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This week our guest blogger Jamie is sharing with us the delights of Child Interest Planning. Follow Jamie at https://www.instagram.com/jaybruce/

Following a child’s interest…perhaps the most recognisable term coined in the Early Years. Setting up continuous provision based on interest was one of the first things I learnt when I started working with three, four, and five year olds here in the UK. The children inform the environment, shape their own next-steps, and, in turn, bolster the learning of the children around them by sharing their growing breadth of ideas. To me, there are two categories of ‘following interest”, which are actually quite different in practise. One might be more familiar to you, and the other you might see as more intuitive; a day-to-day occurrence that you have never put a name to.

1. Individual Interest Informs Set-up

Daily set-up which takes into account the interests of an individual, is a brilliant way of showing a child that you value what they...

My outstanding member Sam Goldsworthy Childminding not only features in our Wanderlust Nature Study Programme but is also one of our regular blog writers. 

We hope you enjoy her blog post this week!

This week we are writing about our favourite nature based learning ideas - as many of you are probably aware we absolutely love taking the children out and about to experience nature daily. We feel this has so many benefits such as building confidence, managing and taking their own risks, improves concentration and cognitive skills. It also provides many learning opportunities such as problem solving, outdoor maths, arts, literacy and many more.

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 We often visit the local woods. We go to the same woodlands each time as the children are comfortable with their surroundings and they have built a rapport with these woods. We talk about the different flowers and leaves that we can see growing or fallen from the trees. This changes with the seasons so there is always something new to spot...

Today we're joined by guest blog writer Nicola Hacking (follow at the curious case of the girl and the dog) sharing her love for nature and the impact on our wellbeing. 

The importance, role and vision of outdoor access in the early years has increased in leaps and bounds over previous years. We’re seeing a move away from traditional learning, with nurseries developing fabulous free-flow access, inspiring outdoor equipment and even ones based entirely outdoors in natural spaces. Children draw in the dirt with sticks, sing from the branches of trees and snooze lazily in hammocks, snuggled up in layers of cozy clothing. Practitioners hand out hot chocolates and giggle as they sneak an extra marshmallow for themselves and try not to develop too bad a t-shirt tan.

But why the shift? Or is it something in our very souls that’s been trying to burst out?

Scientific research tells us that time spent outdoors reaps a multitude of health benefits. These include improved blood pressur...

A wonderful guest post by my member Jennifer Wooldridge (@mamasden)

Are you settling into your new rhythm?

Change can be really hard and they say it actually takes up to 7 weeks before we adapt. Think about times you may have been on a new health drive, whether a diet or starting at the gym the first few weeks are always the hardest.

We all have a daily routine which we are used to but now have to create a new balance in our lives, a rhythm at home over the coming weeks and this will help establish a new normal, a new sense of balance in our lives. I know we have all been feeling anxious of late but we need to start reflecting on the change and creating a new calm in our family lives.

Let’s take this time to recharge our batteries and to think about what we have taken for granted and the fast paced lifestyle we are used to. We have all had to stop and think and change our ways, whether willingly or for the greater good. But for lots of our children they have lost their routine an...

Join our Wanderlust Child Nature Study Programme here for £5 instead of £120

Hi, I’m Jenny from Little Robin Education. My background is a bit mixed, I have a biology PhD, and then became a secondary school biology teacher. I now stay at home with my two boys, aged 1 and 3, and run my creative business Little Robin Education from my front room! I specialise in nature education for young people, and make and sell nature flashcards designed to inspire a love of the outdoors in children.

I’m here on the Hygge in the Early Years blog to give you six simple outdoor activity ideas to do with preschoolers. Some of these activities require access to outdoor space, which I know isn’t easy for everyone at this time. I will suggest an inside version for each activity in case you’re isolating.

1. Egg box colour hunt

My three year old loves painting at the moment, but sometimes it’s a bit of a struggle to get him outside. I’m hoping it’s a phase! He did really enjoy this activity though, a...

