Really Silly Question

[Guest]

This is going to sound silly but I am getting into a real pickle with it. We have had a student in who has said that we should have a home corner which is always available to children and a seperate role play area. We are in a village hall so everything has to be stored into a cupboard, the children have asked everyday for the role play hospital which we have got out each day. Student said we should always get the house, cooker, fridge etc for home corner out also and do this every day. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

Many thanks in advance

 

Claire x

[Marion]

We've been told the same by EY advisor. The theory is that younger children have a safe familiar area in the home corner always available and other role play should be in addition. Remember role play doesn't need to be full scale things like small world doll's houses and garages are role play. I doubt many settings have the space for two permanent role play areas.

[Guest]

hi,

 

i'm sure this is not true we had Ofsted last week and this was one of the points that we asked them baout our room. We are lucky enough to have both but we are looking at getting rid of our home corner to allow more room for different area's we would liket o add and they were fine with it.

 

dizzy

[Andreamay]

we are lucky to have room for both and I agree some children do need the familiarity however if it isnt possible I doubt wether the children will suffer that much surely. its also good to have free flow outdoor play but it isnt always poss we just do our best with what weve got!!

[Inge]

I feel it depends on circumstances, and what is possible in the setting you are in. Some can have the luxury of the two role play areas others like ours would not have the room to do it, never mind as you say the storage and supply of both in one session.

 

we don't always have a house either, depends on children at the time... If we have no house we do consider and perhaps have it as small role play with dolls house as an alternative , again depending on the children.

 

But we have found this year the younger children are not using the home role play at all, so to have it because it is something they are familiar with does not always follow. we tend to have younger group in afternoons and it is not touched at all some days. But give them the doctors or shop role play and they are all there happy and busy.

 

Inge

[HappyMaz]

Hi Claire

 

This is a classic case of 'good practice' versus 'actual practice (that is still good!)'. I realise that might not make sense

 

I can see where the student is coming from, but we do have to work within the limitations of our setting. I would love to be able to have a home corner set up every week, together with a separate role play area: but at the expense of what else? We could take away the book corner, or the climbing frame or the creative area but how would you choose? We have to pack away just as you do, so I also understand where you're coming from there

 

We try to have some form of role play outdoors too - so we have tabards, hats/helmets etc and there's a cooker in our playhouse outside.

 

However, in my opinion it is better to provide one high quality role play area than try to squeeze in two without sufficient space for children to fully immerse themselves in the experience.

 

I would try to point the issues out as sensitively as possible: I know what it is like when students go into their placement and say "my tutor says we should be doing X" or when they come up with a great idea in the setting and they say "we don't do that here" without listening. It sounds to me like you're having a good conversation with her about it - why not challenge her to work out how you could provide two role play areas in your group, taking into account that you need to offer a balanced curriculum, and that you need to pack away everyday.

 

It might help her understand the extra problems you face due to your premises, but on the other hand she might identify something that you could change to make things better!

 

Good luck!

 

Maz

[emmajess]

I've heard this too - as an ideal - but for most of us it's difficult in practice. Perhaps role play boxes for the 'home corner' provision might help when your main role play is something else?

 

The other thing to remember is that children will make the role play what they want and need it to be - whatever you've planned it as! So if children really want to play 'home corner' type play, they'll do this in a jungle, an optician's, a boat etc etc etc - and vice versa! The important thing, I think, is to follow their interests and provide props to enhance their experiences of them - while at the same time offering other props and scenarios that broaden their experiences into areas they're less familiar with.... phew!!

 

Emma

[Guest MaryEMac]

Sometimes our home corner is just that ,but at other times it is a vets, a doctors, hairdressers or a shop. Like lots of others we do not have the space to have two big areas. It must be difficult for students who are sometimes taught about an 'ideal world' not a 'practical world'. They must get a culture shock when they get a job and start work.

 

Mary

[Guest]

Wow thanks everyone, some great ideas and advice. I think I am going to ask the student to do an evaluation of our premises and see how we can accomodate both area's, like some have said something else may have to go. I really dont want to dismiss it out of hand but give her the scope to see if it will work. I will also ask her to help tidy away after each session to see if it takes longer etc.

