Interact with children in support of their interests and give them scope to learn from many things, including their mistakes.
Encourage children to see adults as a resource and as partners in their learning.
Support children in developing positive relationships by challenging negative or detrimental comments and actions towards either peers or adults.
Teach children to use and care for materials, and then trust them to do so independently.
Self-confidence and Self-esteem
Ensure that key practitioners offer extra support to children in new situations.
Create positive relationships with parents by listening to them and offering information and support.
Encourage children to talk about their own home and community life, and to find out about other children's experiences. Ensure that children learning English as an additional language have opportunities to express themselves in their home language some of the time.
Anticipate the best from each child, and be alert for evidence of their strengths.
Making Relationships
Establish routines with predictable sequences and events.
Encourage children to choose to play with a variety of friends, so that everybody in the group experiences being included.
Prepare children for changes that may occur in the routine.
At the start of the day, talk to the children about what you're going to do, the people they will see and the places they will visit. Remind them at the end of the day what they have done.
As children's understanding of language increases, begin to tell them about everyday activities in advance. Do this about five minutes before you want them to change activity. Then, when you get to the time, say "Now, it really is time to stop playing. Let's go and have a story".
Establish clear limits and boundaries and stay in control of routines. This gives children predictable routines and a better understanding of your expectations. If children refuse, follow activities which are disliked with activities that they like, as a reward.
During everyday routines, ask children to tell you what happens next in a sequence of activities and what objects or toys you will need to get ready so that they can show you how much they know about the order of events.
Be consistent about using and expecting attempts at saying "Please" and "Thank you" or "Ta".
Behaviour and Self-control
Share with parents the rationale of boundaries and expectations to maintain a joint approach.
Demonstrate concern and respect for others, living things and the environment.
Self-care
Give children time to try before intervening to support and guide them.
Create an atmosphere where achievement is valued.
Encourage children to solve problems, and support them by clarifying the problem with them.
Sense of Community
Encourage children to develop positive relationships with community members, such as firefighters who visit the setting.
A visit from the Community Support Officer - A Community Support Officer visits a local nursery, and talks with the children in the outdoor play area about his uniform and walkie talkie. [transcript]
You can watch the video via modem or slow / fast / superfast broadband connections. If you are behind a network firewall, why not click here to view a flash file of the video. You do need to have the flash plugin.
Communication, Language and Literacy
Effective practice
Language for Communication
Talk with children to make links between their gestures and words, for example, "Your face does look cross. Has something upset you?".
Support children in using a variety of communication strategies, including signing, where appropriate.
Listen to children and take account of what they say in your responses to them.
Choose stories with repeated refrains, dances and action songs involving looking and pointing, and songs that require replies and turn-taking such as 'Tommy Thumb'.
Share rhymes, books and stories from many cultures, sometimes using languages other than English, particularly where children are learning English as an additional language.
Give children clear directions and help them to deal with those involving more than one action, for example, "Put the cars away, please, then come and wash your hands and get ready for lunch".
When introducing a new activity, use mime and gesture to support language development. Showing children a photograph of an activity such as handwashing helps to reinforce understanding.
Provide practical experiences that encourage children to ask and respond to questions, for example, explaining pulleys or wet and dry sand.
Introduce new words in the context of play and activities.
Show interest in the words children use to communicate and describe their experiences.
Help children expand on what they say, introducing and reinforcing the use of more complex sentences.
Respond to children's requests and communication using language that gives descriptions and explanations.
Continue to share stories together and talk about the characters and events, including how characters might be feeling.
Collect photographs, leaflets, tickets and drawings of things your child has enjoyed or been involved with. Display them in scrapbooks or photograph albums that you can look through together, talking about what you did.
In the jungle - In a nursery class, the practitioner and a group of children explore ideas about the jungle through words and actions. [transcript]
You can watch the video via modem or slow / fast / superfast broadband connections. If you are behind a network firewall, why not click here to view a flash file of the video. You do need to have the flash plugin.
Language for Thinking
Prompt children's thinking and discussion through involvement in their play.
Talk to children about what they have been doing and help them to reflect upon and explain events, for example, "You told me this model was going to be a tractor. What's this lever for?".
Linking Sounds and Letters
When singing or saying rhymes, talk about the similarities in the rhyming words. Make up alternative endings and encourage children to supply the last word of the second line, for example, 'Hickory Dickory boot, The mouse ran down the...'.
Reading
Encourage children to use the stories they hear in their play.
