Understanding the World

Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community. The frequency and range of children’s personal experiences increases their knowledge and sense of the world around them – from visiting parks, libraries and museums to meeting important members of society such as police officers, nurses and firefighters. In addition, listening to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems will foster their understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world. As well as building important knowledge, this extends their familiarity with words that support understanding across domains. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will support later reading comprehension.

At Hillcross we;

• Provide a wide range of natural materials and resources throughout our continuous provision, both inside and outside, for children to explore freely.

• Provide opportunities to explore our extensive school environment, talking about what we notice and introducing new vocabulary
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• Invite people from our local community in such as PCSO'S, Fire Brigade, Dentists and farms to provide real life opportunities and developing our own questions to help us find out more. 
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• Carry out local visits to supermarkets, post offices, parks and libraries, creating maps and using directional language.

                                               

• Find out about ourselves and our families, talking about past, present and celebrating our differences.
• Celebrate different festivals and cultures through workshops, collective workshops and special guests.   

                                                  

• Develop our outside allotment to ensure that the children have opportunities to plant, document change, growth and decay over time.

  

• Follow the 'Hillcross Reading Pledge'.

                                                               

How can you help your child with their learning at home?

• Communication is key - engage in conversation with your child while you are out and about in your local environment. Talk about the trees and the sound they make on a windy day, spot numbers on buses and count the number of different coloured vehicles you see, look for shapes on buildings and name them.
• Provide opportunities to play and explore outside - collect leaves, conkers and natural materials. Explore them at home and create pictures and collages with them.
• Visit your local parks, shops, libraries and places of worship with your child, using your senses to comment on what you can see, hear and feel.
• Talk about yourselves and your family, looking at photos and linking to the past, present and future. Look at similarities and differences between your own family and other family types. Take photos on your days out and refer back to them with your child.
• Explore links to technology and investigate toys with a mechanical effect, such as pulleys, cogs and wind-up toys.
• Explore household items that rely on technology to make them work - encourage your child to help load the washing machine or dishwasher and talk about how they work, explore objects that require buttons to be pushed, such as remotes or computers.  
• Share stories, rhymes and books together - be imaginative and make up your own stories using props.
• Encourage messy play such as shaving foam, play dough, water and sand, introducing new vocabulary to describe what you are doing or how it feels.
• Provide time to talk to each other without distractions - limit screen time, particularly at meal times. This is a wonderful time to share your day with them, even if they may not share theirs.
• Talk about changes linked to families, weather, seasons, planting and growth.
• Involve your child at an age-appropriate level in your daily routines, such as cooking, helping out with younger siblings or shopping.