Guest Posted October 28, 2003 Posted October 28, 2003 Hi there, Anybody got any ideas for a topic that i have never covered before BABIES? this is for a reception class. any good books that i could use as a basis? or websites where i could get any ideas?
Guest Candy Posted November 3, 2003 Posted November 3, 2003 Hi Sarah, My advice would be if you are starting a topic on babies, begin with the real thing. If you can get a Mum who has just had a baby to come into class with their child to talk about the things they need to do to look after him/her. Many children in Reception will have knowledge of babies because of younger brothers and sisters, but don't be surprised if a lot of children don't know much at all. I know when I was on maternity leave with my first child, I came back to school for the day and did that talk in front of 90 children! I know it was a big group, and if I could have reduced the number I would have, but honestly you could have heard a pin drop during my little talk. While I had the children, I got out a huge basket of items and we sorted things that the baby needed and things that she didn't need. In the basket were things like bottles, nappies, baby cream, wipes as well as mobile phones, lipstick, soft drinks, shoes, and a bag of crisps. I also talked about the things my daughter could and couldn't do, and the way she told me what she needed (crying). While I was doing that part of the talk I undressed Megan and gave her a bath in the class (and obviously dressed her again). The children in that year group are in the junior school now, and when I get a chance to go back and visit they still remind me of that day. It was one of the reasons my husband and I didn't send our daughter to that school. We didn't want the older children to be able to say to her one day "I saw your bum!" As for books, there is an excellent book called Happy Birth Day! by Robie H. Harris (ISBN 0-7445-5264-8) which as you would expect tells a story of a baby being born. Personally, I love the book, but a few of my friends think the illustrations are a bit too realistic. Good luck, and enjoy the topic, it's a lovely one!
mundia Posted November 4, 2003 Posted November 4, 2003 Ask the children to bring in photos of when they were babaies and get them to work out who is who. The children absolutely love this!!
Guest Posted November 4, 2003 Posted November 4, 2003 Thanks Mundia i have just sent out a letter today asking for photos and 'baby bits' Must have been reading your mind!!! sarah
Guest Posted November 5, 2003 Posted November 5, 2003 Remember to involve the staff - ask them to bring in their baby photos - I have done this a number of times and the children are sooo surprised to see we were babies too!
Guest Cath Posted November 5, 2003 Posted November 5, 2003 There's a non-fiction big book called 'My History' (can't remember author/publisher) which uses vocab now/then . As well as inviting mum and baby in , we set up a clinic. Didn't visit clinic this time but is definitely good idea if you can (makes their role play more meaningful) Have fun!
Lorna Posted November 7, 2003 Posted November 7, 2003 we incorparate the topic babies into the topic ourselves.... A good activity for the water tray is to have baby dolls and get the children to bath them... what do they need to do etc. I did a sorting activity things we need now and things we needed as a baby. I also asked the children if a baby could come to school and why... this proved interesting and the children thought I had gone completely mad asking such a thing. Lorna
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