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.