Please keep an eye on this page for class updates or notices. From time to time, I will update you on topics/themes we are covering in class and ways you can help your child at home.
If there is something in particular you would like advice on and you do not have time to stay and chat, I can help you out here by leaving an audio or a video. All queries will be dealt with anonymously but will help many please God.
Below are some ideas to help you reinforce your child’s current word list. Repetition and fun are key to learning.
Word lists or Tricky words
Some ideas you can try out at home.
Reading time at home.
Reading and listening to stories is hugely important for every child, to develop both their oral (spoken) language skills and aural phonological awareness skills (their ability to hear sounds in words/break up words/recognise rhyming words and so on)
The benefits of regular, daily reading/listening to reading will later on translate also into your child’s creative writing. But at first, one step at a time!
Predicting is an important skill when reading. Through questioning, at the start and throughout the story, you can illicit from your child what they think will happen in the story. You are all the time extending their language and encouraging a broader use of rich vocabulary.
Below are some ideas to try the next time you read with your child, whether it is a book from school or one you have at home.
After reading the story, you can check your child’s comprehension (understanding) of the text. Why did Mum put on her coat? What did she buy in the shop? Why was she late? What would you have done if you were mum?
It is important that reading is a stress free time with you and your child. Have lots of fun!
Jolly Phonics♥
Junior Infants have just started their Jolly phonics programme. The programme is a child friendly approach to literacy. The children are taught 42 sounds in a specific order ( not alphabetically) and each sound has an action and short song to go with it. This enables the children to begin building words as soon as possible.
There are 5 skills taught throughout the programme.
They are : Letter sounds including digraphs such as sh, ai, th, …
Letter formation – It is very important that children start in correct spot. This may be different to how you learned how to write. Tracing letters in sand, sugar, on sandpaper, on someone’s back and in shaving foam are great ways to reinforce the formation.
Blending– Children will gradually learn to push the sounds they learn together to hear/make and write words.
Identifying sounds in words -Listening to sounds in words gives children the best start for improving spelling.
Tricky words – Tricky words cannot be sounded out and that is why they are tricky! So these words need to be learned separately just by looking at them. Games to help this are mentioned above.
There are many Youtube clips to help you at home with formation and sounds. There are also wonderful Jolly Phonics apps available at a small cost. I am not saying to purchase them but I am just making you aware they are available.
In school we will learn these sounds in a multi sensory way and each sound is revised every time we move on to a new sound. It is lots of fun and I hope you have fun at home too!
Group 1 songs
Below is a fun activity to help with articulation/pronunciation.
Below are some links to some wonderful games which help with many areas of Maths.
Each week in school, we reinforce the skills of counting, number recognition, sequencing, ordering, comparing and much more. It would be beneficial to your child to also reinforce these on a regular basis at home. 10 or 15 mins. a day, a few times a week, would make a huge difference. Please remember to monitor your child’s use of technology for safety reasons.
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/gingerbread-man-game
Below are websites to keep your child on track in relation to reading and Maths also and are lots of fun.
www.topmarks.co.uk Lovely free activities, particularly handy for Maths topics.
www.oxfordowl.co.uk It is a free reading site and has many of the oxford reading tree books we use at school. Just select the correct age category.
Below are the songs and below again are blending activities.(Lovely accent however feel free to mute and ask child to blend themselves.)
A nice tricky word song for list 1
Phonics
Let’s get counting. Something the whole family can do together!
Afterwards, please practice skip counting aloud using your 1c, 2c, 5c and 10c coins. Can you make various amounts such as 5c, 8c, 10c . How many ways are there to make these amounts? Don’t forget to wash your hands thoroughly after!
Science – Friction
Watch these videos.
Think of all the friction you experience throughout the day! Try out some of the experiments at home! Plenty opportunity for great discussions.
Can you draw a picture of a time where friction is working? Label your picture!
Get moving Together!
This guy is doing a workout a day so check him out on youtube! Something for all the family.
We are an Active School;-) Have fun!!!
Simple Maths using Cards.
* I say letter formation at end of video. I meant to say number formation. However practice of both is encouraged:-)
Science – Light and Shadows
After watching the above video clip, I would like you to find items around your own home with an adult.
Activity 1 Sort items into sets of Transparent, Opaque and Translucent.
Then, in a space that has good light, explore the shadows your chosen items make.
What happens when you bring your object closer to/further away from the light source?
If day is dull and you have a torch, explore using that instead.
Activity 2 Try making some shadows with your body/hands? Ask someone to trace around your shadow outside with chalk. (You will need a bright sunny day for this…fingers crossed)
If you return to that same spot 2 hours later, is your shadow in the same place or has it moved? Why do you think this is? Lots of opportunity for questioning, discussion and exploration. Have fun!
Development – Can you and your family create a new game using a ball? Think outside the box!
Please go over as often as you possibly can.
MATHS
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/helicopter-rescue
After finding numbers (red section) move on to the count on and back section(blue). It is important that children familiarise themselves with the language associated with Maths.
