Home Learning

Very young children use a vast amount of energy while in nursery, they are active learners constantly moving and exploring to find out more about their world. Most young children approach new ideas and challenges best when they are placed within familiar experiences with familiar adults that the child has a trusting relationship.

As well as the many opportunities for learning while in nursery the learning that takes place at home with their families is integral to a child’s development.

The best learning experiences at home are those that are familiar to the child. Helping a parent to prepare food, cooking laying the table, making sure there are enough plates, cups etc for each person all contributes to their mathematical learning. Cooking also provides opportunities to learn about changes in materials and resources. This is SCIENCE.

Sharing books and telling stories supports children’s reading skills and their love of reading. This is LITERACY. We have a lending library outside of every classroom and each child receives a bookbag on starting nursery. Your child is able to exchange their books and take a new one home each day if they would like to. Many children choose the same book over and over, this is a great way to learn to read- the repeated refrains and words in favourite books help children to begin to recognise text. Additionally, talking with your child about the writing on food packaging, signs and newspapers/magazines supports their understanding that text conveys meaning and is an important way of communicating.

At this young age children are developing their gross motor control, climbing, playing with sensory media such as play dough and clay, riding bikes and running around all helps this to happen. Children cannot hold pencils or pens correctly or comfortably unless these muscles are well developed, they cannot control a pencil to form letters and shapes. Using their fingers and other, larger tools helps develop these skills. -This is WRITING. Drawing around shapes, tracing and following dots are not good ways of helping children learn to write. Instead let them help you make some playdough at home or take them to the park where they can develop more fully their muscle control.

During the Covid pandemic, although we remained open many children stayed at home. We developed a YouTube channel with a variety of activities. We also sent out resources for children. If your child has to be absent from nursery for an extended period of time we are able to provide you with access to these.