Routine for Pre school Sessions for 18 months - 3 years: Help!

[Guest]

I am a room leader for the age group 18 months to 36 months. At the moment we run three hour funded sessions and for the last year have attempted to follow the routine of the pre school sessions which originally was children aged 24 months upwards. Now we have split into two rooms I feel the younger children from 18 months upwards struggle with the routine as they are so much younger and my question is, is it appropriate or necessary to do a whole group activity at the end of the session? My reason for this question is that when doing a whole group activity at the end such as a story or singing, children then know its the end of the session and begin to become distressed as they know there parents have come to pick them up and can become upset and this is upsetting for the parents also as they then think there child has been upset the whole time that they have been gone! This is also the case if their child was upset when saying goodbye also. I'd love any advice or to hear what your routine is for children under three.

I hope to hear from you soon! :blink:

[Stargrower]

I think there is no 'necessary' when it comes to routines. If something doesn't work for you and is distressing for your children, I would definitely change it! If you want to have a whole group story/singing time, would it work earlier in the session? If your little ones are finding the pick-up time difficult, would it be easier for them to choose what they want to do at this time, supported by the key person and parents come and take them directly from what they are doing? Just a suggestion - you need to go with what works for you.

[hellotrout]

If you have access to a digital camera try to get a couple of pics of the child happily doing something to show parents/carers when they come to pick them up, its proof they haven't been distressed the whole session and seems to be a lot more comforting than a practitioner just saying they have been fine. This seems to work well for our parents/carers who may be feeling just as distressed as their little one, the camera never lies

[Guest]

Hi thank you for your replies! We have had a change around and it seems to be working better. We still do a come together activity at the end but try to make it a bit different each day and parents have been coming in to collect much better. My other question is if you work with under threes what is your routine like?? :-)

[Guest youngrisers]

we have flexibility at the centre. some little ones like the freedom to free flow between the garden and indoors exploring their surrounds and discovering things on the way. Some are happy to transition into other areas such as the school hall to do physical games and other music and movement sessions. They have choice as we allocate enough staff to stay with those that are in play and want to stay there. Interestingly enough some of our babies love a story session especially if their are props and puppets and a small group. Think story times at local library and sure start centres must be at the core of this....