Early Start Class
We would like to welcome all the boys and girls who have started school in the Early Start Classroom, September 2019. We are looking forward to a year of fun and learning through play. This is where your children will start their journey through education. AISTEAR ( meaning Journey )
Ms Karla Kelly (Class Teacher) and Mrs Karen Hoban
Ms Karla Kelly (Class Teacher) and Mrs Karen Hoban
Online Learning Timetable
Monday- Storytime with Karen
Wednesday- Fine Motor Fun
Friday- Storytime with Karla
Wednesday- Fine Motor Fun
Friday- Storytime with Karla
Goodbye Earlystart Class!!!
Here is our final story 'Pip and Posy and the Scary Monster'. We want to wish all our earlystart children a Happy Summer and all the best for Junior Infants! You really were a wonderful bunch and we will miss you greatly!
Ms. Duane (Boys' School Jnr Inf teacher) and Ms. Murtagh (Girls' School Jnr Inf teacher) are looking forward to meeting you all at the end of the summer. Take care and stay safe :)
Ms. Duane (Boys' School Jnr Inf teacher) and Ms. Murtagh (Girls' School Jnr Inf teacher) are looking forward to meeting you all at the end of the summer. Take care and stay safe :)
Storytime with Karen
Hi Everyone,
We have reached the last week of school and so this is our last Monday story !!
I hope the children enjoyed listening to the stories as much as I have enjoyed reading to them. I have chosen something a little different to finish off our sessions. Its a Hologram book of Jungle animals. Its a little bit of magic !!!
Have a wonderful Summer holiday and see you all back at school in September, when your kids hop, skip and jump into Junior Infants.
Hugs to all xxxx
We have reached the last week of school and so this is our last Monday story !!
I hope the children enjoyed listening to the stories as much as I have enjoyed reading to them. I have chosen something a little different to finish off our sessions. Its a Hologram book of Jungle animals. Its a little bit of magic !!!
Have a wonderful Summer holiday and see you all back at school in September, when your kids hop, skip and jump into Junior Infants.
Hugs to all xxxx
Storytime with Karla
Today's story is called 'Webster Duck'. It is about a duckling who is looking for his mam. He meets lots of animals along the way. Can you draw a picture of your favourite animal?
Fine Motor Fun - 17/6/20
Today we are playing with STICKERS!!!
In your last envelope you should have found some stickers and a sheet of coloured paper. This simple and fun activity is great for strengthening hands, visual scanning, developing a pincer grip (how to hold a pencil) but most importantly, playing with stickers is FUN!
In your last envelope you should have found some stickers and a sheet of coloured paper. This simple and fun activity is great for strengthening hands, visual scanning, developing a pincer grip (how to hold a pencil) but most importantly, playing with stickers is FUN!
Storytime with Karen
Hi everyone !
Hope you all had a lovely weekend. Our story today is called ' Little Hedgehogs Big Day '. Its all about a hedgehog who is starting BIG school and he is worried as he thinks he is not BIG enough !!!
I hope that the kids learn the message, that it doesn't matter how big or how small we are, we are all capable of achieving great things......... xx
Hope you all had a lovely weekend. Our story today is called ' Little Hedgehogs Big Day '. Its all about a hedgehog who is starting BIG school and he is worried as he thinks he is not BIG enough !!!
I hope that the kids learn the message, that it doesn't matter how big or how small we are, we are all capable of achieving great things......... xx
Storytime with Karla
Today's story is called 'Monsters Love Underpants'. Can you draw us a funny picture of a monster wearing underpants?
Fine Motor Fun 10/6/20 WATERPLAY
One of our favourite things in do in our classroom is waterplay. As well as being a calming activity it also helps the children to develop eye hand coordination and fine motor skills as they learn to pour water from one container to the next...and it's so easy to set up.
Simply fill the sink with water and give the children a range of different size cups and encourage them to pour from one cup to another.
Here is a video of how to use our pipettes. Have fun!
Simply fill the sink with water and give the children a range of different size cups and encourage them to pour from one cup to another.
Here is a video of how to use our pipettes. Have fun!
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Storytime with Karen
Hi Everybody !
