Jules

Childhood is a universal experience. However, experiences of childhood differ greatly depending on the context of the society and family in which you are raised. Transitions and ‘Rites of Passage’ in childhood remain a constant theme throughout cultures and history. In contemporary British society, one example of a Rite of Passage is starting in an Early Years Education and Care (ECEC) setting. Transitions have been the focus of much research in recent years, concerning children’s transitions to starting primary school. This is often referred to as ‘School Readiness’ where we focus on preparing the child to start their formal education journey. However, many see this transition as being more broadly concerned with preparing not just the child and their family, but also the setting, ensuring it is ready to meet the needs of each child. A quick look at the bigger picture The focus on the role of parents and carers in their children’s lives and education has never been as strong (Nomaguchi & Milkie, 2020). The ‘Cost of a Child in 2022’ report (Hirsch & Stone, 2022) argues that “Families in 2022 are facing the greatest threat to their living standards in living memory” (p. 3) and that childcare has become an increasingly large component of the cost of raising children. The UK policy approach to ECEC places a significant burden on families to meet the costs of such care (New Economics Foundation, 2020). Parents are eager to secure places that not only meet their needs in terms of facilitating working arrangements, but also value the support and pastoral care that settings offer in terms of their children’s development and well-being. This is the bigger picture in which the transition from home to setting exists. Reflecting on the role of the Key Person Research continues to highlight the importance of effective communication and relationships with parents, carers and children in support of outcomes for children (OECD, 2010; Sylva et al., 2004). Central to this is the Key Person approach, based on understanding that children benefit from special relationships with key adults who support their Personal Social and Emotional Development and enable them to develop trusting relationships. This is informed by the work of John Bowlby (Bowlby, 1969), Mary Ainsworth (Ainsworth et al., 1978) and more recently Eleanor Goldschmeid (Goldschmeid & Jackson, 2005). It is important to review our Key Person practice in relation to transition. It has become popular in some settings for a child to begin their settling sessions, forming a relationship with a particular practitioner during that time who is then assigned as their Key Person after the settling period. Following a child’s preference in this way appears child-focused but does pose some broader concerns. I would encourage settings to consider the opportunities to support the child and their family before starting, using this as the time to build and establish the Key Person's relationship. More concerning is the challenge posed by workload and staffing, where already stretched practitioners might potentially avoid forming relationships with children within those first weeks, for fear of being assigned an additional Key Child where their workload is already excessive. This could particularly impact children with additional support needs, or those with English as an Additional Language (EAL), or who are experiencing distress. How can educators promote effective practice to support transition from home to setting? This section offers some practical ideas to enhance our practice around the transition experience from home to setting. Current issues facing the workforce may impact the capacity to adopt some practices, such as home visits. But there remains lots that can be done to develop relationships and aid transitions. Recognising and Responding to Worries Encourage parents, carers and children, to raise their worries or concerns about starting in your setting. Ensure that you can refer to your setting policies and practices to enable them to recognise the professional nature and skills of practitioners and your caring approach. · Consider the context in which you explore these. For example, you may not wish to identify potential concerns in front of children and plant a seed of worry unnecessarily. · Whilst upholding confidentiality, use examples from previous children to illustrate how you can support specific concerns. · If you are using ‘All About Me’ tools to capture information, can you include a question to explore ‘things that worry me’? Key Person Matching Consider how you allocate your Key Persons to children and their families. Help build relationships by sharing details about the Key Person with the family, highlighting their expertise and experience, interests and hobbies. It can be tempting to allocate Key Persons to children with specific support needs based on that person’s previous experience with a child with the same support needs. Remember that no two children will present the same. Working with children with additional support needs with the guidance of the wider team can aid staff development and upskill practitioners. Seek to allocate the Key Person at the earliest opportunity, so that they can support the transition to starting in the setting, taster sessions or home visits, and can develop a relationship from the outset. · Consider a Buddy Key Person system to ensure the child and family know someone well and can be supported should the Key Person not be available. · Try to plan