Tough times with our Two's!

[AnonyMouse_22106]

Is anyone else struggling with their 2yr olds this year?

Admittedly we do have more of them than normal but they are v v v young and it's absolutely wearing

We have spent a big part of the morning fetching them from the toilets which is where they like to wander - if I'm being positive I could say they are showing an interest in potty training but they aren't they like to put toys down the loo!

Speech is virtually non-existent lots of grunting & pointing - even though most have had their HV 2yr check and all is well (very worrying!) so they don't join in with rhymes - which is one of our fave things

toys are just everywhere, paint goes virtually everywhere but the paper, water & sand is enjoyed by pouring it on the floor, anywhere but keeping it in the tray

Pushing & biting more common than it's ever been, particulary when we are trying to have a story

 

Basically they don't know how to PLAY

Rant over, but hopefully just one of you will say it's not just us!!

[AnonyMouse_11396]

No it isn't just you.

We have a large cohort of under threes this term. All separating from main carer fantastically. However we had one try to climb in the water tray yesterday. Said he was getting " in the bath" it was hilarious watching his keyperson. Another one biting. One likes to explore all areas including trying out fire exits.

We also have a little one that hits people on the head if they attempt to go near a toy he has deemed is his.

They all seem very immature developmentally.

But we love a challenge in Early Years and I'm sure it's just a matter of time before they get the gist of what it's all about.

The christmas build up should be fun.:):)

We try to make our story time more interactive as those little bodies just can't sit still.

Or can you have stories throughout a session and play construction or sing songs/ musical instruments etc.

So your not alone.

Edited November 12, 2014 by Fredbear

[Guest]

Yeah our new cohort are very young and immature, which is making them hard work. Still love the challenge of that!

[AnonyMouse_22106]

Phew, glad it's not just us!

 

We too have 'fire escape' child! Plus one who can open the child gate that goes into the kitchen.

 

It's making us wonder what parents are doing with their children these days though - both my son & daughter started preschool aged 2 neither were potty trained but they could drink from a cup, feed themselves, follow instructions and do something when asked.

[AnonyMouse_30128]

my fear is that this is parenting by screen time. ( i am not anti IT ..just used appropriately for this age group)

The level of speech problems we are experiencing is extreme. The only two children who are really fluent are the two who do not use IT....is this a co-incidence i ask myself?

Play seems to be something we are having to teach...no knowledge of small world toys or even role play in many instances

We are in an area with lots of EAL (nine languages again this year!) which has always presented us with issues regarding parenting as these parents are often very isolated and have no families to teach them how to behave with their children (not helped by lack of visitor support)...yet even my less well off families all seem to have ipads and iphones and give them to their children for hours a day. ///i seem to remember reading that 20 minutes screen time a day is the recommended level (though i can't find the link now)

sorry seem to be having a rant....30% SEN level at pre-school may be getting to me .... i just do not have enough hands!

[Guest]

We've got a 3 year old Irish traveller still in nappies and she's no small child either.

 

Many of our 2 year olds are coming in with dummies in, being carried and drinking from bottles. A lot of them have no listening skills either. One of my key group barely responds to his name and refuses to even try to put his own coat on, and he's 3 next month.

 

It's very frustrating as he's been in a setting previously and came to us as mum wasn't happy.

[AnonyMouse_39998]

sounds like a normal day at work for me too! lol our 2 year olds have so few social skills that you are literally refereeing most of the time as the " snatch and grab" relex ( made up but sounds appropriate) is so bad! I sometimes wish I had a whistle! lol

[Guest]

Sounds normal to me as well! I work a day a week in a maintained nursery which is in an area of deprivation and many of the 3 year olds we take are developmentally at the level of your 2 year olds or lower. We can't turn our backs for a second or there will be a pile up and fighting on the carpet!

For the first few months we don't attempt any whole group activities, (30 children in the morning, 30 in the afternoon) but have very brief (5 minutes maximum and this is built up very gradually) active group activities for 10 children at a time using the children's interests to keep them focused. Many of the children have no idea how to hold a book and find it difficult to share a book on a 1:1 basis so for the first few months we don't have whole group story times. Instead we always have a member of staff in the book area to share books with children and to try to encourage children, again, by using their interests.

