HOW DO WE TEACH CHILDREN?

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

We find out about children by talking with parents, watching them and joining in with their play. We plan activities to meet their interests and to help them learn new things. We provide equipment to support their play. Some of the time we encourage children to join in activities that adults lead, other times we join in with and extend play and activities that they have chosen themselves

Different activities and equipment are available in each room and children are encouraged to move between rooms and the garden.

The curriculum we use is called the Early Years Foundation Stage.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) gives people who work with young children guidance on how we need to:

  • Treat each child as an individual who has the right and ability to achieve.
  • Make good relationships with the child and everybody who is important to them
  • Make sure that the environment is safe and stimulating and that it provides activities suited to each child.
  • Help children to learn through play, being physically active and thinking creatively.
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When planning, we think about developing:

The Characteristics of Effective Learning

Prime Areas of Learning

The Specific Areas of Learning

The Characteristics of Effective Learning

  • Playing and exploring – supporting children in investigating and experiencing things and ‘having a go.’
  • Active learning – helping children to concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and to enjoy their achievements.
  • Creating and thinking critically – enabling children to have and develop their own ideas, make links between their ideas and develop strategies for doing things.
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The Prime Areas of Learning

Prime areas – These are crucial for

igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive. They are the basis for all other learning and reflect the key skills and capacities all children need to develop and learn effectively:

  • Communication and language – giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment, be able to express themselves and to speak and listen in a range of situations.
  • Physical development – providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive, to develop their coordination, control and movement and to understand the importance of physical activity and healthy food.
  • Personal, social and emotional development – helping children to feel good about themselves, to form positive and respectful relationships, to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings, to understand appropriate behaviour in groups and to have confidence in their own abilities.

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The Specific Areas of Learning

4  Specific areas: – through which the

prime areas are strengthened and applied:

  • Literacy – encouraging children to link sounds and letters and engage in the early stages of reading and writing.
  • Mathematics – providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, engaging in early calculating and exploring the concepts of shapes, space and measures.
  • Understanding the world – helping children to make sense of the world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment.
  • Expressive arts and design – enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through art, music, movement, dance, role play, design and technology.

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How does my child learn?

Children learn through play.  The curriculum used in all schools and settings for children aged 0-5 is called The Early Years Foundation Stage. It says:

Play is essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, to think about problems, and relate to others. By playing, children are learning about the world around them and developing a passion for learning.

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