Children can also revise their money using both of these games.
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/money/coins-game
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/money/toy-shop-money
Please ensure you select EU flag to access euro coin version.
Gaeilge
Cluiche 1
Fiche Cheist (or 20 questions in Irish)
Riallacha
Person A writes or draws an object/animal or thing on sheet or mini whiteboard. (if you have headbanz game at home, use the cards) Rest of household ask a question as Gaeilge. See sample questions below.
Person A can only answer
Tá. (yes)
Níl. (no)
Is deacair a rá. (It’s difficult to say).
Uaireannta. (sometimes)
Beagnach (almost)
Tá sé reasunta fuar, etc. (It’s reasonably cold, etc.)
Family have 20 questions to figure out what person drew . The fun part is you might have to dramatize or act out the question, so they understand what you are asking.
You could make a competition out of it, by having person B and C compete to figure it out first , alternating who asks questions.
Sample questions
An bhfuil sé –Is it ___
beo? (alive) Always a good one to start with!!!!
fuar? (cold) te? (hot) fliuch? (wet) tirim? (dry) dorcha? (dark) geal? (bright) bán? (white) dubh? (black) dearg? (red) gorm? (blue) buí? (yellow)
bog? (soft)crua? (hard) glan? (clean) salach? (dirty) milis? (sweet) mór? (big) beag? (small) ard (tall) sean (old) nua (new ) óg (young)
An bhfuil sé —-Is it
níos mó ná (bigger than) chomh beag le (as small as) níos lú ná (smaller than)…….
An bhfuil sé déanta as –Is it made out of?
adhmad? (made of wood) miotal (metal) eadach (cloth) gloine (glass)
An bhfuil sé sa –Is it in the
seomra ranga? (in the classroom) sa teach(in the house) Amuigh (outside) Sa chistin (in the kitchen ) Sa seomra suí (sitting room) sa gháirdín (in the garden) Ar an fheirm ( on the farm) Sa Zú (in the zoo)
An ____é? Is it a ____
cóta (a coat) clog (a clock) leabhar (a book) pictiúr (a picture) páipéar (a paper, newspaper) bord (a table) buidéal (a bottle) forc (a fork) cupán (a cup) bía (food) mála (a bag) peann (a pen) fón (a phone) bosca (a box) scáthán(a mirror) fáinne (a ring) scian (a knife) spúnóg (a spoon) deoch (a drink) cathaoir (a chair) fuinneoig (a window) bróg (a shoe) bó (a cow)
Cluiche 2
Guess who/ Cé tusa? (if you have game in house or if not, perhaps you have an array of figurines/toy characters)
Guess who is a great way to get the children to use the language based around hair colour, eye colour etc. A little pre teaching of the questions beforehand is all that is needed or you can point to objects around house or yourselves when asking to aid understanding.
Here are some ideas of questions:
- An cailín í? Is it a girl?
- An buachaill é?Is it a boy?
- An bhfuil gruaig ________ air/uirthi? (donn, dubh, fionn, rua, fada, gear, catach)
Do they have ______hair? (brown, black, fair, red , long, short, curly)
- An bhfuil sé maol? Is he bald?
An bhfuil hata air / uirthi? Does he/she have a hat?
An bhfuil speaclai air/uirthi? Does he she have glasses?
- An bhfuil súile _________ aige/aici? (donn, gorm, glas, hazel)
- Does he /she have _____eyes? (brown, blue, green, hazel)
Below is a snippet of me using a Gaeilge interactive game site I stumbled upon, designed for 1st class upwards but EC1 could certainly be trialled for Infant level. Apologies as it is a northern accent and different canúint but these resources for Gaeilge are few and far between and its a nice one. Can be played on Phone or tablet.
Link below video
Link for Junior Infants to Second Class
http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/snas_ar_sceal/cluichi-ec1/
ENGLISH
A game that we have been enjoying in our house is an old one but a good one. It is called Stop the Bus or as we always called it ‘Boy Girl’. Below is a sample of a sheet but you get to design your own at home. All you need is pen and paper .Usually we use the categories Boy (name), Girl (name) animal , food, drink, colour, place , clothes , object. The great thing is you can make it as simple or as challenging as you want. Little ones can partner with an older person if they find it too difficult on their own but I would definitely give them a chance on their own and perhaps set a time to the round eg 3mins rather than someone calling stop the bus. Build up confidence that way. 
It is a great game for categorisation, slightly addictive and so much fun for all the family.
Rules -One person says the alphabet with inner voice, someone says stop and whatever letter the person stopped on is the letter for that round. Everyone then has to write down something starting with that letter in each category . Whoever completes all categories first shouts ‘Stop the bus 12345678910′ . (Or as I mentioned above, set a time on the round)
You then call out all your answers in turns. 10 points for all correct answers, only 5 if someone has same answer as you, 20 if you are the only one to get an answer in a particular category. We’ ve been having so much fun with this game in our house and I hope you will too!
