Chinese New Year

Display and Resources

This year (2013), Chinese New Year is Sunday 10th February, although celebrations will take place for the entire weekend. I will be teaching the children about Chinese New Year the week commencing 11th February.

I do enjoy sharing Chinese New Year with the children in school. They have already explored Christmas and New Year a month before so are open to understanding that in China they celebrate New Year at a different time.

Chinese New Year is an excellent way to explore new cultures and talk about different ways of life. There are so many different resources and learning opportunities, there is even a story!

This is the Chinese New Year display in my classroom, it’s almost taking over one wall!

I am very fortunate to have a mother-in-law who can send me beautiful Chinese artefacts to show the children but there are a number of shops in my area which can supply easy to find resources.

You can also find resources for Chinese New Year from learning libraries.

I bought a number of the resources I use in my classroom from the China town in Birmingham.

I’m going to talk about the resources I have in my classroom based on the best of my ability, however if I say anything wrong, please leave a comment and let me know!

Learning Through Play

It’s about Developing Knowledge

I’m having a bit of a preach I’m afraid.

Members of staff working with older children can often think that all we do in the foundation stage is play.

I have told the children in my class that we work with the toys in the classroom, and the head teacher will tell me off if I let them play when it’s not play time. The children now delight in correcting me if I say ‘play’ by accident.

Children in the foundation stage work very hard when they are playing. They are developing relationships with other children, learning about who they are and how they relate to other people. If they actually do the activity as it is intended, they will be learning about numbers, shapes, writing, sounds and ICT.

The role of the Learning Through Play Manager is essential for ensuring that the goals in the Early Years Foundation Stage are met. It is not all about teaching knowledge but it is also about developing that knowledge.