Our Spring 1 Journey
Curriculum Overview Spring 1
Please take some time to have a look through our Curriculum Overview for Spring 1.
Our Focus this Term
During Spring 1, our learning was focused on the amazing topic of "I wonder what i was like as a baby?" As part of our exploration of the body, we discovered how we grow and change over time. The children were fascinated to learn that they were once tiny babies and enjoyed looking at photographs, sharing stories from home, and talking about what they could do then compared to now.
A very special highlight of our term was welcoming two real babies into our provision. The children observed how the babies moved, communicated and interacted with the world around them, asking thoughtful questions and noticing the difference between babies and themselves. Through discussions, activities and play, we developed our understanding of our bodies, how they grow, and what makes each of us unique.
Please take a look at some of our wonderful Tadpoles enjoying everything we had to offer this Half Term.
10 Little Fingers and 10 Little Toes / Peepo
Our Focus texts this term have focused around babies and linked to our i wonder question 'I wonder what i was like as a baby?'. We have enjoyed reading these texts during group time and the children have also enjoyed exploring them within provision.
A Visit from a Baby
This half term in Tadpoles, our focus has been babies. The children have shown lots of curiosity and excitement as we explored how babies grow, what they need, and how we can care for them.
We were very lucky to have a special visit from baby Evie and Baby Armani, who came to spend some time with us. The children were fascinated to meet real babies and were incredibly gentle and caring.
During our visit, we talked about what babies eat, how they communicate, what they can and cannot so and how we can help look after them.
We compared similarities and differences between ourselves and the babies. The children noticed differences like, babies drink milk and they eat food, they have teeth and babies do not and babies cannot yet walk.
The children asked thoughtful questions and were eager to share their own experiences of having baby brother sisters or cousins.
We even saw a picture of Miss Patterson as a baby! We discussed how even grown-ups used to be babies, just like Miss Patterson and our grown-ups at home!
Self Portraits
As part of our learning this half term, the children explored 'who we are' by creating their own self-portraits.
Using mirrors, the children carefully looked at their reflections and talked about what they could see. We identified different facial features such as eyes, nose, mouth, ears and hair. The children were encouraged to describe what was the same and what was different about each of us.
During their drawing, the children began to make links between shapes and features.
Urwa-Noor said "My eyes are 2 circles"
Penny said "1 nose"
Buddy the Bear
This term we introduced a very exciting new member of our Tadpoles class... Buddy the Bear!
The children arrived one morning to discover mysterious footprints in the classroom and a bag full of clues. We worked together to investigate who they might belong to. The children shared wonderful ides and guesses, using the clues to help them solve the mystery!
The next day, something even more magical happened... a tiny magic door appeared in our classroom, along with Buddy the Bear!
Buddy has joined Tadpoles to help us practice good listening, kind hands and words, helpful tidying and being caring friends. Buddy watched carefully throughout the week and is always looking for children who are trying their best to make good choices.
Each week, Buddy chooses one child who has shown wonderful listening, kindness and helpful behaviour to take him home for the weekend. The children have loved sharing their special time with Buddy and telling their friend about the fun they have had together.
We even took Buddy on a walk to show him his new school!
Hand washing
As part of our learning about babies and how we care for ourselves, we hv=ave been exploring how to keep our Bodies clean and healthy.
We talked about how babies need grown-ups to help them stay clean, but as Tadpoles we are learning to do more things for ourselves - including washing our own hands!
The children have been practicing careful handwashing and learning why it is so important. We discussed how washing our hands helps to remove germs and keep our bodies healthy.
Take a look at our Tadpoles washing off those germs!
Maths - Exploring Big and Small
This half term in Tadpoles we have been exploring the mathematical concept of big and small.
To make our learning meaningful and exciting, we linked this to our class friend, Buddy the Bear. The children were introduced to big bears and small bears.
We talked about which bears were big, which bears were small and asked questions like "can you find a big bear?"
The children enjoyed grouping and sorting the bears into big and small. They carefully looked at the size before deciding where it belonged.
The children began to confidently identify differences in size and explain their thinking. Some children even started comparing themselves and saying things like "I'm bigger than the baby!"
