Learning at nursery

As a nursery practitioner you are expecting too much, if you want him to learn these extras then that’s something to be done at home, but they learn through play and singing and signing and don’t need to know colours and numbers that young, we do have colours and numbers available to them but only if they take an interest in them and this can be done through storytime and songs

My little one has only in the last couple of months got really into colours and she’s nearly 2 / she doesn’t go nursery, it’ll come x

Learning through play is the best way of learning for young children (even for school age ones).

Singing is a fantastic way of modelling language and non-verbal communication styles and is a fantastic way to really learn and strengthen the fundamentals of communication. Interactive and messy play also has benefits in terms of dexterity and fine motor skills too. There’s a whole catalogue of things they need to learn before colours and 123.

Our little one is coming up 15 months and they do activities and link them with areas of development. So for example he did some colouring the other week but he was able to exercise choice making by choosing a pen/brush/crayon he wanted to use and then practicing holding different tools to colour was good for his physical development too.

You’re definitely expecting too much in the sense that you are over looking some really important activities they are doing which will help his development.

They *do* offer those things, just maybe not in the structured way you see at 3+ years when they move towards school readiness. If they’re ready to, they’ll pick up all sorts.

My daughter is 19 months and is learning through messy play, water play, singing and actions etc at her childminders. It’s nice seeing pictures of her getting involved and having fun this way. X

They'll learn through play. For example, they'll do water play and sing 1 2 3 4 5 fish alive. Then later they'll reinforce counting by saying 'oh look how many teddies are sitting on the chair? Shall we count together?'

They'll point out shapes and colours when they are doing playdoh.

They'll learn about animals through play, if they live in the sea or in the farm.

He will definitely pick up colours and basic numbers.

But for now, social, emotional and motor skills are the priority. You want your child to be able to hold a pencil when they enter school, and sit nicely on the floor, not count to 100