Guest Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Hi This is my first post so I hope I do ok I have been eavesdropping for months though I just wondered if any of you out there had any thoughts about taking very young two year olds in a one room (fairly small) nursery. I am worried about the changes in our continuous provision for 3 - 4 year olds i.e. What we would or wouldnt be able to have out each day. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiny Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I don't have 2 year olds so can't help you sorry. Just wanted to say Hello and well done for making your first post!! Don't worry about putting things in the wrong place too much, there are loads of helpful people that can move it if it is!! Look forward to hearing from you much more now!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 HiThis is my first post so I hope I do ok I have been eavesdropping for months though I just wondered if any of you out there had any thoughts about taking very young two year olds in a one room (fairly small) nursery. I am worried about the changes in our continuous provision for 3 - 4 year olds i.e. What we would or wouldnt be able to have out each day. Thanks hi jed and welcome!! this a great site with some very knowelgable and inspirational people! im definately an addict!! im in a day nursery with several rooms , our toddler room 2-3s is getting full and i rang ofsted about the possibilities of having 2 year olds in preschool to make space for new children. they were fine with this as long as it was reflected in ratios as as you know for 2-3a it 1:4 and 3-5s 1:8. just consider health and safety as 2s still like to put things in their mouth sometimess .i have done new risk assessments to cover this and its worked out fine!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Hi Jed Congratulations on your first post. We recently lowered out intake age form 2:9 to 2:4. The main difference for us was the amount of nappies and extra trips to the toilet. We have not changed our daily session very much apart from the adult:child ratio being higher. The younger children use the same equipment but the staff differentiate activities according to ability. Carol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 hello and welcome to the forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 We have two year oldds in with 3, & 4 and just differenciate with activities ie peg/small & large interlocking puzzles. too much else to list (sorry its been a long day ) The only downside is the nappies as nowdays there seems to be a lot more children in nappies a lot later and this does take out 1 member of staff. plus you have to be prepared to do small group activities such as circle time , cooking, & science experiments ans split the age groups as the younger ones loose interest very quickley and it sometimes spoils this for the older ones. Having said this there is never a dull moment and wouldn't be without them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 We've had 2 year olds for a few years now, and apart from the differentiation with some activities, it hasn't really changed the way we set things out. Initially we put a gate across one of the doors (into the 'kitchen') but after a while we didn't bother with this as children weren't really wanting to wander in there unless their Key Person had gone in to get something. We arrange Key Groups with similar age bands as it makes it easier for Key Persons to plan activities and look at the development they may want to see across their group. Some 2 year olds are very young and 'babyish' we have one who has only been walking for a couple of months, for instance, and of course 75% of them are in nappies, but the benefits are that we are in a fantastic position of really seeing growth and change. Three of the children in my group will have been with us for more than half of their lives when they leave, and it can be quite a wrench when they go, and that's the only downside! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alison Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 we take children from 2 and I agree with Cait its great to see the children grow and develop over a longer period plus if children start at the age of 2 we find more stay with us rather than move to school nurseries theres often quite able 2 year olds who are more than ready for preschool and its nice they dont have to wait till their free nursery place. we tend to start the 2 year olds with 2 mornings per week and then depending how well they settle in and whether parents want it, we offer more sessions, it also keeps the waiting lists short so we are less likely to loose children to other groups, we find children settlle well at the age of 2 in often better than the 2 1/2 year olds, I like the mixed ages its more family like, the older children learn skills such as looking out for the little ones and the little ones have older children to look up to, it helps with potty training and learing the routine. you can compensate for the younger children in the group with special focus activies for the older ones we did try to do a focus activity for each age group all at the same time and it did work quite well but then the older children wanted to go and play with the younger activities if their focus activity wasnt quite as interesting. (I think we needed better planning co-ordination) the nappies are a down side but I'd prefer that children come in nappies and wait till the child is ready before trying to potty train Ive known parents to claim their child is "dry" when its obvious they are not ready. we insist that parents change nappies at the start of session and in theory they should last until the end of session so it minimises the number of changes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Thanks for letting me know about your experiences that really helps. We are a small nursery with only myself and my deputy + 1 part time member of staff (two days) We only have one room and share the toilets with the Infant class in the room next to us - so nappy changing might be a problem. I will probably think back on this in a few months and wonder what on earth I was worried about but at the moment my mind is full of 'If's', 'but's' and 'may be's'. My main concerns are e.g. having scissors 'on show' for the pre-schoolers to use and needing eyes in the back of my head watching for little feet running around with them, water-play - not that two year olds can't play in the water but the fact that we might need '6 million' changes of clothes ........., not getting peg boards out because two year olds can always find an body orifice to put them in where they wern't intended to go ............... I am going to shut up now cos I'm waffling. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 our 2 year olds have recently had to join us in the nursery room due to their own room being out of action and on the whole its going well - my main reservation was how they would cope with our much bigger room but they are all very happy. we have created a base area for them within the room where they have got some of the younger toys but other than that no major changes. of course they bring more work with them - just being more vigilant keeping eye on activities with small pieces and the sand/water play but is also lovely to see some of the younger children choosing to join in with group activities that perhaps wouldn't be on offer for them usually. jaycooks - maybe i'm trying to make this more complicated that it needs to be but what did you add to your risk assessments? - we have discussed obvious need to be alert to activities with small pieces and possibility of younger ones accessing scissors - should we be doing anythign else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alechunter Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Your posts are all very interesting. I think this is what we may all have to do in the future - take 2 year olds - did anyone read in the 10 year strategy on home page that they are now piloting funded sessions for 2 year olds for 10 hours a week. If successful it will probably be extended to rest of country. If they do its funding and "bums on seats" that we can't afford to miss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 We take children from 2 years and all in the same room, again just differentiate the activities. They cope very well, we purchased a few baby cups for snack time and it is in our policy that 2 year olds only do 1 x 2 1/2 hour session as we havent got the facilities for them to have a sleep if they were here all day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sienna Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Hello and welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 lots of positive but these reasons mentioned are exactly why we decided not to take 2 year olds we take children from 2/1/2 until school age i feel that it would really unsettle what we have here we are in one big room and it would mean taking opportunites away from my other children and also ratio's would need to be very carefully looked at but im glad for everyone else it has worked we are lucky as we are not low on numbers and have long waiting list but you never know if i will in future need to reconsider this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louby loo Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 We take form two = one big room and no problems at all (touch wood) the ratios are different- which is why it works. We have free access to scissors - peg boards are out.. we just make sure we 'risk assess' throughout the session. I love this mix - it also means we sometimes have a term or two when siblings are able to attend togethe which is really nice too. xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Oh absolutely - we've got a few of them! Do you offer reduced fee costs to siblings? We do, but not by a huge amount - unless one child is nursery grant, in which case they pay normal fee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alison Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 we charge peanuts so we cannt afford to offer a discount one thing I forgot to mention that the children starting at 2 by the time they reach funding age are well settled and know the routine really well regarding scissors and crafty stuff we made the creative area (where these are kept ) an enclosed area so that there is one entrance access point ensuring the children dont wander off with equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louby loo Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Do you offer reduced fee costs to siblings? We do, but not by a huge amount - unless one child is nursery grant, in which case they pay normal fee No... at my last place we did- untill my line manager questioned it (he had nothing to do with childcare it was a workplace+community setting) he just asked did we give the siblings less attention or care? then removed the discount!!! xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Whoops! WE only charge peanuts too, £2 an hour, so it's hard to do much, but we do try to help if both children are fee-paying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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