Download the recipe here: Oaty Banana Cookies

Kaida, our very own dragon maths mascot, will guide your child in learning all things mathematics, from numbers and shapes to space and measure.
Kaida’s Challenge is designed to foster co-operation skills, build relationships and connections, and nurtures a positive attitude towards learning as your child plays with others, navigates turn taking and takes on each of the challenges.

Before playing for the first time, prepare your counters 0 – 5. Add stickers to 6 of your counters. Place a sticker with the number on one side of each counter, and a sticker with the corresponding number of dots on the reverse side.

Dragons challenge 1

• Collect 4 objects
• Complete 5 star jumps
• Place a favourite toy ‘under’ a chair
• Build a small tower, then build an even bigger tower
• Point out a circle shaped object from around the home.
  For example: a circle clockface or plate
• Collect 3 objects and place them in height order, shortest to tallest

Dragons challenge 2

• Collect 5 objects and place them in weight order, lightest to heaviest
• Repeat a made-up action pattern.
  For example: Clap, clap, tap your knees, tap your knees, stomp stomp
• Collect 3 items, add 2 more, how many items do you have now?
• Fill a container with a range of objects and guess how many are inside.
  Once you’ve made your prediction – check!
• Find a square shaped object and a triangle shaped object from around the home – go, go, go!
• Show 2 counters in a pile, next to 4 counters in pile. Which is more?

Dragons challenge 3

• Using your Dragon Maths board, place your age in counters on the board, using the song, add 10. How old will you be in 10 year’s time?
• Predict how many steps to takes to get from the living room to the kitchen?
  Once you’ve made your prediction – test it out!
• Count backwards from 5 or even 10. Make it fun using different voices!
• Collect 5 objects, can you match to your number 5 counter? Repeat using 2 objects etc.
• Place a favourite toy ‘between’ 2 objects
• Order your number counters from 0 to 5. What number comes next?

Our very own mathematics programme designed to give your child a strong foundation in numeracy.

Dragon Maths will guide your child in taking their first steps in learning to count, develop their understanding of numbers, and will introduce your child to solving basic addition and subtraction problems in a fun and creative way.

Watch the video to learn how to play!

Our programme is designed to support your child in taking their first steps in learning to read and to ignite a love for books that lasts a lifetime. Our goal is to nurture a passion for reading, to build healthy reading habits for school and beyond.

Programme overview
To learn to read children need to know which letters (graphemes) correspond to which sounds (phonemes).

Letter sounds are not introduced in alphabetical order, but in an order that allows children to blend sounds together to start to read first words more easily. For example, once your child is confident with the sounds s, a, t, p, i, n, m and d, they can start to blend these together to read words like it, in, is, am, at, sat and pat.

Some words cannot be decoded using phonic methods, these are known as harder to read and spell words, or tricky words. We teach these words through sight recognition. Keep an eye out for the * symbol in our resources to identify these words.

How to use the sound sets

Show your child each letter sound, modelling its sound, not its name. Encourage your child to repeat the sound back to you. Play games in short, fun sessions as new letter sounds are introduced. For example:

Sound hunt – find objects around the home that start with the new sound.

I spy – play I spy to spot items that begin with that sound.

Hide and seek – hide cards around the home for your child to discover.

Storybook search – look for letter sounds in your favourite storybooks.

Once your child is confident with sound set 1, it’s time to dive into word bank 1. Progress through each sound set and the corresponding word bank, from 1 – 7. You’ll notice we’ve colour coded sets for ease.

How to use the word banks

Show your child each word, modelling how to read by segmenting into individual sounds, then blending sounds together. Encourage your child to do the same, running your finger under each sound in turn as a guide.

As new words are introduced, focus on vocabulary. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for words marked with a * to identify words that are harder to read and spell.

Once your child is confident with word bank 1, jump to sound set 2. Progress through each sound set and the corresponding word bank, from 1 – 7.

For correct pronunciation, checkout the guidance on the back of each card, or listen to the sound buttons below:

Sound Set 1

s

a

t

p

i

n

m

d

Sound Set 2

g

o

c

k

ck

e

u

r

Sound Set 3

h

b

f

ff

l

ll

ss

j

v

w

x

y

z

zz

qu

Sound Set 4

ch

sh

th

ng

Sound Set 5

ee

oa

oo

ar

ai

Sound Set 6

er

ow

or

ur

oi

Sound Set 7

igh

ear

air

ure

Reading journal

Your child’s reading journal captures their early reading progress. This journal will keep you updated on letter sounds your child is practising at nursery, so you can focus on these at home. Your key person will share book titles for home reading and will provide further ideas to enhance your child’s reading experience. We love for parents to participate by adding comments too!

In addition, the journal provides useful information as your child begins the programme, with details on:

• Pre-reading skills
• How to support your child in learning to read at home
• Understanding reading book bandings

Let the reading adventures begin!

For more information, please speak to your key person or Head of Early Years Practice

You will need:

A container (like an old yogurt pot), cotton wool balls, cress seeds and a splash of water.

Before opening your seeds, support your child to decorate their container. Add facial features using a photograph, or collage materials. You could cut a piece of card just big enough to wrap round your container, stick down, then encourage your child to decorate by painting or drawing a funny face.

How to grow your own cress head

1. Wet the cotton wool balls and place into your container, so three quarters full.
2. Sprinkle a generous amount of cress seeds on top. Don’t be shy – these seeds like to crowd!
3. Gently press the seeds down. No need to bury them, a light pat will do.
4. Place in a sunny spot or near a bright window and watch your cress grow. From around 7 – 10 days you should see your cress popping up!
5. Check on your cress daily, keep moist, but not soggy. Lightly spray with water if the cotton wool looks like its drying out.
6. Once your cress has grown to about 2 -3 inches, it’s time to trim a crazy haircut. Snip the top of your cress with scissors, then add to a delicious sandwich, salad or scatter over soup – yummy!

To add to the fun, why not grow your own cress family with each family member taking care of their own crazy cress head.

Curious questions

Planting and growing is a great way to spark curiosity. Handling seeds and observing changes can lead to curious questions and a deeper interest in the natural world.

Here are some questions to get your child thinking:

Where does food come from?

How big do you think the cress will grow?

What do you see happening to the seeds?

What do you think would happen if we forgot to water the cress?

Do you think animals eat plants like cress?

What could we do with the cress once its grown?

What would you like to call your crazy cress head?