting activities were also thought up to create an enjoyable mode of learning. In their worksheets, the children stuck stickers of food into the cart of a horse, they tore black strips of paper to form the wheels of a bicycle, they stuck on the yellow headlights of a car, they imagined how smoke would billow from a train and pasted cotton wool as smoke, they pasted on blue strips as the water that sailboats sail on, they used green paper to represent the hills that a helicopter would fly over and using their fingers, they printed on colourful hues of the hot air balloon. Phonics Through the syllables stipulated by Jolly Phonics we taught the children the sounds of the alphabets, “m”, “d”, “g”, “o” and “u”. The children were also taught four all-time favourite nursery rhymes, “Humpty Dumpty”, “Jack and Jill”, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “Incy Wincy Spider”. Using these rhymes, we checked their progress in enunciating words correctly and clearly as far as is possible for their age. The children especially enjoyed their learning because they loved these stimulating songs and rhymes and because we made use of animation and the mass media to garner added interest. Some stories were also read to get the children interested in books and hopefully instil in them a desire to read on their own as well. These stories include: 1. 2. 3. 4. Ants in a Hurry by Suchen Christine Lim The Boy who Cried Wolf by Tony Ross Cat in the Tree by Roderick Hunt and Alex Brychta Where is my Bone by Barbara Mitchelhill Math Through matching exercises and activities that required rote counting, the numbers 1 to 5 were reinforced and the numbers 6 and 7 were taught. The concepts of “day and night”, “dirty and clean”, as well as “boy and girl” were also taught. The children were hand-held through recognising numbers and tracing their figures on sandpaper and they were taught to count numbers of objects in groups. Three books were read to establish some more Math concepts: 1. The Hiding Game for concepts to do with size and position 2. Wilbur the Weather Watcher for weather conditions 3. Who has More for concepts to do with less and more All three books are by Rosemary Reuille Irons and Janet King. Music and Movement The children enjoyed music and movement activities and displayed an increased awareness of their own body movements, a better sense of rhythm and improved coordination and listening skills. They were given musical instruments such as tambourines, castanets, bells and triangles, to experiment with, and nursery rhymes as well as exercise songs to sing and dance to. Art and Craft To tie in with the theme of transportation and to work on their motor skills, the children created masterpieces such as traffic lights and stop signs, buses out of shapes they have learned, and they pasted the grills on a lorry which they have coloured themselves. They also did finger printing on mazes and were taught to trace the routes. With some help, they learned to fold paper aeroplanes and boats as well. Sensory (Science) The children tasted sweet, sour and saltish foods this term. They also got to touch a car, sound its horn, pretend to be drivers and sit at the steering wheel, as they learned about the different parts of a car such as its bonnet and its wheels. They also got introduced to loud and soft sounds and learned the contrast between pleasant and unpleasant sounds. In all, the children have displayed vast improvement as compared with term two, in terms of their motor skills, their ability to hold crayons and colour, their ability to follow instructions, and in terms of their speech. I hope that during the one week break, you will enjoy your time with your children and revise some of these concepts with them. Thank you. Yours faithfully, Miss Seow.