Reception Topics

It is really important that your Foundation Stage teachers are not put off by the label ‘history’. They could quite rightly argue that the word does not exist in their Early Years curriculum. On the other hand, few will resist the need to talk about ‘the past’ and to help children grasp the notion of evidence. Indeed, they can make little progress in history if these early concepts are not laid down.

This section offers a few simple lessons which deal with the main concepts, viz:

• there was a past we talk about ‘then and now’
• life in the past was different from the present but is still recognisable in many respects
• we can look for clues from the past to help work out what it was like

Polly put the kettle on. Learning about then and now, past and present

This is one of a series of 3 separate sessions on different nursery rhymes, building up children's understanding of the concept of past and present and giving them a vocabulary to describe the past.  The focus is on developing the idea that there was a...

Read more

Using nursery rhymes to develop thinking skills in YR: Jack and Jill and the Queen of Hearts

This lesson was kindly provided by David Cowie and his team at Ringwood Infants C of E School.  Their theme for a three week block was Nursery Rhymes.  Particular sessions were used to trial specific thinking skills approaches.  In this case they looked at Jack...

Read more

Teaching Myself – Muddled Bags

As you would expect, it is far better to start with the children themselves and images of them growing up, before moving on to look at two or more generations, which fits more naturally into Year 2. With Myself the focus must be not only...

Read more

Comparing different nursery rhymes: Wee Willie Winkie

This fun lesson uses images and very simple text as well as artefacts. It provides an essential grounding in an understanding of the concepts of 'then and now', and a 'long time ago. The use of simple artefacts makes the lesson come alive for pupils...

Read more

Teaching Nursery Rhymes to Key Stage 1

This topic is extremely well suited to children in Year R as part of the Foundation stage curriculum. Not only does it help children to grasp the difference between past and present, it also opens up vital areas of vocabulary which children will need to...

Read more