for any periods of staff absence or holiday by informing the children and family beforehand. Home Visits If you are able to undertake home visits, consider their purpose. Does the team see them as a chance to complete paperwork and gather information to inform a baseline assessment? Or is it to build trusting relationships with the family? · Take provocations with you on home visits. Perhaps a developmental stage appropriate toy or activity to engage the child e.g. if you know the child likes construction activities, take a special bag with some Lego and ask them to create something to bring in and show on their first day. · Ask the child to tell you their favourite story and share a story time with them during the home visit, ideally from a storybook they have at home. · Take some open-ended craft/art resources and ask them to create something to bring in to display. Transition Objects We are all familiar with transition objects, the idea that children have emotional attachments to objects that provide comfort. But these can sometimes pose stress in settings for fear of becoming lost or damaged. · Consider ways to represent the child’s early years setting life in the context of their home. You could invite a child to create a picture frame and take a photo of them and their Key Person to take home. Encourage the parent or carer to celebrate this and share with family and friends, supporting the child’s sense of belonging in the setting. · Allocate a special object for the child to take home from the setting and return with each day. Daily Transitions If a child is struggling with daily separation, there are a few things that might help. · Is the arrival time a particularly busy moment in the setting? Perhaps you could adjust the child’s time to offer a more relaxed arrival, enabling the Key Person to be fully available to support the child to arrive and settle calmly? · Think about ways to engage the child soon after they arrive. Could you facilitate a daily activity for them to get stuck into? This could be a familiar story to share with you, or a task such as setting out some resources, or helping with the day’s snacks. · At the end of each day, agree with the child what their first activity will be on arrival tomorrow, so they know what to expect. A Sound Start We often have a prospectus that informs parents and carers of our setting, but could you create a child-friendly version? This could explain toileting arrangements, snack and refreshment details, as well as celebrating some activities and play opportunities. Your prospectus could also help children become familiar with the team and start to learn the names of key staff before they join. Add photos, or film a video guided tour for children. · Involve older children in your setting to shape what’s included in a video tour and prospectus. A Warm (& Fun) Welcome Take a closer look at the journey children make across the threshold of the setting each day? Can you add some awe and wonder to this arrival? Some ideas could include: · Decorating your doorway. · Creating an eye spy activity from the carpark or site entrance. · Add sound effects/instruments each day for children to use to signal their arrival. · Create a fun arrival activity with pavement chalk, adding provocations, or giant feet to follow. · Bubble machines, wind-socks, tinsel curtains and tunnels can all make the arrival experience more fun. · Use a soft toy that children will be excited to discover is up to different things each day (similar to Elf on a Shelf). Feeling Special Ensure that children understand who their Key Person is. How do you help children to recognise that they are held in mind’ and special to someone in the setting. · Send postcards from the setting during long breaks, to reassure children that you are looking forward to welcoming them back upon their return. · Aid children’s sense of belonging in the setting, seek to ensure they feel represented. · Create areas that help children feel they belong in the space: their own peg, tray, or basket, with images or items from home. Communication is key One of the keys to supporting children and their parents/carers is a two-way sharing of information, whilst ensuring we are not overwhelming families. · Consider the balance of information provided to parents and carers, whilst also listening to them and gaining the information you need. · Seek feedback from parents and carers about how you could improve two-way information sharing. What barriers to engagement might they be experiencing? · Ensure families know the method of maintaining a dialogue with you, who they should approach, when and how. Is pick-up time better for discussions, or is morning drop-off preferable? Can you offer confidential spaces and opportunities to talk if need be? In what ways are you able to support communication for families with EAL? · How do you engage with parents and carers who don’t live with the child, or who are unable to attend the setting? How could you ensure their voice is heard and they are included and informed? · Could you offer opportunities for out-of-hours catch-up conversations for working parents? Open days to engage with the wider family Often our engagement with the family is reduced to rushed handover times. Are you able to hold events/activities for meeting up with the wider family? Open days and activities that welcome extended families to your setting can also be helpful as potential recruitment opportunities, by extending the invitation to prospective families.

