FAQ
Kids
Talking to your baby from birth can build their language and communication skills. Babies will pick up on different sounds and different words being used by their parents/ carers, which will help their brain develop and understand of words before speech comes. The more you speak to your baby the better. You can talk to your child anywhere, and about anything. Singing, reading and rhymes are all ways of communicating with your baby.
Physical activity everyday is important for healthy growth and development it can vary from different ages.
Babies under 1- encouraging them to be active throughout the day is sufficient. Crawling, shuffling, reaching, grasping, pulling and pushing.
1 years- 5 year olds- encouraging them to take part in physical activity for at least 3 hours a day. Activity play, such as chasing games, climbing, jumping, hopping, ball games, riding a bike, playing in the water/sand, and running.
Some children can start to say real words between 12-18 months, every child is different and will develop skills in their own ways. Before talking babies will show “pre-verbal skills” like eye contact, sharing, attention and taking turns. Children need to have a good understanding before speech appears, it is natural for children to mispronounce words.
As your baby grows and develops they will use their 7 senses to learn about the world around them. Sight, Hearing, Smell, Taste, Touch,Vestibule (Movement) and Proprioception (Body position) which will all help to develop your baby’s motor skills. Sensory integration is the process by which we receive information through our senses, organise this information, and use it to participate in everyday activities.
- Praising them often
- Letting them problem solve themselves
- Setting them challenges
- Encouraging them to speak out on their opinions
- Encouraging them to believe in themselves
- Focus on their strengths
No, although there are many advantages of starting a nursery/ pre-school your child will still have a great experience and will be able to learn alongside their peers just fine when they start school at 4/5 years old. There are plenty of opportunities for social interaction when they start school.
- Reading to your child
- Talking to your child about their work and showing an interest
- Encouraging
- Praising
- Listening
- Setting fun but education activities
- Checking over your child’s work
Nurseries
Research the most popular nurseries in your area, check the reviews, look through their website & social media pages , Book a visit to the nursery with your child to see if you/your child like the environment. Make sure to note down what the ‘Pro’s and Con’s’ are of the facility’s and any other important information such as their availability, hours, cost/prices. This will help simplify the list and help you come to a final decision of a potential nursery your child will.
Ensuring that your child and yourself feel comfortable, ensuring staff ratios are accurate, checking that the nursery environment is safe and clean, Policies and procedures are in place as well as safeguarding, Staff have relevant qualifications and up to date dbs. Having a good diverse setting both children and staff. Having a good range of resources.
Sending your child to nursery can boost their self confidence, encourage play and turn taking, boost social interactions, get them into a school like routine, teaches them rules and boundaries.
There is no right or wrong time to send your child to nursery, everyone has different reasons. Welcoming, knowledgeable and approachable staff. Regular feedback and updates on your child’s progress, behaviour, interests. Observations should be carried out frequently (either online or paper based) to track your child’s learning. Your child should be allocated a key worker who will settle the into the nursery and bind with them.
Finance
Childcare Vouchers enable working parents to pay for their childcare, benefiting from savings of about £1,000. Employees buy the vouchers (usually through a salary sacri-fice scheme) for up to £55 per week or £243 a month, depending on circumstances. They save money because the vouchers are exempt from tax and NI(national insurance).
Your 2-year-old can get free childcare if you live in England and get one of the following benefits:
• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Universal Credit, and your household income is £15,400 a year or less after tax, not including benefit payments
• tax credits, and your household income is £16,190 a year or less before tax
• the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• the Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
2-year-olds can also get free childcare if they:
• are looked after by a local authority
• have a statement of special education needs (SEN)or an education, health and care (EHC) plan
• get Disability Living Allowance
• have left care under an adoption order, special guardianship order or a child arrangements order
To qualify for 30 hours of free childcare, each parent (or the sole parent in a single parent family) will need to earn on average, the equivalent of 16 hours on the national minimum wage per week and no more than £100,000 per year. You can apply online on gov.uk for a childcare account to get a code for 30 hours to give to your provider.
