Stepping Stones Day Nursery - Worsley

We are in the process of transforming our Preschool room and have had a delivery of brand new furniture today. We can not wait for our children to explore tomorrow 😍

💚Should my child be writing? 💚
Before we begin looking at and talking about ‘should I be teaching my child to write before they start school?’ .... take a look at the x-ray!
🌱Look at the differences between a typical younger child’s hand that of a preschooler (left) and a typical older child's hand that of a 7 year old (right).🌱
We have parents asking regularly why their preschool aged child isn’t able to write yet and this x-ray image holds the answer!
🧠Their hands (and brains) are still developing and are not fully formed they are still growing and developing!🧠
So what could you do to support this? PLAY, play is essential for children, they are not at the age and stage of development where they should be made to sit down and learn! They simply must have an abundance of play.
💪Children need to strengthen their muscles, from their shoulders, to the elbows, to the wrists. Play will also support the development of concentration, focus and determination.💪
So you may now ask, what type of activities can you provide at home? There are tonnes and all of them are easy to resource;
•Playdough
•Cutting
•Gluing
•Outdoor Play
•Digging in dirt
•Sensory Experiences such as gloop And baking
•Encouraging dressing self
•Large scale mark making
•Throwing balls and introducing catch
All of these things help their hands develop. When they are physically ready to write, they will! No need to rush our children to write, they will show you when they are ready!
In the mean time just let them play, for it is the highest form of research!💚

Well done to our amazing cook Ann who was awarded employee of the month today. Ann has only been with us since April but has proved since being with us that we always needed an ‘Ann’ in our lives. She always comes into work with a positive attitude and is always on hand to help any of our team and nothing is ever too much trouble. Well done Ann and thank you for everything you do 🩷

Here at Stepping Stones we believe in promoting independence from a young age. Repetition is key to children developing the skills and confidence to succeed. Children are much more able than we sometimes give them credit for

TikTok · Lovevery 13.3K likes, 101 comments. “Making mistakes while working on a skill teaches your child how to overcome frustration—and persist! 🙌 Just watch how .little.folks (IG) child’s confidence grows as she practices pouring, despite a few spills. 🤩 Transferring liquid from one container to ...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people/articles/zxr8xg8

How a child's movement skills aids language development Dr. Sally Payne explains how everything from sitting up to learning how to hold a crayon helps your child learn to communicate.

Are you curious about how your child learns and develops? Family learning sessions can help you support your child as they learn and grow. Visit Family Corner today and book your FREE learning session!

Free online learning for all the family - Join our courses for parents of 0-5s We are really pleased to be able to offer parents various free online sessions and courses — all delivered by professional early years experts — to help you support your child's development. We are currently offering our courses for free, thanks to support from the Department for Education: Fami...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people/articles/zsc9qyc

Stages of Play: 6 different ways your child will play Experts have identified a number of styles of play that children engage in, which are key parts of their development. The 6 stages of play are: unoccupied. playing alone. onlooker. parallel. associative. cooperative. In this article we give a bit more detail on each type of play.

https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/article/new-book-to-help-educators-have-discussions-about-mental-health-with-children

Here is a new digital book by Laura Henry Allain which has been made free to help educators, parents and carers have important discussions about mental health with young children.

Please take a look below

New book to help educators have discussions about mental health with children A new digital book by Laura Henry Allain to help educators, parents and carers have important discussions about mental health with young children has been published.

Mark making is important in the Early Years as it supports children with various aspects of their learning and promotes the development of certain skills such as:

Fine and gross motor skills
Investigation and problem solving
Self expression and imagination
Storytelling

This is a good link to support Fathers through their parenthood journey. There is a mixture of Podcasts, articles and Live chats

Welcome to Dadvengers - Dadvengers Welcome to Dadvengers The posts on the Dadvengers Dad Blog are here to support fathers on their journey through parenthood. The posts are curated by Founder Nigel Clarke and written by you our Dadvengers followers. Whether you are a father, a mother, a soon to be dad, a grandad, grandma, a carer, a....

What are the benefits of a threading activity such as this?

This kind of activity strengthens a child's fine motor control, improves bilateral coordination, helps hand eye coordination, develops early maths skills, aids attention span, perseverance and creativity

🥰

Today a conversation stemmed from the lifecycle of a dandelion into what animals were Herbivores and Carnivores. Ellie talked to the children about her tortoise, Eileen, at home and how it was a Herbivore. A child then said that Ellie's tortoise was called a turtle not a tortoise. Ellie saw this as a great teachable moment to compare the differences between the two including the shells, habitats, feet and Omnivores and Herbivores

Happy St George's Day

https://www.familycorner.co.uk/free-online-learning-all-family-join-our-courses-parents-0-5s?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Family+learning+by+settings

Free online learning for all the family - Join our courses for parents of 0-5s We are really pleased to be able to offer parents various free online sessions and courses — all delivered by professional early years experts — to help you support your child's development. We are currently offering our courses for free, thanks to support from the Department for Education: Fami...

Outdoor music stations and playground music walls provide a fun outlet for children to express themselves through music and learn essential communication skills (without even realising the experience is educational).
Paula has created this lovely music wall to use with her little ones. Well done Paula :)

The children have learnt about moon phases, to signify the end of Ramadan and the beginning of Eid Al-Fitr celebrations.
The children learnt new vocabulary such as Semi circle, Half moon and Crescent moon. We introduced lights into this activity to explore reflection and light and we also looked at lanterns that are used to decorate homes during Eid.
Eid Mubarak to all of our nursery friends and families

Today the children made some emotion faces using loose parts. natural materials and loose parts can be used very creatively to produce designs and collages. The important thing about this activity is that the parts are not glued down, so the designs are transient. Things can be moved round and changed and at the end can be used again. It also allows children to use their imaginations with such open ended resources

🌟EARLY EDUCATION FUNDING 🌟

❓Are you a working parent of a two-year-old who is already registered for Tax-Free Childcare but needs to obtain a temporary code for 15 hours funded childcare? ❓

Look no further! Please see NDNA - National Day Nurseries Association quick step guide which will take you through the process ➡️ https://ndna.org.uk/childcare-and-early-years-policy/funded-places/

For anymore information regarding your eligibility for Early Education Funding, please click on the link below:

https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkNKEu-7U3gIVhuR3Ch2K0Q2DEAAYASAAEgKfh_D_BwE

National Week of Play 2023 Play is often described as a “universal language” – but what does this mean in practice? How can we ensure that play in the early years fosters and supports a sense of positivity and inclusivity, regardless of age, gender, or background?