Dear parents and carers,
We hope your are all keeping well. We have enjoyed seeing all of the photos and videos that you have been sending in via Tapestry! Keep them coming! We hope you have also enjoyed seeing video messages from staff - we plan to send these regularly on Tapestry.
This week we have a challenge focused on storytelling, links to live animal webcams, another app with lots of activity ideas, and links to support both adults and children's mental wellbeing.
Weekly Challenge 2: Storytelling
a) For all ages: can you build a storytelling cubby? Having a cosy space to share books and stories can make it an even more special bonding time. For ideas see:
https://publicdocumentcentre.education.tas.gov.au/Documents/0-4-years-Build-a-cubby-Learning-at-home.pdf
b) For ages 2 and up: 'Helicopter' stories! (this challenge is for adults as much as children!)
'Helicopter stories' is a simple process that we sometimes use at nursery, where the adult writes down the child's story, word for word (this could be just a couple of sentences, or a full page or more!) - you can do this within your cubby! When the story is written, mark out a stage on the floor, and an adult narrates the story, with different children (and any other family members available!) acting out the different characters.
For more details on 'helicopter stories' see:
https://www.makebelievearts.co.uk/helicopterstorieslettingimaginationfly
and for how it can and has been done with 2 year olds: https://www.makebelievearts.co.uk/working-with-two-year-olds
This process helps children's confidence as they see their ideas come to fruition, their interest in writing as they see the power of the written word, and their imagination, vocabulary and understanding of story structures will develop very quickly. Try it a few times and see how your child's stories develop over time!
Links to audiobooks and online books
If you have already read all the books in your house and are looking for more stories - there are lots online!
'Now Press Play', which we use at nursery to listen to stories through headphones, have kindly made some of their stories available for parents: http://nowpressplay.co.uk/learn-at-home/ Password: nowpressplay
This site has online books in 60 languages: http://en.childrenslibrary.org/
This site has lots of free audiobooks https://www.storynory.com/
Spotify has lots of playlists of children's books. (you will have to put up with some adverts) eg https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0oB4OsTkVnUerbU2moieDb
This site is not audiobooks, but videos of actors reading stories, which are quite nice: https://www.storylineonline.net/
Easy Peasy app with daily games
Easypeasy is a web app that sends high -quality activity ideas for parents and young children to your phone every week, designed specifically for parents of 0-5 year olds. They have made their service free for parents until 31st May, you can sign up here: https://www.easypeasyapp.com/parents
Watch live animals at aquariums and zoos
Lots of aquariums and zoos around the world have opened up their live webcams for you to see - here are just a couple of examples!
Aquarium: https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/live-cams
Dublin Zoo: https://www.dublinzoo.ie/animals/animal-webcams/ - my favourite is the penguins
Supporting mental wellbeing
For adults: Every Mind Matters has now released expert advice and top tips on how to look after your mental wellbeing if you need to stay at home during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. It also includes guidance if you’re feeling worried or anxious about the outbreak. Please visit: www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/
For children: https://mindup.org.uk/mindup-activities/
And finally, a nice video on our current situation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA_SsZFYw0w&feature=youtu.be&app=desktop
Best wishes to all of you,
Clapton Park Children's Centre
Cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Cookies are widely used by online service providers in order to (for example) make their websites or services work, or to work more efficiently, as well as to provide reporting information.
Cookies set by the website owner or service provider (in this case, eSchools) are called “first party cookies”. Cookies set by parties other than the website owner are called “third party cookies”. Third party cookies enable third party features or functionality to be provided on or through the website or service you are using (such as advertising, interactive content and analytics). The third parties that set these third party cookies can recognise your computer both when it visits the website or service in question and also when it visits certain other websites or services.
We use first party and third party cookies for several reasons. Some cookies are required for technical reasons in order for our Services to operate, and we refer to these as “essential” cookies. Other cookies enable us and the third parties we work with to track and target the interests of visitors to our Services, and we refer to these as “advertising” or “analytical” cookies. For example, the embedding of YouTube and Vimeo videos, as added by individual schools, will require “advertising” cookies to be enabled in order to successfully play them. Schools that, for example, opt to track visitor data using Google Analytics will require “analytical” cookies to be enabled in order to do so. These third party cookies are used to tailor content and information that we may send or display to you and otherwise personalise your experience while interacting with our Services and to otherwise improve the functionality of the Services we provide. We also enable schools to employ cookies and similar tracking technologies in connection with their use of our Services in order to allow them to track visitors to and interactions with their school website.
eSchools websites may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us and to enrich your user experience. The cookies differ depending on the information. You can adapt your cookie preferences, although please note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.
Our Services allows schools to embed code which may potentially contain cookies. Please note embedded content, if displayed on one of our websites, has been added by the school and not by eSchools. The embedded content added by the school may require additional cookies or tracking technologies to be enabled in order to function.
You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. Be aware that cookie preferences are set on a per device basis; therefore you may need to set your preferences on each device you use.
Initial cookie pop-up banner: You can exercise preferences about what cookies are served on our Websites by selecting your preference from this modal which appears upon visiting an eSchools website/login screen and dashboard. You can also change your cookie preferences by clicking on the link on the footer of any page. The banner will reappear annually (August 31st to coincide with the academic year) to confirm your settings.
Browser Controls: You can set or amend your web browser controls to accept or refuse cookies. If you choose to reject cookies, you may still use our Websites though your access to some functionality and areas of our Websites may be restricted. As the means by which you can refuse cookies through your web browser controls vary from browser-to-browser, you should visit your browser’s help menu for more information.
Disabling Most Interest Based Advertising: Most advertising networks offer you a way to opt out of Interest Based Advertising. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing. If you would like to find out more information, please visit aboutads.info/choices or youronlinechoices.com.
Mobile Advertising: You can opt out of having your mobile advertising identifiers used for certain types of Interest Based Advertising, by accessing the settings on your Apple or Android mobile device and following the most recent published instructions. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.
We may update this Cookie Statement from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to the cookies we use or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. Please therefore re-visit this Cookie Statement regularly to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies. The date at the bottom of this Cookie Statement indicates when it was last updated.
If you have any questions about our use of cookies or other technologies, please email us at support@.eschools.co.uk.