Lesson Structure

What is the structure of a session and importance of each activity?

Welcome song – The session begins with a welcome song which develops a sense of belonging to group. The song builds confidence and encourages participation in the group’s activities through listening and following actions together.

Brain gym to a mathematical rhyme – Maths rhymes use numbers, counting, mathematical words, patterns and sequences allowing children to learn simple maths skills as they recite the song. Brain gym strengthens muscles, stimulates brain activity and helps ears, eyes, head, limb and overall body co-ordination which is required for fine motor control, mark marking and writing.

Mathematics activity – Promotes understanding and skills such as number recognition, calculating, problem solving, use of size, time, shapes and measure in a broad range of contexts. Research has shown that children who are taught maths early and learn the basis at a young age are at an advantage in all aspects of their academic performance.

Brain gym dance to a nursery rhyme – Nursery rhymes are important for language acquisition and speech development. They develop auditory skills such as discriminating between sounds and words. Nursery rhymes also introduce alliteration, onomatopoeia and imagery.

Letter sound focus – Each week the children will be introduced to a letter sound. Synthetic phonics is key to teaching reading and writing. It provides the strategies to decode words. Developing early literacy skills enhances the ease of learning to read and write. Children who enter school with these skills have an advantage that carries them throughout their school years.

Phonics activity – The emphasis of these activities are to attune children to the sounds around them both environmental and instrumental, to experience rhythm, rhyme, alliteration and voice sounds in speech and to develop oral blending and segmenting skills. These are all vital prerequisite skills for spelling and reading.

Story time- During the interactive story time children will use their body to act and create the sounds in the story. Children who are read to frequently enter nursery with larger vocabulary and advanced comprehension skills. Reading books aloud develops language and listening skills, stimulates imagination and expands the understanding of the world.

Mark making- The session ends with mark making. Mark making is a sensory and physical experience which allows an opportunity to develop imagination, creative skills, express feelings and thoughts through marks. This experience of holding a writing tool and controlling the marks with the muscles enhance the child’s physical development, improves their fine motor skills and develops their hand-eye coordination.

Next Steps…