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Edition19

Directors NewsSparkwellWoodlandsSchool ClubLee MillChaddlewoodMike's Meal - Vegetable StewMontessori Information - PinkTowerParenting Advice - DummiesStaff NewsDates for your diaryOctober News

Thank you once again for your patience andsupport during this very challenging time, weshare your frustrations with the testing systemand the length of time the turnaround can bebefore the results are received. Hopefully it willimprove soon. We also appreciate you notsending your children to the nurseries whenthey are unwell whether COVID related or not.This helps to not only prevent the spread ifinfection but also helps our teams remainhealthy and to keep the nurseries operating. All our settings spend a lot of time outsideregardless of the weather and there have beenmany puddle jumping days and leaf collectingopportunities. After the half term we are hoping theolder children at Chaddlewood can begin Welliewalks to the woods and local fields. Stay safe, well and look after each other.Repairs and renovations have continued at thesettings with Sparkwell having a new fence fitted andmain door. Chaddlewood have had their outdoorshed, mud kitchen and bench stained and a newextractor fan fitted in the kitchen. At Woodlands thereis a new bin store, the children’s bench has had a lickof paint and the book area has had a revamp. Lee Millhas the remaining lino being fitted to the entranceareas this week. School club has had a large order ofnew resources to support their new way of workingwith bubbles. Our teams are working very hard to ensure thechildren in the nurseries and at school club arehaving a thoroughly enjoyable time. Autumn is such avibrant colourful time of year with an abundance ofcelebrations leading up to Christmas. It has beenlovely to see the activities that have been on offer andall the wonderful creative experiences the childrenhave been having.Tracey and Caroline

The under 2's have been learning about animals (one of their recentkey interests!). They have learnt about them through play puzzles,books and songs. The 'That's not my squirrel' book was a firmfavourite!The children have particularly enjoyed the creative activities this monthsuch as using clay to make leaf imprints. We have had so much funcreating artwork inspired by the nature surrounding us!CharlotteThis month we have been pumpkin carving, scooping and exploring thesenses in association with the pumpkins. The children explored whatthey smell like, the way it feels and what noises they can make with thepumpkins. They used different utensils to carve and scoop thepumpkins, focussing on their fine motor skills.

October has flown by, we have squeezed so much in!We have celebrated harvest by learning about lots of different types of vegetables, where they comefrom and how they are grown. We then had our own harvest lunch by making homemade bread andsoup with the children, It was delicious! We are preparing to enjoy a day all about halloween. We will be making pumpkin pictures, carvingpumpkins, exploring spaghetti trays and having fun. We have been focusing our circle times on being kind and about how we are feeling as well as others.We have a new book called ‘The colour monster’ and we are really enjoying reading it most days andlearning about feelings and how to express them. We have been on many adventures, collecting all of the fallen leaves, conkers and twigs and exploringthem in our sensory tray. Now that the end of the year is near we are very excited to plan for christmas,I wonder what we have up our sleeves...Hannah

This month we have purchased more games and equipment to cater to the interests of the individualbubbles such as role play equipment, football themed games and art supplies.A constant favourite this month has been painting and arts and crafts. We have made masks out of paperplates and even went on a search outside to find lots of different shaped leaves to do some leaf printing.We have been making the most of the fresh clear evenings by getting outside for a run around and somefresh air after snack. We are looking forward to welcoming Rowena to our team, she will be working monday to thursday. We can't wait for you all to meet her! Breakfast and After School ClubGemma

October has been such an exciting month! The over two year oldshave been focussing on lots of seeds and bulbs, going out in allweathers to explore and plant as much as they can. Inside wehave been exploring all of the exciting activities that Gabi hasbeen making for us. They have been so interesting andeducational. We celebrated our harvest festival with a yummy vegetable soupmade by Mike and home made bread rolls and rhubarb crumblemade by the children! They got to make their own placemats too,we had a lovely time.On the under twos side we have been doing a focussed story/song/rhyme of the week, the children havebeen really enjoying learning all the new words and the sensory trays to go with the theme. We havebeen doing lots of Makaton and exploring. The under two’s have been having so much fun, baking,dancing, painting and so much more!Briony

It’s amazing what you can do with pumpkins and squashes! Wehave compared the sizes, matched to picture cards, rolled them,painted on them, hammered golf tees in them and madedelicious pumpkin soup. We still have lots more planned. We have shared the story “Stone Soup” and acted out making asoup from a stone, plus all the vegetables the villagers end updonating, enough to feed the village. We are collecting for theShekinah Mission in Plymouth as we remember not everyone hasenough to eat.We have continued exploring our featured artists and JacksonPollock has inspired flick painting, painting with sticks and afirm favourite painting from height (stood on a bench flickingthe paint). Our Chihuly inspired sculpture hangs proudly in theart room made from recycled bottles. The children shookacrylic paint inside the bottles which then dried.The babies are enjoying a focussed story, rhyme and coloureach week and plenty of sensory fun including lots of paintingopportunities and tasting a selection of fruits.A favourite song has been “Jumping up and down on thebig red tractor” with all children eager to join in and picka colour for the tractor. The confidence of the childrenhas grown with their singing and they are keen to standand sing a song to their friends and of course theyalways have a round of applause. Tracey

