Twins

[Panders]

Hi, it's been quite some years since we have had twins in our pre-school. However, next Sept. looks like two sets will be joining us. Just wondered really how other pre-schools manage twins, I have offered parents for the children to come on different mornings to begin with, both sets have said no, they want them in on the same mornings, (quite understandable), but what about key persons - one set of twins are identical boys, the other boy+girl. Would make sense for parent to have one person to communicate with, however, particularly with the boy twins I am concerned that they do not turn into a generic "the twins", rather than being individuals. Any thoughts?

[redjayne]

Whenever we have had twins they have had different keyworkers, and the parents don't seem to mind this - it stops the member of staff comparing them /using the generic 'the twins' and it gets the parenst used to the idea that when they go to school they will rarely be in the same class , so two teachers anyway .

[kristina]

I have twins starting in January and have to say I have put them with different staff as didn't want them to be compared!

 

Kris

[Guest]

We have 3 sets at the moment! All have different key workers. Only thing we find difficult is trying to work out which photo is of which twin!! Especially when one mum dressess them exactly the same (but on photos you can never tell anyway). Mum understands.

[sunnyday]

We haven't had any twins for 'ages' but I would give different Key Persons if and when we get another set!

[Cait]

We have never had any, but when we've had siblings in at the same time they have different Key Persons, and I imagine I'd do the same with twins

[Guest]

we have twins and this time for the first time we have given them the same key person. So far this is working well mum likes having one key person to build a relationship with and the member of staff likes it as she is able to see the differences between them, one enjoys drawing and can sit for ages while the other enjoys more physical activities. The key person is also building a really good relationship with the parents, so far its working well............will review in a few weeks

[Guest]

we have twins and this time for the first time we have given them the same key person. So far this is working well mum likes having one key person to build a relationship with and the member of staff likes it as she is able to see the differences between them, one enjoys drawing and can sit for ages while the other enjoys more physical activities. The key person is also building a really good relationship with the parents, so far its working well............will review in a few weeks

 

I was the key worker for identical twin girls for 2 years before they went to school this September and it worked really well. We started with splitting them between key worker for the reasons described above but found that both were more attached to me and as a result I had a better relationship with mum and dad, so I ended up with both. I agree with simcity, I personally found this easier when it came to seeing differences between them.

[Bigsue]

We have separate Key Persons for twins and siblings and family members but I would discuss it with parents Personally I think they are individual and shouldn't be compared. Re Photos even our parents got it mixed up!

 

Good luck I think twins are fun they play great tricks even at this age

 

Sue

[Greenfinch]

We have had 3 sets of twins in different years and triplets one year too!

We have used the same keyperson and it has so far, with each of these families, always worked well and the twins have not been remotely like eachother anyway!

I could however see merit in having different key persons also.

Enjoy!

[haltstar]

Hi

In the past I have given twins the same key worker and this has always worked well. I feel from experience, as I am a twin, it is up to the practitioner to treat twins as individuals and not refer to them as 'the twins'.

I have had three sets of twins in my Nursery and it has never been any problem them sharing a key worker, as it forges excellent links with the parents, who only have one practitioner to get to know well. Siblings are always given the same key worker and I don't see why it should be any different for twins.

[Cait]

It possibly is down to your personal setting and its community. Every family will be treated as individuals and where it's in the best interests of the child you'll make judgements one way or another.

[Guest Biker]

Hi,

We currently have identical twins attending our pre-school.Having spoken to parents we decided to give them different keyworkers.In the past we have had twins who had the same keyworker!Both approaches have worked for us.I think as with all children they and their families are unique so you have to find the approach that fits them best!

Photos is a nightmare,we are very lucky that parents try to send them in dressed differently and both have particular favourite colours to wear but lately they have been known to swap coats/jumpers!!!!

[apple]

We have three sets of twins in the nursery at the moment. We always ask the parents what they would like to do re splitting them or keeping them in the same group. Two sets of parents wanted them in separate groups and the other wanted them together. Both ways are working well.

