Nursery News

Tiny Happy People

The Duchess of Cambridge is once again shouting out for children in their early years by supporting the BBC’s Tiny Happy People programme.

The BBC website offers suggested activities and play ideas for babies and toddlers with an aim of enhancing their language and communication skills. With the tag line: ‘Your words build their world’

Here at Inspirations we understand the importance of children’s communication development. If a child has a deep knowledge of words and language, they are better enabled to understand the world around them. We support our youngest children through songs and rhymes which is a brilliant way to engage young children in the rhythms and tone of speech. We have a ‘Babies Can Sign’ specialist in weekly to teach the educators and children sign language. Sign language is a visual aid (so are pictures in books etc) which enhances a child’s understanding of words before they are even able to talk! This gives them a head start in understanding words and their meaning. Reading books with a supportive adult and using the pictures as a tool to support understanding is also a vital in developing a child’s communication skills.

We also ensure that we make eye contact when talking to children, at a level where the child can see your face clearly, this allows the child to gain an understanding of nonverbal communication, it gives the child the ability to understand the emotions behind the words and also the way the mouth shapes make the different sounds. Eye contact and close physical contact for babies and toddlers is also essential for them to feel safe and secure. Humans don’t learn, if they are feeling insecure or unsafe. Maybe this is why baby wearing has taken off in such a big way in recent years.

Our ethos of ‘enabling environments’ and the offering of a variety of different activities including messy play, singing and signing, water play, light and shadow exploration and of course our outdoor areas, (which gives the children the experiences of different weather types), when supported by a vocal caring adult expands and enhances each child’s exposure to new vocabulary, intonation and rhythm of speech.

For further information on the Duchess of Cambridge’s collaboration with the BBC please and also some fantastic activity ideas for you to do with your child, follow the link to the website. https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people

by Inspirations

Inclusion, Diversity and Equality

British society is filled with colourful diversity, a rainbow of religions, cultures, languages, foods, festivals, music and celebrations all witnessed on streets around the United Kingdom.  We are truly privileged to live in such a diverse and colourful environment.Read more

by Inspirations

WORLD BOOK DAY 5TH MARCH 2020

WORLD BOOK DAY
This great event seems to come round more quickly every year! This year however Inspirations are pulling out all the stops and taking part in the ‘Share a Million Stories’ month-long challenge. The event will see our setting challenge our children from babies right through to our school ready children to read and record as many books in a month as possible.

A Decline in Reading Books for Leisure 

Reading books for leisure has greatly declined over the years with electronic devices taking precedence which is a real shame as reading can be such a special and magical moment, particularly when sharing with our young children.  In a 2017 edition of Psychologies Today magazine it was noted that ‘reading to babies leads to stronger vocabularies and better early literacy skills four years later, just as the children are getting ready to go to school.

Why Books are so Important
Did you know that reading with small babies is important for a child’s language development and literacy skills? The rhythms and patterns of reading gives young babies the starting point in learning to speak their language and enables them to, even at their young age, copy and mimic those rhythms in their own babbled speech.  As our children grow their early exposure to books helps sustain their love and interest in books which in turn enhances their imaginations, allows them to explore the world, particularly scary emotions or aspects of life that they may in the ‘real world’ find difficult to comprehend or discuss.

Inspirations Top Tips for Reading at Home with Children

• Its always nice to snuggle down with a good book, create a warm cosy space and sit down with your little one and share the experience
• For babies and young toddlers, the words on the page don’t really matter, discuss the pictures, the colours, characters emotions and refer to similar experiences you have had with them.
• Ask older children open ended questions like, what do you think is happening? What could happen next? What would you do if...?
• Props are a great addition to a story, if you are reading a book about a teddy bear, use one of your child’s bears to play the part in the story.
• If you really want to go ‘all out’ make each character in the book have a different voice, this really brings the story alive in the imagination of children!
• It’s also good to remember that non-fiction books are equally important. If you have been for a walk and seen frogspawn in a pond, go to your local library and borrow a fact book about the life cycle of frogs.

