Preparing Children for School – Taking Turns and Sharing
Honeybear Nursery & Pre-School provides a homely, safe and secure environment for children from 3 months to 5 years old. We also develop the children to their full potential, ensuring they are school ready when they enter Reception Class, in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework.
There are a number of skills we look to develop to ensure they are school ready. When the child starts school the teacher will expect that they are able to take turns and share with other children, and they are able to work in small groups.
The Early Years Foundation Stage Framework sets out that between 2.5 and 4 years old the child should have begun to understand that others have needs; and they are able to take turns and share resources, sometimes with support from others. The child should also be able to play in a group, expanding and elaborating play ideas.
Throughout a child’s time at Honeybear we support and encourage taking turns and sharing; in particular we plan activities that encourage collaboration and group work. We ensure that the children have plenty of opportunities to get to know everyone at the Nursery, not just their special friends.
We encourage the children to talk about their feelings, within their group. We explain how our actions can impact and affect others; and we encourage the children to be aware of others’ feelings. We use books to start discussions about feelings; and use puppets to demonstrate feelings. Where a child upsets another child, we mediate between the children to resolve the upset and help the children to move on from the incident. In addition as part of our focus on mental well-being we introduce the children to our friendly Worry Monster. The children are encouraged to feed their concerns to the Worry Monster. This approach encourages the children to discuss their worries.
A child’s key-worker updates parents on a regular basis with how the child is developing, and informs them when they reach key milestones. The team at Honeybear Nursery & Pre-School looks to develop a partnership with parents, helping parents to understand how they can encourage their child to develop, supporting the activities undertaken at Nursery; and encouraging parents to raise any concerns they may have.