When it comes to Reception again we ask the parent but we have more info to go by then; one year we recommended that a set of boys be split in order for one to begin to become less reliant on his brother. Mum and Dad took this on board, thought about it very carefully and decided to keep them together- they boys are now in year 1 and doing brilliantly. So it goes to show that parents know an awful lots more than we did :-)

 

I do think it is good to give the parents the option if possible. I think it is funny when the children in my group (I have two halves of two sets of twins) think that they have seen the twin in my group when it is in fact the other half :-) It is only when they come together as a whole nursery that they are amazed at the similarities

[Guest]

I think that actually it might be good to look at the needs of the twins themselves as well as the parental considerations and what you have done before. As a teacher working in a one form entry school the twins I teach obviously have to be in the same class. On some days they really want to be seperate and not work together and be in different groups, whereas on other days they will stick together like glue (even walking around the classroom holding hands). This tends to be when there have been changes to the environment or we are doing an activity that they find more difficult (they're actually both quite similar in terms of ability, the differences are there but they are slight). Maybe it might be worth holding off on your decision until you have met them, some twins really want that independence whereas some twins really value their bond and feel more secure with each other which might be helpful when they first start. Of course you don't want them to become over reliant on each other, but if you felt that was the case you could seperate them into different groups later on.

[blondie]

hi we had triplets last year - three girls - they had different key workers and this worked well - it meant the girls spent time apart when in small group and story and we found that this meant that the girls gained new friendships rather than relying on each other all the time ( and yes they were identical and they only way we could tell them apart was each triplet always wore the same colour hair toggles - mum always dressed them differently but couldnt remember which triplet was in which colur so the hair toggle worked well - dont know what we would have done if they had been boys lol )x

[Guest]

We usually ask the parents their choice. Some like to dress them the same and there are some go to great lengths to dress them completely different. If feel its only fair to ask parents what they would prefer and try to accomodate them. Our keygroups in nursery gather in different places so tricky if parents have children in different places to pick up. I had boy/girl twins last year in my KWG and I made sure each child got a copy of letters etc instead of as a family. They have gone with me to reception (parent choice to keep them in the same class) and the last 2 days the girl has been ill and the boy was happy to come without her. A big step forward from a year ago.I'm not sure what would have happened this time last year if one had been ill.We have had occasions when siblings have fallen into the same year group and its happened in nursery again this year-we do the same-ask the parents what they would prefer.

 

as an aside

there are new to me identical twin girls in the opposite reception class who are in my new phonic group.Second day with them today and I've noticed they appear to be mirror twins!! One writes left one right moving in opposite directions-anyone got experience of this?

Edited November 2, 2010 by Guest

[Panders]

Thank you so much for your replies everyone. I can see it will be a decision to be made much closer to the date! The boy twins have just turned 2, but the boy/girl twins are already attending 2 other nurseries in the area, because they have just moved here from London and couldn't get in anywhere else. Mum seems pretty determined to move pre-schools again, or to drop one and use us instead as we are closer to the family home. Might be a difficult transition for them.

 

I will be asking the parents most definitely, but as I hadn't experienced twins in such a long time thought I'd come on and ask everyone for their thoughts. As mentioned some parents of twins fiercely defend their individuality, whereas others are far more laid back. In any event sounds like it will be fun and a learning curve for us all.

[mps09]

Re Photos even our parents got it mixed up!

 

I had identical twins last year who wen off to school in September. When it came to photographs I would spread them all out and ask each boy (without the other watching) to pick out all the pictures of him, pencilled his name of the back them muddled them all up and asked the other boy in to do the same...

 

and guess what......

 

They didn't pick ONE photograph the same! So I could allocate them quite confidently knowing which photo was of which child. And if they could do that so definitively then I wasn't worried that it might have been wrong!

 

Though strangely the two photographs that they were both in, they both insisted that the child on the left was them!

[Lyanne]

I was looking at our keyperson photo books with 1 of our 4 sets of twins the othr day - both named their elder sister, and both named the other twin, but neither of them were very interested in the photo of themselves!

 

We've currently got 4 sets of twins, all fraternal, 'my' twins are boys, two sets of boy & girl twins and the youngest twins are girls. We try to make sure siblings get the same key person so to help ourselves and the family build closer relationships, so apply this to twins as well.