Our Monday story is called ' It takes two to T'wit T'woo '
Did you know that it takes 2 owls to say Twit Twoo ? That sound you hear is actually 2 owls. The female says Twit and the male says Twoo !
In our story Olive says Twit, and she is looking for another owl that says Twoo, so together they can say Twit Twoo. With the help of her forest friends, she meets Albert the Owl and they live happily ever after !!
Can you draw an owl? I have uploaded a simple video of how to draw an owl.
Maybe you can watch this and give it a go? What name would you call your owl? Send in your pictures for us to see !
Our Monday story is called ' It takes two to T'wit T'woo '
Did you know that it takes 2 owls to say Twit Twoo ? That sound you hear is actually 2 owls. The female says Twit and the male says Twoo !
In our story Olive says Twit, and she is looking for another owl that says Twoo, so together they can say Twit Twoo. With the help of her forest friends, she meets Albert the Owl and they live happily ever after !!
Can you draw an owl? I have uploaded a simple video of how to draw an owl.
Maybe you can watch this and give it a go? What name would you call your owl? Send in your pictures for us to see !
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Storytime with Karla
Happy Friday!
Today's story is called 'How to catch a star'. Do you have a favourite shape? What is it? My favourite shape is a square!
Today's story is called 'How to catch a star'. Do you have a favourite shape? What is it? My favourite shape is a square!
Fine Motor Fun 3/6/20
Before school closed we were working very hard in the Earlystart Classroom learning how to ZIP our coats ALL BY OURSELVES!!!
This is such an important skill and it helps the children to feel independent and self confident and also strengthens their hands, but it's a tricky one to master.
IMPORTANT TIPS
*Pick a time in the day when you aren't in a hurry and practise for 5mins. We chose about 10am.. a time when we weren't busy getting ready for hometime or getting ready for yard. This way we knew we had all the time and patience for the activity and wouldn't end up doing it for the children (like we might do when we were in a rush).
* Start with Game 1. If game 1 is too easy move to the next game.
Game 1: Adult connects the zip and starts it a little. Child practises pulling the zip up and down.
Game 2: Adult and child working together.
The adult puts childs hands in the correct place and guides child's hand to connect zipper and show how you hold down the right side while pulling up the left.
Game 3: Adult puts child's hands in the right place and let's them try to connect zipper by themself and pull and zip by themself.
Game 4- No help!
We would love to see some videos of the children practising zipping their coats!! Please send them to earlystart@virginmarybns.ie or send them to us via the Class Dojo App!
This is such an important skill and it helps the children to feel independent and self confident and also strengthens their hands, but it's a tricky one to master.
IMPORTANT TIPS
*Pick a time in the day when you aren't in a hurry and practise for 5mins. We chose about 10am.. a time when we weren't busy getting ready for hometime or getting ready for yard. This way we knew we had all the time and patience for the activity and wouldn't end up doing it for the children (like we might do when we were in a rush).
* Start with Game 1. If game 1 is too easy move to the next game.
Game 1: Adult connects the zip and starts it a little. Child practises pulling the zip up and down.
Game 2: Adult and child working together.
The adult puts childs hands in the correct place and guides child's hand to connect zipper and show how you hold down the right side while pulling up the left.
Game 3: Adult puts child's hands in the right place and let's them try to connect zipper by themself and pull and zip by themself.
Game 4- No help!
We would love to see some videos of the children practising zipping their coats!! Please send them to earlystart@virginmarybns.ie or send them to us via the Class Dojo App!
Floating and Sinking
Over at our class dojo app the children were given the task of finding out which of their toys float and which of their toys sink!! You could try it too, all you need is a basin of water and some small toys!
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Storytime with Karen
Happy Bank Holiday Monday everyone !!
What great weather we are having and hope you are all staying happy and safe at home !
I know you love PAW PATROL so todays story is called Chases Space Case.
In this story Ryder and his team of pups meet an alien and help him to find his way home.
Use your imagination and draw your very own alien ! What colour will he be? How many eyes, arms or legs will he have ? Make him as funny as you can !
What great weather we are having and hope you are all staying happy and safe at home !
I know you love PAW PATROL so todays story is called Chases Space Case.