Discuss with children the characters in books being read. Encourage them to predict outcomes, to think of alternative endings and to compare plots and the feelings of characters with their own experiences.
Focus on meaningful print such as a child's name, words on a cereal packet or a book title, in order to discuss similarities and differences between symbols.
Help children to understand what a word is by using names and labels and by pointing out words in the environment and in books.
Read stories that children already know, pausing at intervals to encourage them to 'read' the next word.
Writing
Make books with children of activities they have been doing, using photographs of them as illustrations.
Write poems and short stories with children, scribing for them.
Support children in recognising and writing their own names
Encourage the children to use their phonic knowledge when writing CVC words.
Handwriting
Provide activities that give children the opportunity and motivation to practise manipulative skills, for example, cooking and playing instruments.
Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy
Effective practice
Numbers as Labels and for Counting
Use number language, for example, 'one', 'two', 'three', 'lots', 'hundreds', 'how many?' and 'count', in a variety of situations.
Model and encourage use of mathematical language by, for example, asking questions such as, "How many saucepans will fit on the shelf?".
Allow children to understand that one thing can be shared, for example, a pizza.
Getting ready to go out - In a reception class, the practitioner encourages children to locate their wellingtons by number and location. [transcript]
You can watch the video via modem or slow / fast / superfast broadband connections. If you are behind a network firewall, why not click here to view a flash file of the video. You do need to have the flash plugin.
Calculating
Demonstrate language such as 'same as', 'less' or 'fewer'.
As you read number stories or rhymes, ask, for example, "How many will there be in the pool when one more frog jumps in?".
Use pictures and objects to illustrate counting songs, rhymes and number stories. This will benefit all children and be particularly supportive to children learning English as an additional language.
Shape, Space and Measures
Demonstrate the language for shape, position and measures in discussions, for example, 'ball shape', 'box shape', 'in', 'on', 'inside', 'under', 'longer', 'shorter', 'heavy', 'light', 'full' and 'empty'. Find out and use equivalent terms for these measures in home languages.
Encourage children to talk about the shapes they see and use and how they are arranged.
Value children's constructions by helping to display them or take photographs of them.
Organise the environment to foster shape matching, for example, pictures of different bricks on containers to show where they are kept.
Knowledge and Understanding of the World
Effective practice
Exploration and Investigation
Encourage and respond to children's signs of interest, and extend these through questions, discussions and further investigation.
Give additional support to children who are learning English as an additional language, through pictorial support, or from familiar adults who can interpret for them.
Continue to suggest different ways of using and combining toys and materials.
Use daily events and special treats, such as walking the dog or a birthday party, as the starting point for your shared play. This will help children act out and understand what they have experienced.
Use hide and seek or hunt the thimble games to build on children's curiosity, interest and anticipation of what might happen next.
When you are walking outside, ask children to look for particular people or objects. "Who can find… ?" games encourage children to explore the environment and to look out for special things.
Observe which are the children's favourite songs and rhymes and continue to use these, changing words around and inserting nonsense words.
Encourage finger rhymes and songs that include counting, for example 'One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Four'.
Designing and Making
Introduce children to appropriate tools for different materials.
Provide a range of construction materials, including construction kits containing a variety of shapes, sizes and ways of joining, and support children in their use.
ICT
Draw young children's attention to pieces of ICT apparatus they see or that they use with adult supervision.
Time
Talk about and show interest in children's lives and experiences.
Use, and encourage children to use, the language of time in conversations, for example, 'past', 'now' and 'then'.
Encourage discussion of important events in the lives of people children know, such as their family.
Make books of events in settings, for example, summer fair, building a climbing frame, shopping expedition or learning about a festival.
Encourage role-play of events in children's lives.
Observe changes in the environment, for example, through the seasons or as a building extension is completed.
Place
Arouse awareness of features of the environment in the setting and immediate local area, for example, make visits to shops or a park.
Introduce vocabulary to enable children to talk about their observations and to ask questions.
Encourage parents to provide vocabulary in their home language to support language development and reinforce understanding.
A treasure hunt - In the outdoor area of a reception class, the practitioner supports the children to explore the outside space, using pictures, clues and a map. [transcript]
You can watch the video via modem or slow / fast / superfast broadband connections. If you are behind a network firewall, why not click here to view a flash file of the video. You do need to have the flash plugin.
Communities
Introduce language that describes emotions, for example, 'sad', 'happy', 'angry' and 'lonely', in conversations when children express their feelings about special events.
Use group times to share events in children's lives.
Listen carefully and ask questions that show respect for children's individual contributions.
Explain the significance of special events to children.