It’s 9.59pm and a text message pings. It’s a plea from a parent who is desperate to get his child to me a bit earlier in the morning because he has an urgent meeting first thing. We agree on an arrival time of 6.45am (not the 6.30am he had hoped for) as my childminding day usually starts at 7am... Welcome to a day in the life of a childminder! I became a childminder eight years ago when my own children, twin girls, were one years old. When deciding whether I would return to work, my unpredictable and sometimes long hours requiring a nursery place or a nanny were big factors. Having reflected on my personal circumstances I decided I could work from home and become a registered early years provider. Despite the challenges of gaining qualifications whilst working AND looking after my family, I have never regretted my career change. I wake up at 6 o’clock the following morning and after getting myself ready, I wake my own children at 6:30am. There are repeated prompts to get out of bed, clean teeth, brush hair, find homework etc. At 6.51am my little mindee arrives and is handed over, still sleepy, but transferring easily into my arms. The parent says a thousand thank yous and calls back “you’re a life saver!” as he leaves. Hearing the doorbell spurs my children into action. They confirm who’s arrived before they get a wriggle on, appearing downstairs in 10 minutes. The mindee is now awake with hands washed. He calls my children’s names so he can say hello to their Syrian hamsters who are very popular with the little ones. It’s time for breakfast. Cereals include unsweetened low salt varieties, porridge, fresh fruit, wholemeal toast with jam and a glass of milk or water. Children are encouraged to be independent as soon as possible, so get to scoop their own cereal. Mindee is supported to put spread on his toast and he pours his own milk from the little milk jug. Water is provided in a water dispenser so he can push his cup against the lever to dispense water himself. Our setting is based on the Montessori principle of helping children to do things by themselves. Therefore, plates, cutlery, cups and resources are provided in sizes and at heights where they can access and use what they need independently. Once breakfast is over the children tidy up, scrape their plates into the little food bin and stack their things into the dishwasher. Scraping food into the bin is so popular it has been known for them to scrape their plate then ask for more of what they just scraped. After tidying up they wash hands and faces before going into the conservatory, which is the main playroom. My co-childminder arrives just before 8am and my children head off. These days they take themselves to school – enjoying the independence that comes with being 10 years old and the invention of smart watches with GPS tracker! Our other mindees begin to arrive and our childminding day begins in earnest. I create a weekly newsletter with our planning theme and an outline of what our learning outcomes are expected to be. It also includes parent notices, art activities, outdoor games, outings/trips and Language/Maths focus of the week. We always allow for the unexpected. Children sometimes arrive wanting to do something else or there is an event or change in weather which alters our plans. We were once heading to the playground and saw an air ambulance land on the common. After watching for a little while we realised they were doing a practice drill. They allowed the children to explore the helicopter, climb inside, ask lots of questions and take pictures. An unexpected but exciting opportunity. The newsletter is shared with parents via the online system we use to communicate with our families. We also use this to record aspects of the children’s day including arrival/ departure times, food, nap times, nappy changes, evidencing developmental progress, as well as policies, permissions, contracts, invoices, accidents/incidents, and reports. We use WhatsApp for WOW Moments. Standard COVID arrival procedure includes children packing their personal items into their possessions box on arrival, hanging up coats/bags, washing hands and having their temperature taken. Parents are also able to take temperature readings at home and record them in the system. Back to our day, and we’re off to the local woods for our weekly forest school session with Sankofa to Nature. Going out every day gives children daily practice of dressing independently when putting on their all-weather suits, jackets and welly boots. Thirty minutes is the average time we allow children to get themselves dressed and use the toilet. This gives them thinking time for trial and error and working things out. It also allows their friends to help them if support is required, but they must put their own suit on before helping others. Once dressed we pile into our 8-seater camper van and we’re off for the morning. Our music of choice is singalong tunes to our destination and short audio books on the way back. Forest school allows children to take risks, be outdoors in all weather and to engage with nature. My favourite David Attenborough quote is “No one will protect what they don't care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced”. Supporting children to have a love of nature and to understand how we connect with it is important to me, so we go out every day. Our 3 hours in the woods includes challenging ourselves on rope swings and bridges, climbing fallen trees, going for a bug hunt with magnifying glasses, chopping wood, making a fire and toasting fruit and marshmallows. Energised by our Forest School session we head back home. Lunch today is a hearty minestrone soup with cheese toasties and cucumber followed by yoghurt. After lunch it is quiet time. Some children have a nap, listening to baby Einstein lullabies and a story. Children who don’t require a nap have quiet play. They self-select activities from the low shelves in the conservatory. The doors are fully opened so children can free flow between inside and the garden. With soothing music and gentle reminders, the non-napping children go about their business, choosing activities including 1-2-1 