Today we're joined on our blog by our wonderful guest Sam Goldsworthy. Sam is an experienced childminder (go and give her a follow at https://www.facebook.com/SamGoldsworthyChildminding/) with a passion for learning outdoors and today she shares her wisdom for supporting learning at home in the garden. 

The garden is such a rich learning space within our setting which we access daily.

We often spent time outdoors just lying on the grass together watching the clouds float by talking about the shapes that we can see in the clouds. We then shut our eyes and talk about what we can hear around us - usually this is birds cheeping, the wind blowing through the trees and maybe cars and helicopters too. This sometimes leads in to Yoga in the garden - flapping like a bird, standing tall like a tree, lying straight like a stick.

We use natural treasures such as leaves, pine cones, flower petals etc that we find to make potions in our mud kitchen which encourages many mathematical opportunit...

Today on the blog we are joined by our wonderful guest blogger Jaime Bruce(Follow on Instagram here at https://www.instagram.com/jaybruce/. Jaime is an early years teacher from Australia who works in London. Her setting is play based, with a strong focus on sustained shared thinking, child-lead activities, and following individual interests.  Jaime 's guest blog today focuses on the joy of art. 

Walk inside the Early Years at my school, and the first thing you do is duck under the paintings and mobiles that hang from washing lines and “make-shift galleries” hanging everywhere. Head outside, and the chalk is in full use, the water colour paints are being liberally thrown at the prepared paper, and leaves and sticks are carefully lined up into patterns in the mud kitchen. The real joy of art in the Early Years, is that there is absolutely no definition of what really constitutes “art”. It permeates through every aspect of a child’s day: from a casual mark-make on the whiteboard of the...

This week we are joined by my wonderful member Jen from Mama's Den who is sharing with us her thoughts on supporting home learning during the Coronavirus outbreak. 

We have all been thrown into a new way of life this week and whilst some of us were already starting to implement a new, calmer hygge lifestyle into our homes it can be hard to stick to those new mindful practices when our normal is so abnormal.

Take time to breath, and think about the positives that will come as you take over the schooling of your child. You have always been their primary influence anyway so that is not going to change. So just do what your can, your child will continue to learn, this might just be more practical learning rather than academic. 

The thought of home schooling may fill many with dread and anticipation. I want to let you all into a little secret…. It’s ok to just let your children play.

Learning through play is vitally important for your child’s development and at this time in particular w...

How we spend our days is how we spend our lives

I know that we’re all a bit out of rhythm at the moment and that can result in us feeling quite unsettled and lost.

Try to resist the temptation to fill every moment of your day with a scheduled activity and instead try to look for the positives this time at home can bring. That’s a very Danish way to approach a negativity in life.

Why not try and come out of this time with a new skill or experience. I love the quote by @Wheresmollie ‘We still have the same opportunity for happiness that we did before…we’re just being encouraged to look in different places to find it.’

 Here are a few suggestions;

• Discover cross stitch
• Learn to speak a new language
• Have a go at making your own candles
• Create some Andy Goldsworthy inspired land art in your garden
• Grow vegetables from seed in pots
• Read a book
• Enjoy some gardenning
• Organise your pantry cupboards
• Have a go at painting by numbers
• Learn to crochet a pair of slippers
• Bake a lemo
...

Many of you are closed and uncertain about when you will open again.  By the time you open again later on in the year you may have lost your cohort of children to school. How can you do make sure you’re still seen and not forgotten in your local community? Here are a few ideas on how to use social media to support you right now.

Have a regular social presence

On your social media channels make sure you keep up with regular posting of social media posts. Here are some ideas to help with levels of engagement;

• Home learning and play ideas
• Links to activity guides
• Show your audience how you’re using this time to engage in training and share a snapshot of what you’re doing
• Positive quotes
• Tips on supporting big feelings
• Behind the scenes of how and your family are coping
• Share a few throw backs to this time last year when you had a teddy bears picnic
• If you’re thinking of making any changes ask the opinion of your audience. For example; we’re thinking of adding ……to our menu nex
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