Visit workplaces and invite people who work in the community to talk to children about their roles. Wherever possible encourage the challenging of strereotypes by, for example, using a male midwife or a female firefighter.
Physical Development
Effective practice
Movement and Space
Teach skills which will help children to keep themselves safe, for example, responding rapidly to signals including visual signs and notes of music.
Encourage children to move with controlled effort, and use associated vocabulary such as 'strong', 'firm', 'gentle', 'heavy', 'stretch', 'reach', 'tense' and 'floppy'.
Use music to create moods and talk about how people move when they are sad, happy or cross.
Lead imaginative movement sessions based on children's current interests such as space travel, zoo animals or shadows.
Motivate children to be active through games such as follow the leader.
Talk about why children should take care when moving freely, and help them to remember some simple rules to remind them how to move about without endangering themselves or others.
Praise children's efforts when they consider others or collaborate in tasks.
Encourage children to persevere through praise, guidance or instruction when success is not immediate.
Use singing, music and movement games to reinforce understanding of different parts of the body and body positions. Try games such as 'Simon Says... ' and songs such as 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' and 'If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands'.
Begin to introduce the ideas of left and right. Use a sticker or a bangle to mark one hand.
Demonstrate how to move backwards and practise by dancing (try the 'Hokey-cokey'), holding hands and then reducing support.
Encourage children to jump off low steps into your arms and later on to the floor.
At this age, children may enjoy learning to walk along low walls or benches and jumping off the end. Give support to begin with but balance will improve with practice.
Play games that involve reaching up high to encourage children to stand on their toes. Challenge children to walk as quietly as possible on crinkly paper, leaves or pebbles. This also helps children to walk on tiptoe. You may need to hold hands initially but the children's balance will improve with practice.
Demonstrate how to push the pedals on a tricycle and encourage children to do this independently.
Health and Bodily Awareness
Talk to children about why you encourage them to rest when they are tired or why they need to wear wellingtons when it is muddy outdoors.
Create opportunities for moving towards independence, for example, have hand-washing facilities safely within reach, and support children in making healthy choices about the food they eat.
Encourage children to notice the changes in their bodies after exercise, such as their heart beating faster.
Using Equipment and Materials
Teach children the skills they need to use equipment safely, for example, cutting with scissors or using tools.
Check children's clothing for safety, for example, ensuring that toggles on coats and hoods cannot get tangled in tricycle wheels.
Introduce the vocabulary of direction, including, where appropriate, 'clockwise' and 'anticlockwise'.
Match pictures with objects and play with pictures and objects that can be sorted into two groups by size, shape or colour. Socks (big ones for adults and small ones for children) or cutlery work well.
Help children to develop their manual dexterity by showing them how to unwrap small objects covered in paper. Help them to use scissors, too – for example, to make collages from things you find outdoors together.
Encourage children to enjoy scribbling using thick pens and paintbrushes. Some children will enjoy copying a line across or up and down a sheet of paper or copying a large circle.
Show children how to make marks in dough and feel the marks they have made.
Creative Development
Effective practice
Being Creative - Responding to Experiences, Expressing and Communicating Ideas
Provide appropriate materials and extend children's thinking through involvement in their play, using questions thoughtfully and appropriately.
Encourage children to describe their experiences.
Be interested in children's responses, observing their actions and listening carefully.
Exploring Media and Materials
Make time and space for children to express their curiosity and explore the environment using all of their senses.
Talk to a child about images or effects that they see, such as the effect of light hitting a shiny piece of paper.
Talk to children about colours they like and why they like them.
Demonstrate and teach skills and techniques associated with the things children are doing, for example, show them how to stop the paint from dripping or how to balance bricks so that they will not fall down.
Introduce children to a wide range of music, painting and sculpture.
Encourage children to take time to think about painting or sculpture that is unfamiliar to them before they talk about it or express an opinion.
Make suggestions and ask questions to extend children's ideas of what is possible, for example, "I wonder what would happen if...".
Support children in thinking about what they want to make, the processes that may be involved and the materials and resources they might need, such as a photograph to remind them what the climbing frame is like.
Creating Music and Dance
Widen children's experience of music from different cultures, through experiences with different instruments and styles so that they are inspired to experiment, imitate, enjoy and extend their own expressions.
Developing Imagination and Imaginative Play
Support children's excursions into imaginary worlds by encouraging inventiveness, offering support and advice on occasions and ensuring that they have experiences that stimulate their interest.
Tell stories based on children's experiences and the people and places they know well.
