Welcome back to Blackberry House Day Nursery Newsletter! In our monthly issues we will be letting you know of the achievements and beautiful learning opportunities that children engaged in that month from across our four settings. We will also be providing you with two articles that will keep you informed within the sector and might even provide some helpful information! In this month’s issue we have covered How to Support Your Child Starting Nursery, and the dangers of the W-Sitting Position. You will also find an easy printable activity to do with your child!
Thank you for your continued support and enjoy reading!
Summary
This month we have learnt all about Under the Sea and Summer looking at the changing weather and nature as we head into a new season. The children explored various sensory trays giving them a good understanding of the textures found around the themes. We looked and explored the animals that live under the water as well as near it. The children also explored our outdoor activities as we observed the weather changing and warming up as we head into summer. We learnt about differences and similarities in some animals and nature objects, and we started working on our School Readiness Programme for those that are soon leaving us to go to school. Children were able to explore lots of water play and exploring the science behind what sinks and what floats, as well as engaging in summer themed picnics in our beautiful gardens. Our children also engaged in learning about the differences of hot and cold, nature changes occurring during this season, and all about going on holiday!
With the weather warming up, please remember to always send your child to nursery with a water bottle, sunhat and appropriate clothing! Please also ensure that we already have your child’s suncream which we use on a daily basis.
Under 3's
Our youngest children continued to explore the world around us. We were able to provide a variety of sensory activities including the exploration of different coloured jelly, building sandcastles, painting with their hands and having beach themed sensory trays including crushed biscuits for the sand and more! Our babies and toddlers spent a lot of time in our outdoor spaces learning all about the nature and how it changes. We engaged in lovely picnics and quiet time outside as well as some fun and energy burning activities! Toddlers also explored and continued learning all about shapes and the shape similarities of certain outdoor objects and buildings. Babies explored the chilly feel of ice cubes and had lots of fun watching it all melt!
Our youngest children also engaged in our Little Chefs activities during which we learnt all about measuring ingredients to make delicious cupcakes and biscuits. Our older children supported them in their amazing creations and all children were able to show off their final products to their parents too. Overall, our under 3’s had a very colourful and warm month during which they managed to learn a lot!
EFYS
Over 3's
Our older children were also super busy learning and having lots of fun this month. As we are starting to prepare our older friends to leave nursery and start school, we are ensuring independence is encouraged all the time. Our older children work very hard to make sure they are ready for the beautiful learning challenges they will face in September including putting on shoes all by themselves and helping our friends with smaller tasks. We have amazing friendships that have shaped over time and it’s beautiful to watch our children develop into caring and nurturing little humans!
We have also been exploring all about Under the Sea and Summer with out older children including having fantastic summer themed sensory tray that encourage imaginative play, as well as role play areas and opportunities for children to further work on their development and social skills. Children were given lots of opportunities to explore and learn in our outdoor environment including our Forest School areas. We became observers and explorers as we learnt about the weather changes and how these effect the insects and animals that we learnt about.
Under The Sea was a truly loved theme for the older children as they engaged in many craft activities proudly displaying their art-work in the nursery or at home. With the weather finally being kind, we were able to fully enjoy the new equipment and areas that were made for the children, including a new slide or refreshed areas in our main gardens. Our older children also engaged in holiday themed activities were we explored different types of holidays and talked about our past experiences. It was lovely to hear all about some of fantastic adventures our children already experienced or are yet to experience this year!
EFYS
Activity
Here’s a simple activity to do with your child over the summer season! Try to encourage your little one/ones to complete it all by themselves and show us the result!
If you are going away on holiday, please share photos and memories with us! We would love to hear all about the adventures and the fun!
Summer Scavenger Hunt
Walk on the grass
Find a big tree
Feel rain
Smell a flower
Chase a butterfly
Eat an ice cream
Feel sunshine
How to support your child starting nursery?
The starting process
Starting a new nursery is understandably a stressful event for both parents and children. As Early Years professionals we have a good understanding of the emotions behind this transition and are fully prepared to support you in all possible ways. At the start of your journey with us you will meet the senior team as well as the practitioners in your child’s room. You will speak to staff that will be supporting your child daily as well as meet the Room Leader to discuss your child’s learning journey with us. Your child will be invited for an hour long settle session, free of charge, where they stay with us and learn the nursery environment and all the faces. You will have the option to purchase additional settle sessions if you believe your child would benefit from additional visits before starting with us. We will ask you to fill in All About Me page where you tell us more about your little one and their interests. We always like to find out as much as possible, so please bear with us as we ask a thousand questions! We like to be fully prepared and know as much as possible to ensure we can support your little one with settling in with us. Please feel free to ask any questions too! We are always happy to help and prepare to answer anything you may query. The All About Me page will allow us to understand and prepare for your child starting with us, so please make sure you provide as much details as possible. Feel free to provide us with comforters too! These are of great help especially during the first few weeks.
What can I expect from the first month?
