What you’ll need

The ‘Learning to write ‘L’ worksheet. A pen or pencil, colouring pens or pencils.

Method

Begin by showing your child the pictures at the top. Ask them to say what they can see. Once they have said all the words, ask them what sound those words begin with. If they’re unsure, try repeating the words back to them, emphasizing the ‘L’ sound at the start of each word.

Next, see if your child can identify what the letter sound is, you could ask them to tell you what the sound is or say, “can you show me where ‘L’ is?”.  Ask them to trace over the grey ‘L’ letters, always encouraging them to start at the dot. When they have completed this, encourage them to have a go on their own, starting at the red dot as they go.

The next part will need to be pitched right for your child’s level. Ask them to try to think of a word beginning with ‘l’, if they find this tricky, give them 2 options and let them choose, eg: “Is it ‘l’’ for lion or ‘l’ for cow?”. Once they have a word in mind, you can either write the word in a light coloured pen for them to trace over, or ask them to copy it. If they find this easy, see if your child can think of a simple sentence containing their ‘l’ word and copy it, for example: ‘Lions are loud’. (If thinking of a sentence is too tricky, it sometimes helps to ask the child to tell you something about the word they have chosen).

Finally, encourage them to draw some things beginning with ‘l’’ in the allocated box. Please upload your work to Famly, I’d love to see how they get on!

What did we learn?

Literacy: Writing – Linking sounds to letters, naming and sounding letters of the alphabet. Reading – Hears and says the initial sounds in words.

Physical Development: Moving and handling – Can copy some letters, eg: letters from their name.

What you’ll need

• White or clear PVA glue, 
• food colouring, 
• cocktail sticks,
• plastic lids i.e., from yogurt pots. as long as it is not too deep! 
• hole punch, 
• ribbon.

Method

Make sure your lid is clean.

Turn upside down and pour some glue evenly into the lid. Do not fill your lid too deep, fill just so it covers the base of your lid as it will take longer to dry and will not be as effective.

Drop small amounts of food dye into the glue.

Using a cocktail stick make a pattern in the glue incorporating the different dyes. Swirl them around to make a pattern! 

Leave to dry. (Be patient) 

Once dried, peel away from the lid. Make a hole (using a hole punch) and hang with some ribbon in your window.

What did we learn?

Expressive Art and Design:

To manipulate materials to achieve a planned effect. Use particular colours for a purpose. 

What you’ll need

• A piece of fabric to represent the River Thames 
• Any construction toys or resources you have at home to build a bridge over the river
• Internet with volume

Method

Your child might like to watch “Peppa Pig goes to London” while you quickly do 101 jobs!: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epNCNNhKsF0

(5 minutes and 12 seconds long)

Chat together… Have you ever been to London? What did you see? Did you see the river? The famous river in London is called the River Thames. There are lots of bridges in London so people can get from one side of the River Thames to the other. The bridge in the Peppa Pig video is called “Tower Bridge.” Tower Bridge is special as it can lift up to allow tall boats to pass underneath. 

We can listen to a song about a bridge in London falling down: 

Use a piece of blue fabric from around the home to represent the River Thames (some suggestions: a scarf, picnic blanket, pair of jeans!). Set your child the task of building a new bridge over the River Thames. They may wish to build their bridge with toy bricks, Lego, Brio, magnetic blocks, branches and twigs, recycling boxes or anything else that you already have available at home. Some bridges are for people to use, they are footbridges, some are for transport like cars and buses too. Some bridges are even for trains to go across! Ask your child… “What is your bridge for? Tell me about the bridge you have built?”

We would love to see photographs or videos of your busy little engineers on the Famly app, or through Facebook or via Instagram using the hashtag #MountCarmelatHome.

What did we learn?

Mathematics:

We are learning to show an interest in shape by joining in with a sustained construction activity and talking about our arrangements. 

Understanding the World:

We are learning to comment on aspects of our familiar world. 

Expressive Art and Design:

We are learning to use various construction materials to build and balance.