How music can help children's development The benefits of music are enormous; both consciously and subconsciously music is a part of our everyday life. Children are exposed to music through songs we sing to celebrate birthdays, nursery rhymes, lullabies and songs we sing to our children. Music helps improve a child’s dexterity and ability it accelerates learning and is … [Read more...]
Supporting Communication
How to support children's communication From the outset it is second nature to support a child’s communication; parents often do this without thinking. Talking and listening to their child repeating their coos as a baby, singing and reading to them. Outside influences such as nursery see their vocabulary grow but can sometimes be the trigger point to highlight any … [Read more...]
The importance of language development
How practitioners can support children language development Language development is always a hot topic and with the success of the ‘Every child a talker’ campaign (a national programme to develop language and communication) children birth to five are reaping the results. The importance of supporting new parents and developing practitioners with new ideas to get conversations … [Read more...]
The legacy of Jerome Bruner
Great influencer Jerome Bruner Jerome Bruner The legacy of Jerome Bruner who was an eminent Psychologist, professor and researcher whose work greatly influenced theories on early year’s education and the four modes of thinking and how they affect performance is evident. He is held in high regard in the field of early years education and his research which is … [Read more...]
Does Christmas bring out the worst practice in the early years?
The Christmas period leads to practitioners falling in to old methods of practice Christmas is always an exciting time of years in the early years with many young children besotted by the magic and wonder created around Christmas time. Not only is this time of year well loved by children, practitioners and parents are also often very fond of the festive period and cannot … [Read more...]
Is play often unnecessarily interrupted?
Are children suffering because of routine disturbing valuable play? Everyone who works in the foundation stage is very much aware that the EYFS is a play based curriculum and the value that play hold for children. There are many different types of play, each having a variety of benefits. Meaningful play where children are fully engaged is the most powerful learning time … [Read more...]
Are your planned next steps meaningful?
Planning to promote children's next steps Everyone working in early years is very aware of the importance of supporting children to reach their next steps. There are many ways of doing this from specific boards, on planning sheets, or from wow moments achieve that are in learning journals. However, recently it has been suggested by Ofsted inspectors that next steps need to … [Read more...]
Is creating a provocation simply adult led learning?
What is a provocation? We have a great, more in depth article here detailing exactly what a provocation is which you may like to read first. However, in simple terms a provocation is something which is set up to 'provoke' learning. This may be a photo, a book, a display area, an example piece of work etc.... This seems to be a very popular trend at the moment … [Read more...]
Why all preschools should have a pen pal class
What is a pen pal class? The pen pal concept seems to be a very outdated one however there are so many benefits that it would be great to see children taking this up again. A pen pal class is where one class would sit and compose letters to another class somewhere else in the country or even in the world. It can be brought in to the 21st century with not just … [Read more...]
Funky fingers and finger gym – part 2
Funky fingers and finger gym activities If you would like to know more about the benefits of and introducing finger gym or funky fingers to your preschool children then head over to our part 1 article here. For those of you who have already read part 1 and are now looking for some great activities to set up of your own here are some top tips and activity … [Read more...]
What is finger gym and funky fingers?
What is finger gym and funky fingers? Finger Gym and funky fingers has become increasingly popular within early years settings as it encourages the development of fine motor and language skills that are essential for hand writing. More practitioners steering away from the direct teaching of handwriting preschools and are instead focusing on ensuring children have the … [Read more...]
Fine motor skills should be actively promoted daily
Why promote fine motor skills more? Fine motor skills are those smaller hand and finger movements such as picking up small objects, using pencils using a pincer grip and threading thin pieces of string. These fine motor skills are essential for children to be able to form letters and write once they are ready. Practitioners will often support writing development through … [Read more...]
Managing whole group behaviour
Different behaviour management methods Recently here at EYC we have had a lot of practitioners getting in touch asking for support and advice in handling group behaviour and behaviour management. A common complaint at the moment seems to be the general behaviour of a whole class/group/room of children rather than just one or two children with behavioural issues. This can … [Read more...]
What makes a good learning journal?
Are your learning journals outstanding and relevant? Learning journals vary greatly from setting to setting and commonly many learning journals are now completed through online apps and websites. As there is no clear set way of completing a learning journal it can sometimes be difficult to judge what should be included; whether there is too much or too little, photos or no … [Read more...]
Could your setting do more to promote Maths?
How can I check my maths provision is outstanding? Sometimes when you work in the same room day after day, with the same provision, and the same resources it can become difficult to think outside the box and evaluate your own provision. Maths can become a very standardised area which is always accessible but rarely used in the correct ways. For example sorting bears become … [Read more...]
