Home learning for Nursery - Ducklings 3

Being a parent can be very overwhelming as we all strive to do the best we can to ensure our children get the best possible start in life. Especially now when we are being faced with some very unusual challenges. With this in mind I thought it would be useful to share with you the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. This is one of the tools we use to support the healthy development of children in nursery. 

Every child is unique and born ready to learn. They will thrive when given the opportunity to follow their own ideas and interest from a safe and secure environment. 

The framework is broken down into three areas. Characteristics of learning, prime areas of learning and specific areas of learning. It is the development of all these areas that prepares them for their future learning and successes throughout life. We will share information with you about the prime and specific areas over the next few weeks. 

We hope to have Tapestry set up from Monday 4th May and are really looking forward to seeing the playing, exploring, investigating and talking your children are doing at home. It will be wonderful for us to be able to communicate with you during this time that we are unable to open.


Mrs Pontefract & Mrs Draper

Characteristics of Effective Learning - Playing and Learning

Children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’.

What can you do?

·      Play with your child and share your enjoyment

·      Support your child without taking over

·      Model pretending that an object is something else

·      Pay attention to how your child does something and talk about it

·      Encourage your child to try new things and take a risk with support

·      Discuss how we get better at things by practising and how we can learn from thins going wrong

·      Sensory play

Characteristics of Effective Learning - Active Learning

Children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements.

What can you do?

·      Allow children to choose what they want to do and how they are going to do it

·      Encourage children to think about what they are trying to do and review how they have done

·      Describe what you can see them trying to do

·      Be specific with your praise

·      Talk to them about what they have done and how they have done it


Characteristics of Effective Learning - Creating and Thinking Critically 

Children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.

What can you do?

·      Always respect children’s ideas and efforts

·      Give children time to talk and think

·      Model your own thinking process by talking aloud

·      Encourage open-ended thinking by discussing various ideas

·      Draw on previous learning experiences

·      Problem solve together

·      Talk