Young children particularly enjoy topic work and Humanities lends itself well to this form of study.  In Reception children are encouraged to develop an active interest in their surroundings and environment through discussions, stories and topics which are covered within Knowledge and Understanding of the World.  A typical example of the sort of topic we might study would be Ourselves.  Here the historical activity would be to look at themselves as babies through photographs and geographically they might map a route from home to school.
 

In Years One and Two children are encouraged to discuss ideas, make observations and comparisons and record data on a variety of topics.  A popular activity is for them to collect data from their holidays and share it with the rest of the class.  An important part of their schooling is to learn to work co-operatively.  This is encouraged by taking part in visits to places within their local environment where they can work in small groups to gain information, which they then share with everyone else in follow-up-work.
 

In Year One, topics include; Houses and Homes, Toys, Weather, Pirates and Our Local Area.  The latter also involves locating our area on the UK and world maps.  In Year Two we study Where we are in the World in greater depth.  The school’s locality is also studied in more detail and it is then compared with Life on a Scottish island through Katie Morag stories.  Other topics studied include; The Seaside, Today and in the Past, The Great Fire of London and annual events, celebrations and anniversaries, such as the Gunpowder Plot and Remembrance Day.  The children also study famous people in the nineteenth century including Florence Nightingale.