We play alongside the children throughout the session, showing them how to use the resources, modelling sharing and turn-taking skills and helping to develop the very limited pretend play skills of some of the children. This is exhausting and at times it feels as if there is very little progress but when we re-visit the ECATchild monitoring tool (attached) there are small improvements.

Many of the parents have no idea of the typical developmental milestones so we display the developmental milestones poster from Contact a Family (we put a sticker over the disabled children phrase at the top right as this might cause anxiety) and also share some of the pages of the Universally Talking booklet when we have our first meeting with parents. I've attached both documents.

It makes me furious that the government expect all children to be at the same level when they start school and blame us when they aren't It's also infuriating when headteacher's don't understand how hard we work and make comments such as "how difficult can working with 3 year olds be?" :angry:

You can only do your best, I find wine and chocolate also helps!

 

child_monitoring_tool-2.pdf

FINAL Universally Speaking - Early Years Web Version.pdf

about_disagnosis_dev_delay_poster_final_for_web_sept_2013.pdf

[AnonyMouse_12805]

Thanks for those- will look through them thoroughly over the weekend but i think they may become quite handy tools,

 

We too are finding many of our 2 year olds difficult this year. Most cant speak or even seem to understand simple English words- yet the parents are very anxious to show us how they can recite the letters in their names and count 1-5 without drawing breath!!

 

We currently have three that are causing mayhem, none seem to recognise their names, can drink from a cup or feed themselves- in fact two of them when food is in front of them just open their mouths when you bend near/over them- suggesting to me that they are fed by Mum all the time. But all 3 can use a laptop with no help and "will watch TV for ages" . Such hard work with them.

[AnonyMouse_22106]

Thanks for those- will look through them thoroughly over the weekend but i think they may become quite handy tools,

 

We too are finding many of our 2 year olds difficult this year. Most cant speak or even seem to understand simple English words- yet the parents are very anxious to show us how they can recite the letters in their names and count 1-5 without drawing breath!!

 

Oh yes it's takes all the strength to smile when you hear the mums saying to them at pick up "have you learnt any letters or numbers today" :blink:

Also reference the food bit we have come to the conclusion that most just walk around eating as they certainly don't know how to sit for a snack!

Ssooooooo glad it's the weekend!

[AnonyMouse_22106]

Sounds normal to me as well! I work a day a week in a maintained nursery which is in an area of deprivation and many of the 3 year olds we take are developmentally at the level of your 2 year olds or lower. We can't turn our backs for a second or there will be a pile up and fighting on the carpet!

For the first few months we don't attempt any whole group activities, (30 children in the morning, 30 in the afternoon) but have very brief (5 minutes maximum and this is built up very gradually) active group activities for 10 children at a time using the children's interests to keep them focused. Many of the children have no idea how to hold a book and find it difficult to share a book on a 1:1 basis so for the first few months we don't have whole group story times. Instead we always have a member of staff in the book area to share books with children and to try to encourage children, again, by using their interests.

We play alongside the children throughout the session, showing them how to use the resources, modelling sharing and turn-taking skills and helping to develop the very limited pretend play skills of some of the children. This is exhausting and at times it feels as if there is very little progress but when we re-visit the ECATchild monitoring tool (attached) there are small improvements.

Many of the parents have no idea of the typical developmental milestones so we display the developmental milestones poster from Contact a Family (we put a sticker over the disabled children phrase at the top right as this might cause anxiety) and also share some of the pages of the Universally Talking booklet when we have our first meeting with parents. I've attached both documents.

It makes me furious that the government expect all children to be at the same level when they start school and blame us when they aren't It's also infuriating when headteacher's don't understand how hard we work and make comments such as "how difficult can working with 3 year olds be?" :angry:

You can only do your best, I find wine and chocolate also helps!

 

Thank you so much for these I had the Ecat one but the other two are equally as helpful :1b

The Universally Talking Booklet (very visually pleasing for a parent I think) you say you give parents pages of it - do you give them the age that their child is and then leave it with them to approach you if they have concerns?

[AnonyMouse_51737]

We have had to get new water tray as it was just that bit too high for our very tiny 2's, and also jiggle our resources around, invest in lots of beakers etc etc it's amazing how much difference it makes being a new 2 than a 2 1/2 yr old. Helps staff though really value the age of the children when they see the development they make in such a short space of time! It's amazing being 2 !!! Wish It was just as fun being old ? no matter how I try my knees still click and my back still creaks as I roll on the floor x