You will need to apply using the online form on gov.uk. You’ll need your de-tails (and your partner’s, if you have one), including your:
• National Insurance number
You will need to apply using the online form on gov.uk. You’ll need your de-tails (and your partner’s, if you have one), including your:
• National Insurance number
• Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), if you’re self-employed
If you pay for childcare and want to use Tax-Free Childcare to get help you can also apply using this service.It usually takes 20 minutes to apply. You may find out if you’re eligible straight away, but it can take up to 7 days.
You could get weekly payments through Care to Learn if you’re under 20 at the start of a publicly-funded course, for example at school or sixth form.
The Care to Learn scheme can help with childcare costs while you study.
You must be aged under 20 at the start of your course.
The scheme is available for publicly-funded courses in England. This includes courses in schools, sixth-forms in schools and sixth-form colleges.
You can get up to:
• £160 per child per week if you live outside London
• £175 per child per week if you live in London
Nursery fees may slightly change from time to time due to the government raising registration costs.
Activities
Children will love almost all activities you do with them at home, as the quality time is the most important. Here are some examples of activities you can try;
• cooking
•Painting
•role play-tea parties, doctors, dressing up, superhero’s
• learning to draw
•Hide and seek
•reading and writing a book review
•junk modelling, making robots, cars, castles etc
•making musical instruments using empty bottles/containers , pasta, rice, beans etc
•create a family tree
•Make an obstacle course and time how long it takes to complete it
•write letters to family members and post them
•playing card/board games
•put on a puppet show using teddies and toys
•Den building- use your imagination and turn your living room, kitchen, bedroom or garden into a super cave using furniture, sheets/blankets, torches, fairly lights etc
•Grand designs junior-Design(draw) and build something together using different resources from your house
•Creating a story- take it in turns to write/tell part of a story using your wild imagination
•talking to your child
•reading to them
•exposing them to everyday language
•listening to music
singing and dancing games
•speaking clearly
•giving one instruction at a time
•flash cards for basic words
•using hand gestures when talking
•musical dancing
•climbing
•jumping off and landing
•building towers
•row, row, row your boat
• toss balls in a basket
•throwing and catching
•imitate animals
•Follow the leader
•popping bubbles
• ring games
•balancing games
Yes, it allows children to explore the natural outdoor environment, helps to promote language, supports their well being, self esteem and self confidence. Forest play allows them to risk take and learn from their mistakes.
•Twinkle twinkle little star
•Row-row-row your boat
•The wheels on the bus
•Hey diddle diddle
•One, two, three, four, five
•Humpty Dumpty
•Old MacDonald had a farm
• go on a insect hunt in the garden, make a habitat or bug hotel
•go camping in your back garden
•bike riding with family members
•friendly water fights
•climbing trees
•visit a park
Products
•Argos
•Smyths
• Bright minds
•Early learning centre
•Mulberry bush
•Amazon
• Maxi Cosi Nova 4 Wheels
• Nuna Mixx
• Uppababy Cruz V2
• Bugaboo Fox 2
• iCandy Peach 5
It is up to individuals if they choose to give a dummy to their baby. Dummies provide comfort and satisfy the need for frequent suckling that is a normal feature of all human babies.
Dummies can give mum a break from constant rocking and soothing in the difficult hours
and help abs by get to sleep, on the flip side dummies can build up bacteria if not
sterilised regularly which can lead to oral thrush.
You can use your cot from the day your baby is born, if you like.
However, many parents choose a moses basket for the first few months.
This is often because a newborn baby can look and feel a little lost in a big cot.
Moses baskets are designed for newborn babies to sleep in for the first 6 months they provide cosy and reassuring confined space for your child.
• The tiger who came to tea. Author: Judith Kerr
• Where’s spot. Author: Eric Hill
• Each peach pear plumb. Author: Janet Ahlberg
• The very hungry caterpillar. Author: Eric Carle
• The elephant and the bad baby. Author: Elfrida Vipont
• Bellababy dual suction breast pump Pump LED Touch Screen with 4 Modes.
• Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Electric Breast Pump, White
• Momcozy New Version Electric Breast Pump, 2 Modes
• Inarock Electric Breast Pump, InaRock Dual Suction Rechargeable Nursing
• Breastfeeding Pump
• Eccomum Electric Double Breast Pump Eccomum Breastfeeding Pump with 4 Modes
Britax Baby Safe i-Size Car Seat, £190
Maxi-Cosi Axissfix Plus, £399
Kiddy Evo-Luna i-Size, £409
Silver Cross Dream, £195
Cybex Cloud Q, £220
Maxi-Cosi CabrioFix Group 0+, £139
Jané Koos, £160
Graco Milestone, £220
Curriculum
A group of subjects that you study at nurseries, schools and colleges.
It’s always good to Mirror what your child is doing at home to nursery, you may want to talk to your child key worker to find out if they are focusing on any topics so that you could focus on it at home with your child.
Watch List
Child Nutrition
Picky eaters tend to eat different foods than the rest of their family but are happy to still eat at the table with them.
Problem feeders tend to almost always eat different foods than their family and do not want to eat at the table with them.
Eating at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day. Try to base meals on higher fibre starchy foods like potatoes, bread, rice or pasta and have some dairy or dairy alternatives (such as soya drinks). Eat some beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other protein, choose unsaturated oils and spreads, and eat them in small amounts. Children should be drinking lots of fluids a day.
Special Needs
It describe services and support that help babies and toddlers from birth to 3 years of age with developmental delays or disabilities and their families.
Seeking help before it gets worse, If you’re concerned about your child’s development, don’t wait contact your childcare providers and your GP.
• Problems reading and/or writing.
• Problems with math.
• Poor memory.
• Problems paying attention.
• Trouble following directions.
• Clumsiness.
• Trouble telling time.
• Problems staying organised.
• not responding to their name.
• avoiding eye contact.
• not smiling when you smile at them.
• getting very upset if they do not like a certain taste, smell or sound.
• repetitive movements, such as flapping their hands, flicking their fingers or rocking their body.
• not talking as much as other children.
• repeating the same phrases.
It’s normal to worry about your child being labelled and within time it will ease. Once the school has identified your child as having SEN, they must take action to remove barriers to learning and put effective special educational provision in place. This is called SEN Support. This will give a child a medical diagnosis for their specific need, for example autism or ADHD.
Requirements
Under one and one year olds – 1:3.
Two year olds – 1:4.
Three year olds and above – 1:8 or 1:13
Yes, to provide childcare in England and when setting up a nursery you need to register with Ofsted – this applies to anyone who intends to care for children under the age of eight for more than two hours a day.
Pregnancy
Vitamins and nutrients you need during pregnancy:
• Folic acid
• Vitamin D
• Iron and Vitamin C
• Vitamin B12
• Omega fats
• Prenatal vitamin supplement
You can find these in your local pharmacies or drug stores eg- boots, Superdrug.
Get your hospital bag packed and check a list of items needed while in the hospital, ensure you carry your medical notes around with you when in your last trimester, have routes to the hospital planned, taxi pre booked in case you need it, wash all your babies clothes, sort out childcare arrangements (if you have other children).
Yes. As long as you are not classed as high risk, your midwife will talk you through birthing options with you.
Sleeping
• Place your baby on their back to sleep for the first 6 months
• Don’t smoke during pregnancy, breastfeeding or allow anyone to smoke near them
• Don’t share a bed with your baby if you have been drinking ally of alcohol or you smoke a lot
• Never sleep with your baby on the armchair or sofa
• Don’t let your baby get too hot or too cold
• Keep your baby’s head uncovered
• Place your baby at the bottom of their cot (feet at the bottom)
• Give your child a warm bath before bedtime
• Read or sing to them
• Don’t have tv lights on
• Use a dummy if needed
• Give them some warm milk or breast milk
• always place your baby on their back to sleep.
• place your baby in the “feet to foot” position – with their feet touching the end of the cot, Moses basket, or pram.
• keep your baby’s head uncovered – their blanket should be tucked in no higher than their shoulders.
