Nursery World - Look at structure

School nurseries provide children of three-plus and four years of age with just two-and-a-half hours of mostly supervised free play every day. There is a limited structure to this, such as story time at the end of the session, but, in my experience as a parent using daycare, these children are exposed to far fewer structured or 'academic' activities than they are in pre-school playgroups. The value of the session lies more in helping the child to socialise with other children. But, most of all, the nursery school provides a gradual transition from the pre-school stage to the reception class at the same school.

The value of the session lies more in helping the child to socialise with other children. But, most of all, the nursery school provides a gradual transition from the pre-school stage to the reception class at the same school.

It is generally accepted that playgroups are beneficial to young children. What is not realised is that children can begin playgroup at a much younger age than school nursery - usually from two-and-a-half years - and playgroup sessions are longer at three hours plus, and often are more structured and 'academic', facilitated by the higher staff to child ratio at playgroups of 1:8 as opposed to 1:13.

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