In this story Ryder and his team of pups meet an alien and help him to find his way home.
Use your imagination and draw your very own alien ! What colour will he be? How many eyes, arms or legs will he have ? Make him as funny as you can !
Busy Bees!!!
The earlystart class have been very busy doing some schoolwork at home with the help of their parents! If you've any photos send them to us at earlystart@virginmarybns.ie or connect to our class dojo for daily updates!
Storytime with Karla
Today's story is called Peppa Pigs Family Computer. Have you got a family computer, tablet or phone? What's your favourite game to play on it?
Gross Motor Fun- Chalk 27/5/20
Given how beautiful the weather is at the moment we thought an outdoor activity would be fun!!
Drawing with chalk is great for strengthening little hands and for getting the children used to holding chalk/crayons/a pencil. Just let them loose making their own marks.
The video shows a great activity I spotted when out for a walk. It takes a bit of time/effort to set up but given the great weather we are due to have they will get plenty of days of fun out of it! The walk the line is great for developing their coordination, balance and most importantly IT'S FUN!!
Enjoy the sunshine!
Drawing with chalk is great for strengthening little hands and for getting the children used to holding chalk/crayons/a pencil. Just let them loose making their own marks.
The video shows a great activity I spotted when out for a walk. It takes a bit of time/effort to set up but given the great weather we are due to have they will get plenty of days of fun out of it! The walk the line is great for developing their coordination, balance and most importantly IT'S FUN!!
Enjoy the sunshine!
Storytime with Karen
THE BUSY BUSY DAY !
Our story today is all about a rabbit called Floppy and a cat called Ginger.
It is Spring time and they meet lots of friends who are living in their garden, like the robins, the hedgehogs, the mice and some caterpillars. They love their garden so much and enjoy a picnic.
If the weather is nice this weekend, maybe you and your family can enjoy a picnic in your garden !! Don't forget to keep an eye out for any friends who might join you.....especially the butterflies !
Our story today is all about a rabbit called Floppy and a cat called Ginger.
It is Spring time and they meet lots of friends who are living in their garden, like the robins, the hedgehogs, the mice and some caterpillars. They love their garden so much and enjoy a picnic.
If the weather is nice this weekend, maybe you and your family can enjoy a picnic in your garden !! Don't forget to keep an eye out for any friends who might join you.....especially the butterflies !
A beautiful message from one of our EarlyStart children to all her friends. We miss you too!!
Storytime with Karla
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Poor Peppa isn't feeling very well. The doctor visits her and gives her some medicine. Have you ever been sick? Did you go to the doctor? Draw a picture of a doctor helping someone and send it to us via Class Dojo or our email address: earlystart@virginmarybns.ie
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Fine Motor Fun 20/5/20
Today's game is another version of our peg game. It's great for hand eye co-ordination, for strengthening hands, for recognising numbers and for counting aswell!!
If you wanted to change it up you could use a dice instead of the number cards!! Enjoy!
If you wanted to change it up you could use a dice instead of the number cards!! Enjoy!
Story time with Karen
Todays story is called 'Bear Snores On'
Its about a bear who lives in a cave and is hibernating as it is winter time.
How about finding out about bears, where they live and what they eat. What types of bears do you know about?
If you have a cardboard box in your house, why not try making your own hibernating cave and putting your teddy bear inside for a sleep !!
Get creative and send in any photos !
Its about a bear who lives in a cave and is hibernating as it is winter time.
How about finding out about bears, where they live and what they eat. What types of bears do you know about?
If you have a cardboard box in your house, why not try making your own hibernating cave and putting your teddy bear inside for a sleep !!
Get creative and send in any photos !
CLASS DOJO APP
If you haven't yet signed up to the class dojo app please email earlystart@virginmarybns.ie and we will add you!
Storytime with Karla
Happy Friday! Today's story is called 'Peppa's New Neighbours'. Her new neighbours like to huff and puff but thankfully the house is made of bricks...PHEW!!!
Today's task is to draw a picture of your house, don't forget to add windows and doors! And maybe you'd like to add a swing in the garden like Peppa?
