Day care, sessional, outdoor learning.
How you choose to use The Family Legacy services will be what is right and best for you and your child. Whether it is full day care or an enhancement to your child’s local authority placement we will work with you to provide the best experience possible for your family.
For the Youngest (0-2s)
Within the centre the youngest children have their own area called ‘The Nest’ where they are able to play, rest and sleep. While they can still be part of the hubbub of the centre they have two cosy nurturing spaces where they can rest as well as having secure areas for crawling and exploring.
In responding to each individual’s needs the staff will ensure every child has lots of fresh air, lots of outdoor time, lots of cuddles, lots of opportunities to use their senses and lots of love.
For the Toddlers (2-3s)
Toddlers need space to explore. The centre has a dedicated area for our 2-3 age group called (stay tuned – this will be named by the children). but they also have access to other indoor spaces as well as the outdoors.
An important aspect of a child’s cognitive development at this age is being able to engage in different patterns of behaviour known as schemas. There are lots of different schemas that children will be compelled to use and at the Family Legacy we use ourknowledge and experience of child development and learning to meet those.
Here are some of our favourites
- Enveloping – children of this age love to hide and envelop themselves so we help them build dens.
- Transportation – the art of taking something from one place and putting it in another. Wheelbarrows and sticks and stones are a fabulous way to indulge!
- Circular – drawing circles in the mud, tying ropes around trees, spinning around during games – all great things to do if you enjoy engaging in a circular schema.
For the Shapers (3-5s)
In the centre the older children also have their own dedicated space called (stay tuned – this will be named by the children). But again they are able to access other areas indoors as well as the outdoors when they choose.
Children in this age group are given lots of opportunities to engage in co-operative play where they are working and playing with others often on projects they lead whether it be building a giant dragon or making sawdust roads to race cars.
There are lots of opportunities for the children to develop early numeracy and skills from counting worms in the garden, identifying giant sawdust shapes, categorising and sorting leaves to measuring and selecting sticks for building dens.
Literacy is covered with our pre-school children as they practise pre-writing skills by mark-making. Go on literacy hunts to find objects beginning with selected letters and talking about their experiences outdoors.
Through a variety of topics driven by the children’s interest, they will be involved in a multitude of learning experiences.
The children will have daily oppottunities to come to gether to reflect on what they have been playing at and learning. We believe this is important in allowing them to make sense of learning.
They will also be able to participate in yoga at the end of a morning and afternoon to allow them the chance to stretch, relax and think about…..probably what they are going to have for dinner!!!!
For You
One of the hardest things for a parent is feeling they are missing out on their child’s significant milestones while they are not there. Being a parent myself I understand this too. To this end we will ensure regular documentation of all the big and little things happening with your child this will come in many forms from the day to day information sharing between you and your family worker to the pictures we can text you as things occur to the photos we will upload on the Family Zone to the conversations we record of your child during play.
Settling In
We appreciate that your child leaving you to come to a new place can sometimes be a bit over whelming for everyone involved. In order for you to feel confident that your child’s settling in period goes as smoothly as possible we have the following strategies in place:
Your child will be assigned a family worker
If desired the family worker can visit your child at home before they start
You will be invited to attend the induction period where you can play with your child in the setting and spend time with staff
At registration we will ask you to complete information sheets supplying us with lots of information about your child which will allow us to get to know their individual interests etc
As your child becomes more confident within our setting you will still be able to spend time in the Parents Room (glass fronted) where you and your child will know you are not too far away but allowing them some independence
Outdoor Learning
I am a great advocate for children developing and learning outdoors and have first hand experience of the possibilities the outdoors has for promoting safe play and children assessing risk. The children as well as spending daily time outdoors we plan to go further afield and use Baltic Street Park and eventually Cuningar Loop for more nature based experiences. Details of when the children will be involved in forest nursery experiences will be given when your child starts.