[HappyMaz]

Have edited out this second reply - not sure the points I raised were good enough to repeat!

 

Cupcake - you seem to really value this student's input which can only be good for her self esteem. And it doesn't hurt us to reflect on our own practice and challenge our views from time to time, does it?

 

Let us know what she comes up with!

 

Maz

Edited April 28, 2008 by HappyMaz

[catma]

if it's practical do it - if not, well you can't. Students need to learn that not all settings are textbook I suppose! It also depends on the needs/agesof the children, a cohort of Yr R chn in the summer term might need something more challenging to get their role playing teeth into so more of the same old same old might actually be wrong for them.

Cx

[hali]

funnily enough i was thinking about this a few months ago, we had a book corner with book shelf, sofas and beanbags and then home corner opposite - changed each week for topic. i incorporated a table with cooker and home corner bits down one end from the book corner so we now have a type of home corner and a role paly area - but it does obviously depend how much space you have!

[Inge]

Maz how did you manage that 2 identical posts but at different times of the day 20.34 & 18.55 ??

 

Sorry for going off topic a bit but had to ask

 

Inge

 

awww you changed the second one.... but they were identical honest guv....

Edited April 28, 2008 by Inge

[Guest]

If it is possible, have two role play areas in your room, that is if you have the room, time and people to set them up. At the moment we have a garden centre in our outdoor area and our home corner area inside. We often move our maths area to have another role play. We have just had a pet shop with a strong maths focus. We have role play boxes so if a child has been to the hairdressers and wants to play hairdressers we can have a small-scale role play using some of the things from the box or set it up on a larger scale if it becomes popular. The home corner also becomes the three bears cottage and little red riding hood's grandma's.

We have just finished developing our home corner with the children because I think it is important for children to have one but if we didn't have the space I would rotate a home corner with another role play. The reason I am so for a home corner is when I trained as a nursery nurse, the nursery school where I worked was in a poor, over crowded area and many children were refugees. The nursery had masses of space and a fantastic, well resourced home corner. Many children found this a safe transition from home. Others worked out problems, gained confidence and developed many skills, more so than in any other part of the nursery.

[HappyMaz]

The reason I am so for a home corner is when I trained as a nursery nurse, the nursery school where I worked was in a poor, over crowded area and many children were refugees. The nursery had masses of space and a fantastic, well resourced home corner. Many children found this a safe transition from home. Others worked out problems, gained confidence and developed many skills, more so than in any other part of the nursery.

This is a really valid point, tissue. I can well imagine that for the children you describe, having access to a familiar home corner everyday would be of huge benefit. Its all about reflecting on whether our provision is really meeting the needs of all our children, isn't it?

[Beau]

Quite often when we had the role play area as something other than a home corner I would put the wooden cooker next to the playdough table, as this seems to be the most popular thing when role playing. We also might have pans, spoons etc for the sand tray or cups, teapots etc for the water tray.

[Guest]

We too are in a church hall and empathise with your situation. We only ever had one role play area which could be a home corner, vets, etc. However it's theme was changed weekly and this worked really well. After Christmas we planned to have a permanent home corner in addition to another role play (this was due to the large amount of children all wanting to be in the role paly area - very lively imaginative group) so in effect we planned according to their needs. Both role plays are working well - but we have had to compromise in other areas- eg the story corner has moved places and is not as appealing, and we have had to loose our designated 'writing' area due to space restrictions. There are ways around things though. We now include our 'writing' area as an integral part of the role play, but it doesn't address the story corner problem. We review the room every term, so nothing is ever set in stone. I think you have to be flexible to meet the needs of the children.

[HappyMaz]

Maz how did you manage that 2 identical posts but at different times of the day 20.34 & 18.55 ??

 

Sorry for going off topic a bit but had to ask

 

Inge

 

awww you changed the second one.... but they were identical honest guv....

Yes I did change the second - otherwise more people than you and I would doubt my sanity!

 

I think what happened was that I posted, went away from my laptop and then came back sometime later and the post was still open. So I clicked on 'submit' again, not remembering I'd done it already.

 

Either that or I fell asleep

[Inge]

Thought it was me having a senior moment...

 

not quite so bad then....

 

Inge