Today's task is to draw a picture of your house, don't forget to add windows and doors! And maybe you'd like to add a swing in the garden like Peppa?
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Fine Motor Fun- Playdough 13/5/20
PLAYDOUGH
Playdough is always a firm favourite activity for children of all ages. The children love it for the fun factor and the teachers love it because:
Today we are going to try and make our own playdough!!! If you have any food colouring or paint or glitter in the house you can add that in too! I had none of the above so I stuck to the simple recipe.
Ingredients
3 cups of flour
½ cup of water
¼ cup of vegetable oil
½ cup of salt (you don’t have to add it in, but it keeps the playdough fresh for longer).
I mixed the water, oil and salt in a bowl. If you have food colouring or paint add it in too. And then I slowly added in the flour while mixing until it turned into a dough. If it's too wet just add more flour and if it's too dry don't add a little bit more water.
Playdough is always a firm favourite activity for children of all ages. The children love it for the fun factor and the teachers love it because:
- It helps to strengthen their hands (this is needed for scissor skills and writing)
- It helps their imagination and creativity.
- It’s calming
Today we are going to try and make our own playdough!!! If you have any food colouring or paint or glitter in the house you can add that in too! I had none of the above so I stuck to the simple recipe.
Ingredients
3 cups of flour
½ cup of water
¼ cup of vegetable oil
½ cup of salt (you don’t have to add it in, but it keeps the playdough fresh for longer).
I mixed the water, oil and salt in a bowl. If you have food colouring or paint add it in too. And then I slowly added in the flour while mixing until it turned into a dough. If it's too wet just add more flour and if it's too dry don't add a little bit more water.
Once you have your playdough ready, it’s time to PLAY!!
Game 1: Parent hides small toys, moneys, buttons etc in the playdough and the children have to squish and pull the playdough apart to find all the hidden objects. Let the kids hide objects for you to find too!
Game 2- Practise rolling the playdough to make worms (just like yesterday’s song ‘Wiggly Woo’. Try rolling the playdough to make snails too! Talk to the children about other insects and what they look like and try make a few.
Game 3- Parent chooses a few objects and makes prints of the object in the playdough. Child must then match the object to the print.
Store the playdough in an airtight tub or a ziplock bag and it should last quite a while!
Have fun!!!
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Story Time with Karen
Hi boys and girls ! We hope you have had a lovely weekend and are enjoying the sunshine and good weather.
We are back to Monday again and our story today is all about TRAINS !
There are lots of different types of trains and in our story you will get to see what they look like, what they do and how they sound ! Lets go on a train adventure together.
Pick out your favourite train and send in some lovely pictures !!
Perhaps you could do some ROLE PLAY and be a train driver and send in a video !! Don't forget your tickets !!!! TOOT TOOT !
We are back to Monday again and our story today is all about TRAINS !
There are lots of different types of trains and in our story you will get to see what they look like, what they do and how they sound ! Lets go on a train adventure together.
Pick out your favourite train and send in some lovely pictures !!
Perhaps you could do some ROLE PLAY and be a train driver and send in a video !! Don't forget your tickets !!!! TOOT TOOT !
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Storytime with Karla
Happy Friday!!!
Today's story is called 'The Naughty Tortoise'.
Do you have any pets? If you could choose one pet what would you choose?
Today's task is to draw a picture of your favourite pet (real or imaginary). Send your pictures to earlystart@virginmarybns.ie.
Today's story is called 'The Naughty Tortoise'.
Do you have any pets? If you could choose one pet what would you choose?
Today's task is to draw a picture of your favourite pet (real or imaginary). Send your pictures to earlystart@virginmarybns.ie.
Fine Motor Fun 6/5/20
Ever wondered why the children have the choice to play with playdough every single day in Earlystart?? Or why you see the children using tweezers, pipettes and threading and beading regularly. All of these activities help to strengthen the muscles in children’s hands. In order to learn how to write and draw the hands must first be strong enough so that they can hold crayons and pencils.
Fine motor skills are also important because they help your child to be independent too. Strong hands are needed to be able to zip a coat, button trousers and to even open a door.
Each Wednesday we will upload some FINE MOTOR FUN that will help to strengthen your child’s hands.