Vegetable StewFinely chop 3 onions and 1 head of celery and sweat in some hot oil. Add in 3 large diced carrots and bottom of a butternut squash andcook out a little bit. Add in some tomato purée and a bit of veg stock and leave to cookout then add salt and more veg stock. Add in 1 diced sweet potato and 3 regular potatoes. Boil a swede and once soft mash in the water and add all to pot. Add in fresh thyme and gravy Top up with water if needs be.1 tablespoon Cooking oil 3 Onions1 head of Celery3 large CarrotsBottom of a Butternut SquashTomato puréeVegetable StockSalt1 Sweet potato3 Potatoes 1 SwedeThymeGravyMike's MealsIngredientsMethod

The Montessori Pink Tower is one of the first pieces of thesensorial equipment children are introduced to. It is made up of10 cm pink wooden cubes ranging from 1cm cubed to 10 cmcubed, differing in 3 dimensions. The cubes increase progressively in the algebraic series of thethird power. Maria Montessori was a mathematician andengineer and the equipment she designed is often mathematicaland very precise. The purpose of the activity is to encourage the child to visuallydiscriminate dimensions. It also indirectly supports control ofmovement, increase of concentration, and handeye coordination..A child is invited to explore the tower and shown how tocarry it safely to a mat (the mat defines where the child isexploring and is their space). The child is show how to buildthe tower from the largest to smallest cube.Once a child has been introduced to the pink tower they are freeto explore and repeat the activity whenever they like. They cancombine the tower with other pieces of equipment such asplaying matching games to pink square cards.Montessori InformationPink Tower

DummiesDummiesT O P T I P S T O G E T R I D O F T H E D U M M YDummies provide comfort to a baby or young child however if used for too longthey can effect a child's speech and the development of the muscles in theirmouths. It can be a challenge but so worth it in the end, the NHS advice is to stopgiving your baby a dummy between 6 and 12 months of age. Only use a dummy at sleep times, once a baby or young child is awake thedummy goes into it's special pot. If your child is learning to comfortthemselves they will rely on the dummy less and less.If your older child has a dummy when speaking to them ask them toremove the dummy when they reply to you so their tongue and mouth isnot restricted and the correct shapes are formed when talking. They willtire of having the dummy if they have to keep removing it.Read stories about giving up the dummy, Amazon has a few differentstories and the local library may have some to borrow.If it's Christmas time the dummies could be left for Father Christmas forthe reindeer's (not particularly Montessori but if it works why not!). Becreative what is your child's interest e.g love Spiderman he needs thedummies to save the world.If a relative has a new baby why not suggest the dummies are given to thenew baby.Once you have made the decision to get rid of the dummy be strong andstick to it. It might be tough but you can do it!

Staff NewsVictoria has decided to leave our Sparkwell setting to spend more time at home with her child. Kate atChaddlewood has left the team to work in a school as a teaching assistant. We wish them all the best andthank them for their hard work during their time with us. Charlotte (a second Charlotte) is very excited to be joining the Sparkwell team as their new manager,Charlotte is an early years practitioner with experience managing teams. Rowena is joining school club team after half term for their afternoon sessions. Irina has recently completed Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Children and Young People's MentalHealth, she is now sharing her knowledge with the Woodlands team.I am Tracey's middle daughter and even attended LittleOrchard South Brent when I was (much) younger! I havebeen working with children from a young age. Iregularly helped in the nurseries and volunteered at mylocal Rainbows group through my time at secondary. I am now in my third year at Plymouth Universitystudying Psychology with Sociology. My final project isbased on understanding theory of mind in children andadults, relating to the concept of promises. Throughout my degree I have studied languagedevelopment, attachment, brain development andtheory of mind in children. I believe this gives me agreater understanding of how to interact and help thechildren. The knowledge I have gained from my studieshelps me create stimulating and engaging activities thatare tailored to each stage of development. I love being based at Sparkwell and my favourite part isexploring the outdoor areas with the children! Featured staff member - Alicia

Autumn Term 3rd September-18th DecemberHalf term - Monday 26th October Spring Term 4th January-1st April Half term - Monday 15th February Bank Holiday 2nd April and 5th AprilSummer Term 19 April-27th July (Chaddlewood 16th July) Half Term - Monday 31st May Bank Holiday 3rd May and 31st May We are closed for all Bank Holidays and for approx a week at Christmas.Stretched funding at Chaddlewood does not cover the weeks beginning 21stDecember. Would you like to order a jumper or T shirt for your child in purple with our logo on? Please letus know via email or message on FamlyT Shirt; £6.95Jumper; £8.95Dates For Your DiariesLee Mill - Briony: ivytown@littleorchardmontessori.co.uk Tel: 01752 893498Term Dates for Devon/PlymouthContact DetailsJumper/ T Shirt PurchasesPlease contact managers direct regarding changes to sessions, extra days andholiday notice:Sparkwell- Charlotte: sparkwell@littleorchardmontessori.co.uk  Tel: 01752 837883Woodlands -Hannah:woodlands@littleorchardmontessori.co.uk Tel: 01752 658567Director Caroline:caroline.lucas@littleorchardmontessori.co.ukZara:Invoice queries:admin@littleorchardmontessori.co.uk Tel:07549066082Chaddlewood - Jayne/Flora : chaddlewood@littleorchardmontessori.co.uk Tel: 01752 202193