learning from iPad learning apps (Barefoot Atlas, Endless ABC, 123 or Reader and more), layered puzzles, mark making, arts and crafts activities, or exploring books. Meanwhile, I prepare the evening meal. Today will be a simple but wholesome roast chicken dinner. I receive a message from a parent asking if they can discuss something at pick up. I reply saying that will be fine. Whilst watching the children, my co-childminder is also uploading pictures from this morning’s adventure to children’s profiles and assigning EYOs. She creates a summary of their morning for their daily diary. We aim to have some pictures and a diary summary, so parents can view it during a break in their day or whilst heading home in the evening. At 2.30 pm, chicken and spuds are in the oven and I begin waking our nappers. We always ask parents how children slept the night before – it’s important we work with families to get the nap balance right. Once everyone is awake, we discuss our morning, read some books together, sing songs, talk about the days of the week, the weather, and have a group natter. Our outdoor game today is ‘what’s the time Mr Wolf?’ in readiness for playground games at school. My co childminder supervises arts and crafts as well as activities based on the number and letter sound of the week, and children access free flow play. At 3.45pm my girls return from school, wash their hands, and say hello to everyone. Dinner is ready by 4pm and the children wash their hands ready to eat. We family dine, so we all sit around a large table where children look for their name. This encourages name recognition. Children are supported to use appropriate cutlery and try different foods. After dinner, the doorbell rings, causing excitement and floods of tears in equal measure because some children cannot bare that their parent hasn’t arrived first whilst others are not ready to leave. Parents used to be welcomed into the setting but nowadays have to remain outside and children are brought to them. It’s the parent who asked to speak to me earlier. Mum has a concern that her little one is not progressing well with potty training. I’m surprised by this as her child is dry all day and doesn’t display any issues at the setting. After a little more back and forth with Mum we’re both even more puzzled! When her child arrives at the front door ready to go home, we include the child in the conversation. Mum asks, ‘why do you ask me to do it for you at home?’. Child’s reply ‘I thought you liked doing it!’ The next half hour goes by in a blur of handover and updates to parents. Our setting closes at 5.30pm which allows us time to deep clean the areas used for childminding with the fogging machine we’ve invested in. Whilst I clean and set up for the next day’s learning, my assistant completes diaries and updates children’s profiles. By 6pm my co-childminder leaves and I take my children to their 6.30pm swimming lesson. As they swim, I update the system with pictures and observations I’ve taken during the day. I flick through emails, respond to enquiries, and read daily updates from the early years sector. Back home the girls have a snack and get ready for bed. There is homework, bedtime reading, and a school project deadline looms, but we’ll tackle these tomorrow. I’m preparing to become a forest school leader, so I spend an hour or so reading various publications before calling it a night. I’m tired, but it has been a fun day. Tomorrow we go to Box Hill!

How do they understand numbers and how do they learn to count? What early rich experiences can we give them that develops the skills of the mathematician? Being a mathematician involves noticing and wondering about what has been noticed, producing thoughts such as ‘I wonder if this is something in maths that is always true? Or if this is not a general mathematical rule?’ Mathematicians go through this process of reasoning by comparing and contrasting information, testing their ideas in order to come to a place where they can justify their findings and provide a mathematical proof. But how does this process begin and what do those starting points look like in babies and toddlers? There are some key behaviours and experiences that are part of the developing mathematician: recognising and responding to patterns; spatial relationships; cause and effect; inquiry through investigation and observation; developing mathematical language; developing number sense. Recognising and responding to patterns Babies are now given books and images to look at that use black and white only. These high contrast patterns are easier for babies to see. Having items around that include different patterns for young children to interact with and adults describing the patterns to the children, such as fabric that has patterns (as mentioned in the statutory framework for the early years foundation stage: gingham, polka dots and stripes) is a precursor to future maths, as interacting with patterns helps children to predict what comes next. When setting up areas of provision, and planning experiences for your babies and toddlers, ensure that they promote the understanding of both straight lines and curved lines - so include items with stripes, grids and rectangles as well as circles and swirls. We also want children to learn that the patterns can go in different directions, sometimes beginning in the centre and moving outwards, such as spirals, and sometimes going across such as with stripes. Include zig zags and dots. Use patterns that are seen in the natural world, such as the veins on leaves and the fur of a tiger, as well as patterns that are created by people. The patterns that you choose need to be repeating patterns as well as symmetrical patterns. As well as having items around that are decorated with patterns, give children the experience of moving individual items into patterns, such as when playing alongside toddlers, place different coloured cubes into a repeating pattern of red, blue, red, blue, etc. commenting on what you are doing and the effect that this is creating. At this stage it is unlikely that a child from 0 to 2 will engage fully in your demonstration but you are beginning