Our first game is THE PEG GAME. The children have played a version of this game in school already. All they need to do is clip the pegs onto the side of a bowl or a cup and when they are finished unclip them too! Try to make sure that they are using the correct fingers when doing it too.
If your child is finding the game really difficult only give them 4 pegs but play the game every day. That way their hands will get strong but they won’t get discouraged. Next week you can give them 5 pegs and the following week 6 pegs etc
If your child finds the game easy, give them lots of pegs and then start changing the game up.
Feel free to create your own peg games and play them too. All these games will help strengthen your child’s hands and get them ready for writing!
You never know, if they get really good at using the pegs they might even help you to hang up the washing!! :)
Fine motor skills are also important because they help your child to be independent too. Strong hands are needed to be able to zip a coat, button trousers and to even open a door.
Each Wednesday we will upload some FINE MOTOR FUN that will help to strengthen your child’s hands.
Our first game is THE PEG GAME. The children have played a version of this game in school already. All they need to do is clip the pegs onto the side of a bowl or a cup and when they are finished unclip them too! Try to make sure that they are using the correct fingers when doing it too.
If your child is finding the game really difficult only give them 4 pegs but play the game every day. That way their hands will get strong but they won’t get discouraged. Next week you can give them 5 pegs and the following week 6 pegs etc
If your child finds the game easy, give them lots of pegs and then start changing the game up.
- Game 1: Clip pegs onto a bowl and unclip them.
- Game 2: Have number cards (start with just numbers 1 and 2) pick a card and clip that amount of pegs onto the bowl. Pick another card and clip that amount of pegs on a bowl, keep playing until all the pegs are on the bowl, then pick a card and remove that amount of pegs etc
- Game 3: Draw numbers on pegs. (Start with just number 1 and 2 and make sure the children can recognise them before adding anymore numbers). Tell them to find all the number 1’s and clip them onto the bowl. Find all the number 2’s and clip them on.
- Game 4: If they can recognise all the numbers 1-5 then you could ask them to clip them in the right order onto the bowl.
Feel free to create your own peg games and play them too. All these games will help strengthen your child’s hands and get them ready for writing!
You never know, if they get really good at using the pegs they might even help you to hang up the washing!! :)
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Storytime with Karen
Hi boys and girls. We hope you had a lovely weekend and are ready to listen to another story ! You are all at home with your families right now and that's what our story is all about today... a family. Its called
MY FUNNY FAMILY. I wonder what kind of family you have? Do you have any pets? Who lives in your house? Maybe you can draw a picture to show us who is in your family. You can send any pictures to earlystart@virginmarybns.ie
MY FUNNY FAMILY. I wonder what kind of family you have? Do you have any pets? Who lives in your house? Maybe you can draw a picture to show us who is in your family. You can send any pictures to earlystart@virginmarybns.ie
A beautiful response to My Funny Family by one of our earlystart children.
Storytime with Karla
Good morning everyone! Karen and I miss you all. We thought you might like to hear some new stories!! Our first story is called George's first day at playgroup. In it Peppa paints a picture of a flower and George paints a picture of a dinosaur. Could you draw us a picture of a flower or a dinosaur?Please send a picture of any drawings to earlystart@virginmarybns.ie we would love to see them!
We love seeing photographs of our Earlystart children doing their work! Look at this beautiful flower that our friend drew! It's just like Peppa's!!!
We love seeing photographs of our Earlystart children doing their work! Look at this beautiful flower that our friend drew! It's just like Peppa's!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL.
We would like to welcome back everyone after the Christmas break and look forward to lots more learning and fun in 2020 !!
Thank you , Thank you for coming to see our First Nativity !!!
Congratulation and a big well done to Early Start who performed ' Our First Nativity play '. The children looked great in their costumes, said their lines and sang out really well. No stage fright here !!!! It was a great success and the children enjoyed learning the Nativity Story. Thanks to all the parents and family members who came along to support them. We hope you all enjoyed the show.
Santa came to Early Start
The children were surprised on party day with a visit from Santa Claus. He rang his bell coming down the corridor and the children couldn't believe he was here. He came with a large sack of presents and each child was called up to receive their gift and have a photo taken. We sang a song for Santa and then the children opened and played with their presents. There was great excitement in the Early Start Classroom ! Below are some photos of the day.
