There are many reasons why you might send your little one to nursery. Maybe it’s due to your return to work, because you want them to socialise or because they can learn new things.
Nursery offers your child so many experiences and learning opportunities, and you are probably aware of the main benefits of them going. But there are so many more that might not be immediately obvious.
In this blog, we shine a light on the Real benefits of sending your child to nursery.
The Rs
Nurseries have changed over the years, adapting to the latest neuro science developments around brain development in young children and the changing expectations on the skills children will need in the future. Nurseries have always been great preparation for formal education however the benefits of nursery are so much bigger.
Nurseries support children to develop skills that will provide the foundation for life.
These skills help set children on a positive path and create a blueprint for a happy, healthy mindset as they grow. It’s within these that we see the real benefits of being in a Hopes & Dreams nursery environment come through.
Relationships
Relationships are important for developing children. Forming and maintaining positive relationships helps children learn how to communicate and exist within their community.
When we talk about relationships as one of the pillars of the nursery environment, we cover these areas…
Peers
Attending a nursery supports children in finding friendships among their newfound peer group. They also learn what goes into sustaining these relationships and how to work as a team.
Navigating Conflict
Spending lots of time within their peer group gives children plenty of opportunities to work out what conflict looks and feels like. Practice in managing conflict enhances their ability to relate to peers, understand the role of friends and friendships and develop empathy.
Cultural Awareness
Learning about differences is a crucial aspect of relationships in the early years. This could mean exposure to different religions, languages and diets, or simply that some peers do things differently.
Caregivers
Developing positive relationships with adults in authority sets children in good stead for moving through life with a healthy attitude toward caregivers. Through nursery experience, young children learn to find safe people whom they can trust.
Following Rules
Practicing respectfulness regarding others and their environment and learning to understand why rules exist is really important for young children.
Readiness To Learn
Next up is a section all about taking in new information and developing curiosity and interests.
Spending time every week in a nursery setting supports your child’s development and growth as they head towards school age and beyond. Developing their readiness to learn prepares them for a smooth transition into school and supports their emotional growth just as much as their academic growth.
There are several factors sitting under readiness to learn, and they all enable a child to meet requirements and cope with the upcoming school curriculum.
Social
Attending nursery helps children to develop positive self-esteem, manage their own emotions and learn to take responsibility for their own actions.
Physical
Helping children to achieve physical goals in advance of starting school, like getting dressed or using the toilet independently, is a huge part of readiness to learn that nurseries are heavily involved in.
Intellectual
This looks at children achieving the appropriate curriculum skills by the time they’re ready for school, including good concentration and focus. Nurseries that demonstrate high expectations and provide meaningful learning opportunities that challenge each child provide an environment that gives them self-confidence.
Resourcefulness
Don’t worry, we know you’re not about to send them off on a survival weekend! Resourcefulness in early years equips your child with the ability to manage unexpected situations.
Here are some of the benefits that the nursery environment brings.
Linking Information
When children regularly attend nursery, practitioners help them to recognise patterns and link information. They soon learn that actions have consequences, both positive and negative.
‘If this happens, then I can/can’t do X, Y or Z’.
Reasoning Thinking
Early years settings support children to use their learned knowledge to come to conclusions. They achieve a recognition of how to get help and how to ask questions to achieve wanted outcomes.
Trusting Instincts
Nurseries are safe environments which allow children to explore their impulses and unique responses, building creativity, problem-solving and critical thinking skills. They learn how to use their initiative and achieve self-motivation.
Remembering
The repetition of experiencing nursery every week, or sometimes every day, helps children to develop memory skills and recall information.
These skills are used from childhood for the rest of their lives. Learning how memory works empowers children to use their knowledge, trust themselves and have confidence in what they have learnt.
Children learn quickly from experience, after all. If they got wet socks the last time they went outside with no shoes on, they’re more likely to remember to put their wellies on next time!
Resilience
Resilience is our ability to recover after experiencing hardship, and children develop it through growing strong relationships with those around them.
Enhancing resilience is about building self-confidence and self-belief. Resilient children can recognise and manage extreme emotions and meet and overcome challenges they come up against.
In a nursery setting, children’s resilience is built through steady, unwavering love, care and security. With strong boundaries in force, children in nursery feel safe to explore. When they experience challenging emotions, they are helped to name them and work through them rather than avoid them. Examples of difficult emotions might be…
- Disappointment
- Frustration
- Annoyance
- Anger
- Sadness.
Building resilience means that children see the worth of perseverance, accept constructive criticism, and effectively solve problems. This equips children with a growth mindset - one of the major factors in having a happy productive life.
Reflectiveness
Reflection is the last R on our list, but by no means is it the least important.
Being reflective enables children to look back and process what happened, what their role was in a situation and how changing their actions might have changed the outcome. It supports the beginning of strategic thinking.
Reflectiveness develops skills in adaptability, as well as planning and organisation. It also provides the basis for children’s ability to feel pride in themselves and their actions and beliefs.
Deeper Benefits For Lifelong Development
The benefits of nursery are broad and deep - and they build the foundations on which children’s skills continue to develop. Hopes & Dreams nurseries are dedicated to building the core pillars using child-centric methods, ensuring each day is as filled with fun and enjoyment as it is with learning.
Want to learn more about how starting nursery affects a child’s development? Find out in our previous blog here…
