Once Upon a Time – Our Theme for May
Every month we set a theme for the Nurseries. May’s theme is Once Upon a Time.
“Once Upon a Time” forms the start to many books and fairy tales. The origin of the phrase is English, although it is difficult to know how old it is. The Oxford English Dictionary has examples of the use of “Once Upon a Time” dating back to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in 1385. However, it is thought that even by then the phrase had probably already achieved the status as a conventional phrase.
During our month of Once Upon a Time, we will be reading the children a number of fairy tales and stories which start with the phrase. Sharing such stories, talking and singing about those stories every day helps children develop in many ways, including:
- helping the child to learn sounds, words and language, and develop early literacy skills
- learning to value books and stories
- sparking the child’s imagination and stimulating curiosity
- helping develop the child’s brain, ability to focus, concentration, social skills and communication skills
- helping the child learn the difference between ‘real’ and ‘make-believe’
- helping the child understand new events, and the strong emotions that come with them
- helping the child learn about the world, their own culture and other cultures.
To support our theme, we would encourage our parents to also read such stories to the children; and to discuss the meaning of the stories.
