Rachel's Childminding

Lots of fun this week 😀

Let them play 😃

School readiness?
Is my child ready for school?

September is fast approaching with many children getting ready to start school. Uniforms are being purchased and the count down is on.

This can be a nerve racking time for so many and we need to make the transition as stress free as gentle as possible.

For parents and child 🥰

Let’s take the focus OFF practicing writing their names whenever possible!( because this is NOT school readiness & it won’t assist a child, on their first day in school)

We understand the pressure parents might feel as their children gets ready to start school, it’s daunting and we want to get them ahead, we want to give them the best possible start.

But focusing on ‘handwriting’ and getting children to practice writing their name, is not necessary in preparation for school!

It won’t matter if a child can recite the alphabet, count to 100 or write their name on the first day of school.

It won’t matter if they know all their letters and you have been primed to sound them out !

▪️Ability to make friends, confident to separate from you, the main carer will make their first day much easier.

▪️Can your child communicate their needs.

▪️Can they open their lunch box independently ?

▪️Get into their snacks, access their drink bottle without asking for help?

Let’s remember, your child won’t know their new teacher ( maybe they’ve only met them on a couple of brief occasions )

So a child maybe nervous or reluctant to ask for help!

So forming letters on a page and having the ability to write their name isn’t going to assist them as they navigate through the school day.

Readiness for school is not academics, it’s a competence, confidence and independence within a child.

Let’s empower children with the skills they WILL need! To be as independent as possible and have the ability to make FRIENDS !

If your child went to nursery or a childminder this is what the practitioners having been helping with all this time.
Ever secretly thought “They are just playing, why aren’t they formally teaching my child?”

Omg! This is the best thing they could of ever done for your child 🙌🏼

Play is the brains favourite way of learning, and Early Years actually goes on until the END of reception year !

So actually your child needs to KEEP on PLAYING. ( even after reception year)

Your child’s setting have been doing an incredible job to prepare your child for school ! 🙌🏼🏆

Children don’t need ‘school readiness’

Schools need new children readiness.

Finally, Did you know starting school in other countries doesn’t begin until a child is 7 & is far more beneficial! 🙌🏼

So let’s relax, enjoy the remainder of this term and the summer ahead

Share this post to anyone who might need to hear these reassuring words ♥️

Here’s some blogs you might like ⬇️

https://www.thecuriosityapproach.com/blog/should-my-child-be-writing-their-name-before-starting-school

https://www.thecuriosityapproach.com/blog/phonics-in-early-years-taking-our-foot-off-the-accelerator

https://www.thecuriosityapproach.com/blog/letter-of-the-week

https://www.thecuriosityapproach.com/blog/happiness-first

Just a few photo's from our gorgeous week 😃😃

We've all enjoyed the glorious weather this week ☀️😃

A short week this week but a very lovely one 🥰
We've been very busy learning through our play and developing our independence.😃😃😃

🦋🐛🌳
Butterfly World 🦋

The children had a brilliant time exploring Butterfly World today. We have been investigating minibeasts at home over the last few weeks, so it was lovely to see lots and lots of beautiful butterflies and crawly caterpillars today. 🐛🦋
We also loved the meerkats who were very playful with the children 😃 We fed the fish and enjoyed looking, feeling and smelling the lovely tropical flowers too. 🌸

A great week to finish off the month of April 😃

We've enjoyed some lovely trips out in the spring sunshine and had fun socialising at playgroups too. 👫👫

We've been busy looking for bugs this week and learning all about different minibeasts. 🐛🦋🐌🐞

We had a great afternoon on Tuesday out in the fresh air with our friends 🌳🌱🌼

We had a brilliant adventure yesterday at Saltholme nature reserve 🦆🦢🐦🐹

Lots and lots of lovely photo's from our week 😃😃😃

We've been busy making Mother's Day gifts for our Mummies this week 🏵🌺🌸
We continued our Mother's Day theme and spring flowers through our play with a florist shop in the playroom and lots of flower themed play.

We've also been busy out and about with our friends. We went to playgroups, the library, Play Factory and more 😃💚

FOUR YEARS 🥳🥳🥳

Happy birthday to my little business 🥳

Four years ago this week, I became a registered childminder and resigned from my job as a secondary school teacher. I am so grateful to everyone who has supported me over these four years, especially the families who trust me to look after their children 💜

We finished our week off with a day at home with our friends 💜

We all brought our favourite book from home to share with our friends and we enjoyed lots of stories together to celebrate World Book Day 📚

We also enjoyed lots of time in the fresh air in the garden today 💚 There were lots of puddles of rainwater from yesterday to play in💧👫👫