Guest Authors
Blooming music! Songs about flowers in the early years
Spring is a lovely time to celebrate new life in nature! It is no wonder that so many religions and cultures have traditions that honour this natural display of hope and promise in the world. We end this article with 5 children’s songs about...
7 daily affirmations to create a fulfilled life
Affirmations are statements or phrases that we repeat frequently to ourselves to create a more positive mindset, and therefore a more fulfilled life. Our mind is a powerful tool that is programmed by repetition. The words that are said to us (by...
The importance of the first 1000 days
There’s significant research to indicate that the first 1000 days (conception to age 2) is a critically-important phase, indeed many claim that this time period is where the foundations of a child’s development lie. This phase is the perfect...
Creative role play and relationships
Pedagogy of Friendship Carter and Nutbrown, in their research in 2016, asked what friendship meant to a group of 5- to 7-year-olds and how in turn, teachers can apply the features of the Pedagogy of Friendship in their school. Building...
How to nurture the deepest levels of learning and understanding
The processes of learning are complex, interwoven and continual, and begin before a child is even born. As every child revisits ideas and skills, they will adapt and perfect their understanding as their minds and bodies grow, establishing...
Top tips for the terrific twos – Tip nine: No!
My second son recently turned two. Friends have commented that my first son skipped the terrible twos. They presume my professional skill set will get us through them again. I don’t fancy my chances. This series of articles presents ten tips for...
World Day for Health and Safety at Work
Health and safety are things we all talk about – whether it is to do with keeping ourselves healthy so that we can go to work and look after our children; or whether we mean keeping our home and environment protected using fire alarms and smoke...
Collaboration over competition: how leadership development can support collaboration across the sector
With early years (EY) leaders working double time to keep their doors open in the midst of economic crisis, it’s easy to see other nurseries as competitors in business instead of partners in education and care. However, connecting with others in...
S.P.A.C.E for music – musical skills
What are the essential ‘ingredients’ of an early childhood music session? As an early years music specialist with a particular interest in movement in learning music, I love the concept of SPACE, so used it as an acronym for the skills that...
Top tips for the terrific twos – Tip eight: join them in the overwhelm
My second son recently turned two. Friends have commented that my first son skipped the terrible twos. They presume my professional skill set will get us through them again. I don’t fancy my chances. This series of articles presents ten tips for...
How early years leaders can sustain a positive team culture over time: using secondary embedding mechanisms
How it feels to work in an organisation makes all the difference to whether employees join in the first place and whether they stick it out over time. Retention in early years is – as we all know – a huge challenge at the moment. So the pressure...
Supporting children through difficult processes of social connections
From the day they are born, children are learning to understand and manage their emotions and behaviours. This is a complex process that will take years and many experiences to perfect, some of which will be more successful than others. It is...
Clowning around; how stupidity can have stupendous results
Stupidity is never recommended as something that is good for children, or adults for that matter. It creates images of loud and unruly children, dangerously testing the limits of their environment, behaving badly and causing trouble. Although...
Top tips for the terrific twos – Tip seven: overwhelm
My second son recently turned two. Friends have commented that my first son skipped the terrible twos. They presume my professional skill set will get us through them again. I don’t fancy my chances. This series of articles presents ten tips for...
The importance of not having a narrow view of imagination and authentic learning
Authentic learning is a very positive experience for your little ones, but sometimes if a very narrow view is taken, it can be the opposite in the long term. Piaget believed the learner must be active to be engaged in real learning and that...
Do your children have a safe harbour to return to when things get stormy?
There are times in all our lives when we need that little bit of extra support. When things feel a little too tough to handle by ourselves we all need a safe place to return to. But for a child who may not have been with you for very long or who...
Safety and safeguarding: IICSA summary
Introduction The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) was established in 2015, following serious concerns where some organisations in England and Wales had failed their duty to safeguard children and the aftermath of the highly...
The power of love languages
We all communicate love in different ways and according to American author, Gary Chapman, there are 5 love languages. His theory is that we all express and experience love in these 5 different ways: Words of affirmation Physical touch Gifts Acts...
How early years leaders can make a positive workplace culture stick: the power of embedding mechanisms
We know that a positive workplace culture matters. It’s a huge player in why people join particular nurseries and why they choose to stay. In a time when recruitment and retention are such huge challenges for the sector, and when pay and...
Dealing with the death of a staff member – duty of care
Over the past two months, we have looked at how to deal with the death of a colleague and how we can manage this sad scenario with our staff, parents and children. This article looks at how we, as managers and leaders, can recognise and support...
Taking singing home: how singing helps your health
One of my jobs involves researching the effects of singing on health, so this month, we are looking at what happens to your health when you take the singing home. There have been a few articles and TV programs on the benefits of singing for...
Valentine’s is the time for self-love
Valentine’s is the time for romantics, but self-love comes first, and what is better than looking after your own heart? Make 2023 the start of a wonderful relationship with your own heart and help your little ones to begin theirs. The recent use...
How does self-esteem develop and how do we get that for our children?
We would all love to think that we are caring for children in ways that help value and support their self-esteem. But how exactly can we be sure? You may have built a child’s self-confidence through opportunities to see how well they can do...
Dealing with the death of a staff member – focus on parents and children
When a staff member dies, colleagues, children and parents are impacted. This impact is felt in varying ways and in differing levels of understanding. Our last article focused on the loss of an early years staff member called Mandy, how this...
Why is learning to write so difficult for so many learners?
How do we support young children with this complex task, especially those learners with SEND or more complex significant needs? With an increase in technology available, do we need to continue to focus on teaching young children who struggle to...
Top tips for the terrific twos – Tip six: timing transitions
My second son recently turned two. Friends have commented that my first son skipped the terrible twos. They presume my professional skill set will get us through them again. I don’t fancy my chances. This series of articles presents ten tips for...
Organisational culture in nurseries: what is it and why does it matter?
They say that culture eats strategy for breakfast. What this means is that without an intentional and strong culture in your nursery, it doesn’t matter what action plans you have in place – it will be impossible to implement the improvements and...
Getting fit? Get musical: working out in the early years
Moving around can be and should be fun at every age, but the way we need to move can make a big difference to how enjoyable we find different activities. Knowing that we should move regularly and often is not usually enough to keep us motivated,...
Nurturing emotional well-being through mentoring
Mentoring people is a wonderful thing and done correctly, it can support someone with their personal and professional development. This process encourages growth and involves analysis of performance. However, to get the best results, we need to...
Grief and loss in early years; dealing with the death of a colleague
It was a normal Monday morning at the nursery. Staff members came in to do the early morning shift; they prepared breakfast, opened the windows to let the autumn breeze refresh the rooms, set up tables that would capture the children’s interest...