Work Matters: Practical Management - Open to learning
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Every photo tells a story that helps children choose what to play with and what to learn to do at a nursery visited by Sue Learner.
Giving children choice and independence is paramount at Bright Beginnings Private Day Nursery. This is reflected in its approach to toy boxes and storage generally.
Toy boxes each bear a photograph of children carrying out the activity so they can easily choose for themselves what they want to play with, while pre-schoolers can prepare for school by doing activities from what is labelled the 'manipulative box', such as learning how to tie shoe laces and do up buttons.
These learning resources are all part of the refurbishment of the nursery in Burton-on-Trent, which has undergone a dramatic overhaul since it was taken over by new proprietors, Helena Mills and Zoe Sutton, last year.
'We completely gutted it. The building had been used as a nursery for 12 years but it had fallen into disrepair. We started from scratch and completely refurbished it,' says Ms Mills.
The nursery caters for three age groups. There is a baby room called Little Stars, for those from three months up to 24 months, a toddler room called Rising Stars and a main room for pre-schoolers called Shooting Stars.
The main room has 36 storage boxes of toys. Each has a photograph of children carrying out the activity so they can easily see for themselves what is in each box.
'We wanted to give the children choice in what they wanted to play with and encourage them to try new things from seeing the photographs,' says Ms Mills. 'So we have a photograph of the children playing with the animals and trees in the Duplo zoo. We have photos of children playing with the doctors' kit and the Brio trains.'
The baby room and the toddler room each have nine boxes of toys, also labelled with photographs.
Another innovative resource is the 'manipulative box'. This is for pre-school children to learn the everyday things they will need to be able to do when they start school. 'There are socks to match up, buttons to do up, a lock and key, a pencil sharpener, gloves to put on and shoes that need lacing up. The box also has a photograph on it of the children doing the activities. It is all about getting them ready for school and promoting independence.'
With the inside of the building complete, Ms Mills is now concentrating all her energies on transforming the outside area into a learning environment.
'We want to erect a greenhouse which we are going to use as an outdoor dressing-up and role-play area. We also want to put up pots and pans for music and an area where the children can do weaving with ribbons on netting, plus a nature area with pines cones and a bird table
Ms Mills says, 'We want to extend our indoor activities outside. There are just so many things we want to do. Our list of ideas is endless.'