the process of these types of behaviour by modelling it to them. Moving in repeated patterns, such as clapping and waving, also helps with the sense of being able to predict what is coming next. As children begin to walk, they are creating one of their first repeating patterns of moving with alternate feet. Repeating patterns are the first stage in understanding multiples and sequences which then progresses to being able to find the nth term in a sequence. Who would have thought that being able to walk would eventually lead to an element of algebra! Spatial relationships Babies are already getting a sense of where they fit in the spaces around them and how they are being moved around by adults. As they begin to move independently, they become fascinated by when they can fit into spaces and when they can’t. Who would have thought that squeezing themselves into small spaces and climbing was a stage of mathematical development, but I am observing my eighteen month old grandson doing both of these things and smugly thinking how good he is at maths! Putting items in and out of each other and stacking things are also part of the spatial relationships in mathematical development. Recognising and responding to when something fits into a space or not, and when something will balance on something else are starting points for young children also being able to plan and pursue mathematical investigations. Again, commentary by an adult is crucial in beginning the process of refining thoughts of the ‘when, how and why’ of maths. Cause and effect and developing inquiry through observation and investigation: Simply shaking a rattle and knowing that the action of moving it causes a sound, as well as a response from someone else, develops in young children the knowledge that an action leads to an outcome (Kamii and Devries 1993). Dropping something from their highchair and looking at the food on the floor, sometimes accompanied with the cry of: ‘Oh no!’ and pointing at it (again I am quoting my grandson) also demonstrates this growing understanding of cause and effect. In mathematics, when calculating, amounts are manipulated and changed. This understanding is underpinned by a variety of experiences where young children are exposed to and interact with actions that cause something to happen. Ensure that your setting includes: equipment that can be pushed, pulled and rolled; musical instruments that can be shaken and hit; blocks that can be piled and knocked down. Young children are curious. They observe and investigate objects and events in their everyday life, touching and playing with them using all their senses. They discover which textures are pleasing and can become apparently attached to the feel of a particular toy or muslin cloth that they have snuggled when feeding. Talking to very young children about what you have noticed and what you think about it begins the process of thinking like a mathematician. Commenting on how shaking the rattle harder makes it louder and gentler makes it quieter, for example. Mathematical language and Number Sense: Modelling vocabulary is crucial. Why does my son speak to his very young son in full sentences? Why have they done this since the moment he was born, and even before? That new-born baby could not understand the words and yet we speak and speak to him until he begins to try some words of his own – we do not give up after the first time because he has not instantly spoken back. Counting up to three and from three to one before something is about to happen helps children to begin to learn the names of the first three numbers. ‘One, two, three, go’ and backwards: ‘Three, two, one, blast off!’ Also, ‘ready, steady, go’ supports this idea. Counting the sequence of the numbers when going upstairs and counting each stair as you go as well as counting items as you are laying them out in rows, in a tower, in a circle, (different directions) all help to establish the idea that objects can be counted, as well as teaching the sequence of the names of the numbers when counting in steps of one. Often toddlers will like the sound of some of the number names and will join in with this. My grandson’s favourite number names are two and five and he always joins in with them when someone counts for him. Babies and toddlers can detect whether amounts of items are only one or two things but also when amounts are more or less than each other despite not having the words to label these amounts yet. (Samara and Clements 2009). Encouraging them to react to changes in amounts, and playing peekaboo, are part of learning that things can come and go. My grandson loves to be able to see how many of his snacks he has left as he is eating them and he understands that when they have all gone that there are none left. Talking about and experiencing items of different sizes and weights, commenting on what you see and feel, helps babies and toddlers to understand scale and is part of understanding numbers. And then there is subitising. A new and welcome addition to the expectation of achieving the Early Learning Goals at the end of Reception. This is a crucial skill that humans have naturally, especially for small amounts. It is where we see an amount and know how much is there without counting. We use the skill of subitising when reading the patterns of dice. Most of us, from a very young age, can recognise amounts of, or images that contain one, two or three things. Have collections of equipment that are in pairs, such as socks and mention the number of eyes, ears, hands on each of us. Also comment on shelving equipment that has three shelves, read stories that include three characters (there are so many: three bears, three pigs, three wishes, etc.). We are endeavouring to show that we do not always need to count everything in ones and that some amounts can simply be recognised. Getting your ‘maths goggles on’ when planning your areas of provision and adult interactions can really elevate the status of maths for you and the children that you are developing. Hopefully this article has helped you to do that. You can find part two of Sharon's Maths series here. And you'll find part three here.