We provide a range of home learning opportunities which include

• Home learning gifting
• Suggestions of activities linked to children's next steps included on children's learning journal
• Story sacks
• Boromi bags
• Oral heath sacks
• Activity bags that link to different areas of learning
• Staff recorded retelling stories which are included on children's learning journal

Reading

What are the benefits of sharing books and stories with babies and toddlers?

Time spent reading together is not just a great opportunity for parents and carers to bond with their children - it helps with brain development too, which is particularly important in the first two years of life.

Alongside helping very young children to start to talk, reading books aloud together introduces new words, structures and language patterns that help form the building blocks for literacy later in life.

In fact, evidence shows that children who were read to regularly when they were five-years-old performed better in maths, vocabulary and spelling tests at age 16, compared to those who weren’t read to at a young age.

What are some tips for reading to your baby?

Parents and carers can play an important role in getting babies and toddlers interested in books.

Here are 10 top tips from the NLT to get you started together:

1. Find a quiet place. Turn off the TV or radio to help your child listen to you read without distractions.
2. Try to always have a book in your bag. Reading together can help pass the time on a long journey. It can be very calming and will help your baby recognise the sound of your voice.
3. You don’t always need to read the words in books. Looking at and talking about the pictures is a great way to encourage your child to enjoy books. If you speak a language other than English, talk about the pictures and story in your own language.
4. Give your child time to respond to your chat about the book. This could be with a babble, arm waving or finger pointing. Watching and listening shows how interested you are in hearing what children have to say and encourages communication development.
5. Be natural and clear when you read. You can also use funny voices for characters, or a sing-song voice for words or phrases that are repeated throughout the book. After reading a book several times, your baby will anticipate hearing the change in tone and may well show this with a smile, a wiggle or a giggle.
6. Don’t be afraid to use props. Using puppets or a favourite cuddly toy will help bring the words alive and add actions to your words.
7. Link what you see or read about in books with real-life. If there’s a picture of a dog in a book, talk about a dog you know. Or if you see a dog in the park or on the street, you could remind your child of the dog in their favourite book.
8. Don’t put pressure on your child to name pictures or objects in books. Point to things and name them yourself, and if they respond, praise them and say the word again.
9. Little and often is best. Try introducing a special daily story session where you can snuggle up and enjoy a book together, like at bedtime or bath time.
10. Share favourite books again and again. Repetition helps children to understand and remember the language they hear. It’s not unusual for young children to want to hear the same book over and over.

Taken from https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/03/02/world-book-day-2023-tips-sharing-books-young-children-toddlers/

Book Swap

If you do not have alot of age appropriate books at home our you would like to read some new ones to your child then please come into Nursery and use our book swap. You are welcome to either bring a book and take or book or you can just come in and take one away with you.