Everyone has a set routine of what they do before school or work every day. Maybe you have breakfast, a shower and then get dressed. Did you know that you play a part in creating routines for your children to? Maybe you didn’t realise what an impact these roles have on your child’s development. Children need consistency at an early age and research shows that routines influence not only their cognitive and emotional development but their social development as well.
When settling into a new class or school having a daily routine and knowing what will happen next provides comfort for your child and a sense of security. Your child will learn to trust that the new adults in the room will provide what they need. Once your child feels this trust and safety they will start to feel more free to explore, play and learn.
In the Early Years at BVIS the staff regularly sit down and discuss the needs of the children and what daily routines are important to not only help them settle in to class, but to learn as well. In your school communication books you will see that the teachers have provided you with a class timetable. This will help you get used to your child’s day to day activities in school. You can look back at their day and talk to them about what they did and also prepare them for their next school day. As your child grows in confidence you will see that they will start to predict what will be happening next, particularly on the days they really look forward to.
When your child knows their routines and boundaries they will start to feel some kind of control over their day. It is so important to give your child a sense of stability and a chance to build self-confidence, self-control, curiosity and social skills at this early age.
We hope that you are starting to enjoy some of our daily routines in early years. We always start with play in the ELC’s at 8am (early learning centre) before we start our day at 8:30am. All the children are encouraged to say good morning to the teachers and to welcome each other with a song and a class register. At the end of the day we always end with a song and say goodbye to our friends. Please encourage your children to join in with this.
A few parents still need to sign in to Class Dojo. Please don’t forget to do this as all the staff in early years are not only using this as a way to communicate with you as parents but also as a way of immediately sharing the wonderful activities your child has been engaged in over the day. Please do try to comment and like your child’s activities and let the class teacher know if you need some help logging in.
Miss Julie Walton
Head of Early Years