Over the years when I’ve been introduced into a new setting and have wanted to build relationships with those young children, sitting in the book corner and picking up a book works every time! Children love to be read to so let’s start a reading revolution and see if we can encourage children of all ages to enter the magical world of books!

Nicola

by Inspirations

The First 1000 Days

The importance of our children’s early years remains high on the public and political agenda, and for very good reason. When it comes to the health and happiness of your child, the first 1000 days of life are the building blocks of their future. 

‘Five Big Questions’ is a landmark survey recently launched by the Duchess of Cambridge. It aims to discover what we as a society feel are the things that provide children with the best possible start in life. 

The survey prompted us to take at the first 1000 days in a child’s life, and how together we can make them amazing. 

THE FIRST 1000 DAYS - WHY THEY MATTER. 

From conception to the age of three, your child will learn more, and develop faster, than at any other point in their life. During this time, your child is capable of forming up to 1,000 neural connections every second. More mind-boggling is the fact that your three year old’s brain works twice as fast as yours - this probably explains why you sometimes need a second pair of eyes in the back of your head!

HOW WE’RE NURTURING YOUR CHILD’S EARLY YEARS. 

From the moment your baby joins our nursery, we look for the things that spark their interest and make them smile. We’re constantly planning the next steps on their learning adventure. One of the ways we do this is by observing some of the seemingly weird but really wonderful things that your child may become fascinated with.

Schemas are recurring patterns of behaviour that give your child a cognitive blueprint to find the best and most efficient ways of carrying out future tasks. Essentially, schema play is your child making sense of the world around them when they encounter something new.

It’s important to remember that every child is different. Your child may display examples of some schemas or none at all, and that’s OK.  Our job is to encourage each schema if and when those behaviours are displayed. Below, you’ll find some examples of how we’re doing just that.

Rotation and Transporting. 

You might see your little one turning in circles, or taking any opportunity to roll down a hill. These are both classic examples of the rotation schema. We encourage the children’s interest in circular and curved objects, and those that rotate, to support their exploration of all things that spin.

Children love to move objects around in and around their environment. We encourage them to use handbags, basket and also their hands, to transport their playthings around the nursery.

Enveloping and Trajectory. 

To encourage enveloping behaviour, we let the children wrap themselves in blankets and scarves, which is a lot of fun! We provide them with paper and other material so that they can wrap up various objects around them. We also let them experiment with small containers with lids.

There is a current fascination in the Pre-School room with rolling things down pipes and tubes. In addition, we’ve found that encouraging children to roll marbles down the slide is a great way to nurture the trajectory area of their development*. Children love to learn about how things move. It’s why they enjoy repeatedly dropping things from surfaces, playing on swings and putting their hands under running water.

(*Please note that marbles are only used in our pre-school room under close supervision).

Enclosing and Connecting. 

We recognise the enclosing schema when children enjoy things like making dens and climbing into just about anything. We love to see them climbing into (and hiding in) our wooden tunnels.

We never cease to be amazed by the children’s fascination with how things connect! From magnetic trains and spoons to lego, glue and sticky tape, we provide them with the opportunity to explore how the things around them fit together.

Here at Inspirations, we’re dedicated to supporting your child through the first 1000 days and beyond. As a parent, you know your child better than anyone. We’re always happy to hear from you so that together we can encourage your child’s learning every step of the way. 

If you’d like any further information about the Five Big Questions Survey or would like to discuss any aspect of your child’s development, contact us now. 

by Inspirations

On Going Work

Work is in full swing out the back of Inspirations, grass is in the process of being laid and the ground is being levelled out for the yurt and outdoor classroom.

The deck will be supported on 6×2” treated timber rails on 0.5 metre centres attached to 4” treated posts in concrete footings in compacted soil. This is being built to support a yurt at one end and an outdoor classroom on the other. The remaining area is currently having grass laid upon it for a free play area.

More updates to follow…

by admin