Another whole class isolation period for Reception. Finny couldn’t be more excited to be back homeschooling, and neither could I! Reception have been looking at Minibeasts, one of Finny’s favourite topics, so today’s home learning was to think about the different ways in which minibeasts move.

I mentioned this as the boys sat down for breakfast, and Ioan was disappointed that with Year 2 still in school, he was going to be missing out on ‘Curley School’. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he suggested that the pair of them compose their own poem together, whilst eating their cereal.

This was what they had come up with by 8am. Please excuse the camera work, they’d drafted it on whiteboards and I was trying to hold them up in order, whilst filming. As always, we were going for enjoyment over perfection.

While Ioan was at school, Finny decided to watch the video back and write the poem up. He wiped their notes off the whiteboards, to make sure that it was his independent writing. Then, to finish off, he decorated his work with some fingerprint bugs.

DfES Early Learning Goals (2017)

Physical development

ELG 04 – Moving and handling:

Children show good control and co-ordination in large and small movements. They handle equipment and tools effectively, including pencils for writing.

Literacy

ELG 10 – Writing:

Children use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways which match their spoken sounds. They also write some irregular common words. They write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others. Some words are spelt correctly and others are phonetically plausible.

Expressive arts and design

ELG 16 – Exploring and using media and materials:

Children safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function.

ELG 17 – Being imaginative:

Children use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about uses and purposes. They represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role-play and stories.