Category: Early Years STEM Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics

Supporting your child’s learning at home: Ideas for developing early science skills

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date January 3, 2023

Young children begin to develop a sense of curiosity and start asking questions about the world around them at an early age. In fact, infants and toddlers are naturally curious and are constantly exploring their environment through their senses. As children grow and develop, they become more and more curious about the world around them and will often ask questions about how things work or why things happen. The first steps in scientific enquiry can be taken by fostering this natural curiosity and “systematic” investigation, that is, repeated and consistent exploration of a child’s environment.

There are many ways you can support and encourage your child’s journey in exploration. In general, it is important to provide your child with age-appropriate materials and activities, answer their questions no matter how basic or strange they may seem at first, and encourage them to make observations and ask more questions.

Open-ended resources are essential for nurturing children’s pre-science skills.

Tags child development, Cockfosters Nursery School, early years, early years STEM, Hadley Wood Montessori Nursery School, pre-school education, Reggio Emilia

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Colour & Light: The Lightbox Project

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date February 26, 2022

During the previous term, we noticed that our children were showing a strong interest in light and shadows, as well as colours and space. As usual, we followed the children’s interests and ideas, and we decided to have a whole half term dedicated to the theme “Colour and Light”.

Tags child development, Cockfosters Nursery School, early learning, early years, Hadley Wood Montessori Nursery School, Reggio Emilia

Cockfosters Nursery Early Mathematics Early Years Education Early Years STEM Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics Enfield Nursery Forest Schools High Scope early years approach Montessori Ofsted outstanding Pre-School Learning Reggio Emilia Research on Early Years Development

Intent, Implementation, Impact – the key to every early years curriculum

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date October 2, 2020

It is crucially important that an early learning curriculum is responsive to the changing needs of children so that opportunities for growth and development are not missed.

Tags Barnet Nursery, curriculum, Early Mathematics, early years, early years learning, Enfield Nursery

Cockfosters Nursery Early Years Education Early Years Foundation Stage Early Years STEM Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics Enfield Nursery Forest Schools Hadley Wood Nursery Montessori Ofsted outstanding Pre-School Learning

Measures taken for a safe reopening of our nursery following the Covid-19 lockdown

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date June 22, 2020

On the 1st June we reopened our outstanding nursery and were extremely happy to be back in our natural environment so we can maximise on the face-to-face interactions with the children. We supported our children during the closure period through our online learning that involved a weekly pack of activities supported by recorded and live teaching sessions. It was great seeing our children make progress through these methods. Following our reopening, we implemented a “blended learning approach” where both remote and on-premises learning takes place. However, the physical environment itself and our processes had to change to accommodate the highest standards of infection control and risk assessment.

Tags Cockfosters Nursery School, Early Mathematics, early years learning, early years phonics, Hadley Wood Montessori Nursery School, nursery school

Books for children Cockfosters Nursery Early Mathematics Early Years Education Early Years STEM Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics Enfield Nursery Forest Schools Hadley Wood Nursery Montessori Ofsted outstanding Pre-School Learning Reading for early years Reggio Emilia

Our blended-learning approach for early years education

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date June 8, 2020

We were so happy to return to our home as a nursery school last Monday, 1st of June. During the weeks of lockdown due to Covid-19 we found many innovative ways of staying connected with our children and their families, and continuing their learning journeys remotely. Unfortunately it has not been possible for all of our children to come back to the classroom in our Hadley Wood site in this half-term. We saw this as a challenge to overcome, so we have opted for a “blended learning” model, which allows us to expand on and complement our nursery-based offering with a remote learning curriculum.