Category Archives: Rewards

Easter Give Away 

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How would you like to win a lovely “Tell by touch with clock” 

We have been given this lovely clock by the gorgeous folk over at EYPDIRECT

  

This Colourful and unusual telling the time clock comes with moveable hands and removable number pots with a different textured surface on the reverse.

The Tell by Touch with Clock is also a great early years learning resource for matching colours, patterns and counting.

Size: 240 x 37mm. Age 3+.

    The Tell by Touch with Clock is a perfect early years educational resource to support the EYFS Mathematics development area of learning within your childcare setting, it will help children practice and improve their skills in counting numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems, and to describe shapes, spaces and measures.

The Tell by Touch with Clock also makes a wonderful sensory resource!

  
To be “In it to win it” all you need to do is 

1. Leave a comment at the end of this blog

2. Like and share our Facebook page  Eyfsmatters

3. Follow me on Twitter @eyfsmatters 

4. Leave a comment under the Tell by touch clock picture on Instagram @eyfsmatters 

  

Good Luck xx 
(Winner will need to pay postage) 

Love the child, dislike the behaviour 

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We’ve all been there I’m sure, we’ve always had that one little poppet who just knows how to press those buttons. 

  
Even the best, most outstanding teachers amoungst us, will at some point had moments of self doubt! Fear not… Here are some great tips to help restore calm and order, and remove those barriers to poor behaviour. 

  
Always remember… There is usually a reason behind the poor behaviour. Our job is to unpick, and find solutions and strategies to help each child achieve their best. 

  

  • Every day is a fresh start- Always Meet and greet at the door – the best early intervention in behaviour management is at the door. Smile, show you care! 
  • Relationship build- this is the biggest tool in the tool box! We need to build trust, and mutual respect. Although at times it may be tough, you need to show you care, and that you are there. You could potentially be the only person this child can fully trust. You may be the only constant in this child’s life. 
  • Make sure you catch your little one doing the right thing – ensure you give the praise that this deserves- be careful not to use insincere praise, it’s sometimes easy to catch children doing the wrong thing so develop the ability to catch those more challenging pickles  doing the right thing is invaluable. 
  • Model good behaviour- use your school behaviour policy rigorously and ensure you follow through any sanctions. Be fair but firm- remembering all the time that it is the behaviour that you dislike and not the child
  • Ensure you inform parents of positive behaviour rather than just negative. You need to be transparent but ensure you have parents on side to work together. 
  • Find common ground, what do they love doing? Tap into this- if they love Lego (for example) use this as your carrot. Bring in lego comics from home “I saw this- and thought of you!” Show you really care about them and want them to achieve 
  • Talk- communication is so so important. Use comic strips to work out where the outcome could have been different. Encourage children to recognise how their behaviour affected the situation. If appropriate keep a Log of anti-incident, incident, post incident. Is there a pattern? 
  • Encourage children to reflect on their feelings as colours, use mirrors to look at themselves, show pictures of emotions to help them recognise how they are feeling.
  • Never alienate this child, create an ethos in your learning space where ALL children are valued- work together to help
  • Talk to other colleagues- a problem shared is a problem halved as they say. Be careful not to “give the dog a bad name” but download on critical friends who you respect  and value and ask for their help and support. 

  

Everyday is a new day- “A new beginning always allows us to wipe the slate clean” 

  

20 questions!!

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We’ve all done it!! Well that’s where I’m hoping I’m not alone… 

When my little girl first started school, I was paranoid about her being happy and making friends. To be fair I didn’t really worry about the academic side of things, I just hoped she would makes friends and play with lots of children at playtime.

I was that annoying mum, that pebble in your shoe, that each day would say… What did you do today? Who did you play with? 

Being an EYFS teacher, I now realise what a ridiculous question this was to ask each evening! Of course she wouldn’t know, due to the fact that most Kidkets on the whole, play with such a vast amount of different  children on a daily basis. And actually by my asking this question day in day out, was only adding to my anxieties when my poor tired little poppety just simply said “NO-ONE!!” 

For those of you that don’t know me- I am by no means a perfect mummy, I don’t claim to be, nor would ever pass mummy of the year. I try to do my best, but like we all do, I often get it wrong! But now instead of asking the same boring questions after school, I try to jazz it up, maybe add a little sprinkling of glitter here and there (metaphorically obviously… Here are some of the questions I throw in! 

What did you eat for lunch?

Did you catch anyone picking their nose?

What games did you play at playtime?

  
What was the funniest thing that happened today?

Did anyone do anything really nice for you?

What was the nicest thing you did for someone else?

Who made you smile today?

  
Which one of your teachers would win a dance off? Why?

What new fact did you learn today?

Who brought the best food in their lunch box today? What was it?

What challenged you today?

If school were a ride at the fair, which ride would it be? Why?

What would you rate your day on a scale of 1 to 10? Why?

If one of your classmates could be the teacher for the day who would you want it to be? Why?

If you had the chance to be the teacher tomorrow, what would you teach the class?

If your teacher was a colour- what colour would they be? 

  

What is your teacher’s most important rule?

Does your teacher remind you of anyone else you know? How?

Tell me something you learned about a friend today.

What is one thing you did today that was helpful?
When did you feel most proud of yourself today?

  
Who do you want to make friends with but haven’t yet? Why not?

What is your teacher’s most important rule?

What rule was the hardest to follow today?

Which area of your school is the most fun?

  
What is one thing you hope to learn before the school year is over?

Which person in your class is your exact opposite?

Which playground skill do you plan to master this year?

What was Mr B wearing today? 

If Mrs S was a Disney character which one would she be? 

  
What questions do you ask your kidlets over tea? Would love to hear them… Please leave a comment x 

Arty Party!!!! 

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  I’ve decided to write this this week for two reasons… The first one being I  need to get better at my questioning when chatting to kidlets about their artwork, and secondly I know our new intake this week will be creating lots of lovely pictures,so hopefully this post will be helpful in reminding us about the comments to make! 

  
I kind of cringe when I realise that in the past I’ve said to a child “oh wow that’s a lovely dinosaur/dragon ” and they reply with “It’s not a dragon, its mummy!” I’m sure we’ve all done it at some point!! 

Instead of guessing what they have drawn or painted it’s much better to use open questioning where they can explain what they have done and why! 

  • ASK them to tell you all about their drawings and artwork 
  • COMMENT on the lines or colors, etc. that they are using (Wow, I see that you are making lots of orange stripes. I like how the Orange paint is mixing with the yellow paint there.) Can you tell me any other colours that mix together to make a different colour? 
  • ACKNOWLEDGE how hard (carefully, enthusiastically, long) they worked on their artwork

It’s so important to show how amazing you think their work is by either sending home to mummy/daddy or displaying on the wall in your classroom for all to see!

I love looking backing back at my own children’s paintings from when they were dinky, and just seeing how much development they have made! 

  
Have fun 

Xx 

Super Hero Giveaway! 

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Morning all, as it’s the Hollibobs and I’m feeling very generous thought we’d have a bit of fun, and a giveaway! 

Here’s the deal… 

  
The winner will be chosen at complete random and will win 4 SUPERHERO CAPES OF THEIR CHOICE!!!!!!!!! 

  
Don’t forget if you’re not lucky enough to be a winner you can order capes at just £4.99 by dropping me an email at eyfsmatters@aol.co.uk 

  
Good luck my gorgeous little superhero friends! 
Don’t forget to comment and share!!