During the first month, we focus on settling your child into the room and becoming comfortable and safe around the practitioners in the room. We get to know each other and find out your child’s likes and dislikes as well as their routines. You will start receiving your weekly updates on iConnect from the first week, so please make sure you’re fully set up on the app! We will be using iConnect to communicate with you during the week and to keep you up to date with your child’s achievements and their learning journey. At the end of the first month, your child should be all settled in and a key person will be assigned. We take about a month before assigning our children to staff to ensure we secure the right match in terms of needs and personalities. You will also get your My First Month page where you will be able to see a summary of your child’s achievements in the first month.
My child is very anxious and unsettled – how can I help?
All children settle in in their own pace so please don’t panic if we’re still having tears in month 2 or 3. We’re used to comforting children and having plenty of cuddles, this is one of the reasons we love this job! We will be keeping you fully up to date on their settling in process and will speak to you if there’s anything else we feel we could be doing jointly to support them. You may be asked additional questions that we would like to know to support your child, or some strategies that we could put in place to help them come in easier.
In general, the best support that YOU can provide for your child and us during their settling in time is:
- Stay positive and cheerful when you talk about nursery or when you come in. Children look up to adults and will mirror their behaviour, so try to always be positive when talking about the transition.
- Don’t panic or stress if your child is crying a lot – we are prepared for this and are fine with tears! Try to comfort your child as much as possible and we will take over from you when you get here.
- Give your child specific tasks to do at nursery – ‘Why don’t you draw a picture to put on the fridge?’ ‘Why don’t you find your favourite cars to play with?’ ‘Why don’t you tell your teacher all about our fun weekend?’ – This will give them something to look forward when they come to nursery! During handovers we will give you details about what your child achieved and enjoyed so that you can adapt the tasks that you give them for the next day.
- Provide family pictures or a comforter for your child to have at nursery – they will be able to look at the pictures whenever they feel like they need the extra comfort and/or snuggle their favourite blanket or a soft toy that reminds them of home. We found that these work very well and very often children use these props to start conversations with other children, which then lead to friendship groups!
- Stay in touch with us – Please continue to speak to us on a daily basis and read communication on iConnect and Daily Diaries (Under 3’s) – we will always keep you fully posted on all of your child’s achievements and progress.
W – sitting position in children aged 2-5
The toddler/preschool stage is a very important developmental time for our children. During this particular stage, children become stronger and develop their balance. Those that are still getting stronger and finding their core strength may choose to sit in so called W-sitting position as imaged below.
In W- sitting position, a child uses it’s legs as their base and relies on it rather than their core posture muscles. This may be due to their still developing core strength or lack of flexibility in their hip muscles.
Allowing children to stay seated in this position may lead to pelvic forward tilts and hip internal rotations when stood up, as well as the following:
- Orthopaedic disease
- Damage to the anterior cruciate ligament (knee joint)
- Back pain
- Poor sitting balance
- Delayed developmental milestones
- Pigeon-toed walking
- Changes in the development of the hip
- Hip weakness
- Swayback posture
- Weak trunk and core muscles
- Poor trunk control
- Tight hamstrings
How can we help?
Our practitioners are aware of this issue and always ensure they correct all children that choose to sit in the w-sitting position. We also ensure that all children have regular core strength activities which are:
- Tummy time – Prone positioning or tummy time is not just for babies! Engaging children in activities on their tummies supports their core stability! Children get a good stretch, upper extremity weight bearing and strengthening, and tightening their core muscles which supports the position.
- Playing on all fours (quadruped position) – Engage children in activities that encourages them to be on their fours.
- Yoga and dancing – we provide a range of PE and Music and Movement sessions to ensure children have fun whilst strengthening their core!
- Kneeling – provide children with activities that are at a lower level.
- Squatting – provide children with floor activities that encourages them to squat.
Parents as Partners
As a parent, you can continue to support and correct your child’s sitting position as well as provide them with a range of extracurricular activities such as swimming, bicycle riding, playground equipment, karate, hiking, rock climbing or any other workouts for children.
Whilst sitting, encourage your child to sit in different ways to change and shift their body position:
- Try side sitting. Have your child sit on the floor with you and mirror your movements. Without putting your hands on the floor, sit on your left side. Then move onto your knees and shift your position again to your right side.
- Criss-Cross sitting
- Sit on the floor with your child and encourage them to mirror your movements. Place your legs straight out. You can add an element of fun by having “bottom walking races” with your child, shifting your weight back and forth to create movement and momentum.
- Have your child sit with you with your backs against the wall and your legs stretched out in front of you. This position will help stretch their hamstrings.
- Play reaching games with your child by encouraging them to reach for objects at different heights and distances. This helps build your child’s trunk muscles and flexibility.
If you’re concerned about the way your child sits, please speak to us and we will be more than happy to help! If you’re concerned about your child’s health please seek medical advice.
Thank you for reading and your continued support!