Christmas in Early Start.
The children are busy making lots of Christmas arts and crafts. They painted and decorated Christmas trees, made reindeer/trees using lolly pop sticks, a glitter Christmas stocking and created their snowmen using chalk for the outline and glued on white paper cuttings.
Nativity
Our First Nativity Play is well under way. The children have been learning their lines, practicing songs and trying on costumes in the run up to next Wednesday. We hope you can all come support the children and enjoy Our First Nativity.
Nativity
Our First Nativity Play is well under way. The children have been learning their lines, practicing songs and trying on costumes in the run up to next Wednesday. We hope you can all come support the children and enjoy Our First Nativity.
Messy/Sensory play
Dont you just love sensory play?? Children get to experience orbeez water beads, baking soda slime, kinetic sand, water, playdough, paint, clay, rice trays, and sand. They enjoy pouring, filling, feeling, making, creating, building and using their imagination. Sensory play is very hands on and tactile and is an Early Science Activity.
Hard at work
Some of the afternoon children working on following trails. These handy pouches allow children to use special markers that wipe off easily so they can repeat the exercise a few times before moving on to the next sheet. This exercise helps with pencil control and hand and eye co-ordination.
Halloween activities
The children enjoyed many activities during the Halloween week. They made ghosts and Frankenstein footprints, enjoyed making potions in the potion lab, exploring hidden items in goblin guts, freeing spiders from frozen skulls, carving pumpkins, building houses for witches, reading scary stories, scary pumpkin poems, matching Halloween shadows, painting and sticking activities, singing songs and watching Halloween songs on the white board. They finished off the week dressing up, a party with some goodies.
Here are a selection of photos taken during the week
Here are a selection of photos taken during the week
Halloween
We hope you all had a wonderful spooky Halloween. Here are photos of the children in their costumes.
Activity Time
We have lots of activities in the classroom such as painting, sticking, colouring, fine manipulative activities, hand and eye co-ordination, jigsaws, construction play, Imagination/creativity, playdough, role play and sand. The children are loving all activities and getting a wide variety of play experiences. Click below on the slideshow and have a look !!
Fun in the yard
Here is a collection of photos of the children having fun out in the yard. The children love the freedom outdoor play gives them. We played in the bark covered areas for the first few weeks. Children enjoyed the new mud kitchens, pots and pans and small spades for scooping. They used their imagination to make mud and bark dinners ! Some children enjoyed playing with dinosaurs and cars and some relaxed on the bench. We played hide and seek and hid various items and enjoyed catching some bubbles in the wind.
Group work in Early Start
Every day the children get to work in groups. This is very important as children will learn how to work together with peers , turn take, share and get valuable language practice as groups are small. We use various visuals, props, songs, stories, posters and games to teach the children about the themes. Our first theme is all about ourselves and our body. The children enjoyed decorating their own character and we displayed them outside the classroom. Please stop and take a look ! We learned all about feelings and the children had fun creating and drawing faces on templates using whiteboard markers. We practiced drawing happy, sad and cross faces !
Each week the children explore a colour table. we play colour games to recap and reinforce language around colour. We have explored the colours red, yellow, blue and green.
Each week the children explore a colour table. we play colour games to recap and reinforce language around colour. We have explored the colours red, yellow, blue and green.
Free Play
Here are some photos taken during the first few weeks. The children are free playing and have the choice to move freely around the classroom, engaging in play, making friends, exploring, discovering, laughing, and most importantly......having fun !!!
Making friends and settling in.
The first few weeks can always be unsettling especially when children don't know their surroundings. We set up the classroom with a variety of toys, small world, cars, sand, construction, home corner and different tabletop activities. This gave the children lots to choose from and the freedom to choose what they liked and where they felt most comfortable. Some children took a week to settle and there were a few tears so a big thank you to the parents for being patient and trusting that given some time, their children would settle and feel safe and happy. We begin with a WELCOME SONG each day and each child puts up their photo. The children are getting to know one another and getting use to the daily routine.