Have a positive approach to activities and events.
Show confidence in linking up with others for support and guidance.
Show increasing independence in selecting and carrying out activities.
Children's curiosity and drive to explore things around them.
Situations in which children show confidence and independence.
Children's reactions to and relationships with peers and adults, particularly those whose company they enjoy.
Interact with children in support of their interests and give them scope to learn from many things, including their mistakes.
Encourage children to see adults as a resource and as partners in their learning.
Support children in developing positive relationships by challenging negative or detrimental comments and actions towards either peers or adults.
Teach children to use and care for materials, and then trust them to do so independently.
Vary activities so that children are introduced to different materials.
Plan activities that require collaboration.
Make materials easily accessible to all children, to ensure everybody can make choices.
Self-confidence and Self-esteem
Show increasing confidence in new situations.
Talk freely about their home and community.
Take pleasure in gaining more complex skills.
Have a sense of personal identity.
Likes to sit, have a cuddle and share events of the day with a familiar adult.
Uses adults as sources of knowledge, comfort and shared activities.
May form a special friendship with another child.
Is more outgoing towards strangers and more confident in new social situations, for example, playgroup, but may be anxious at first.
Able to share and take turns to some extent, but also selfish at times.
Has strong sense of own space and possessions; likes to arrange own toys.
Likes to point out self in photos.
Shows growing autonomy and self-will.
Can sometimes be stubborn or negative and react badly to frustration.
Shows strong personal preferences for food, clothes and so on.
Expresses personal views in conversation.
May argue to achieve own wishes.
More independent in self-care; takes pride in appearance.
Developing independence - In a pre-school, a child works independently with various equipment and materials, indicating her sense of belonging and self-assurance.
[transcript]
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Instances of children's confidence and how they express their needs.
Children's ability to talk about, and take pride in, their homes and communities.
Examples of when children like to sit, have a cuddle and share the events of the day with a familiar adult.
Occasions when children form a particular friendship with another child for the first time.
Ensure that key practitioners offer extra support to children in new situations.
Create positive relationships with parents by listening to them and offering information and support.
Encourage children to talk about their own home and community life, and to find out about other children's experiences. Ensure that children learning English as an additional language have opportunities to express themselves in their home language some of the time.
Anticipate the best from each child, and be alert for evidence of their strengths.
Plan extra time for helping children in transition, such as when they move from one setting to another or between different groups in the same setting.
Provide role-play areas with a variety of resources reflecting diversity.
Making Relationships
Feel safe and secure, and show a sense of trust.
Form friendships with other children.
Demonstrate flexibility and adapt their behaviour to different events, social situations and changes in routine.
Enjoys talking about present and recent experiences.
Understands causes of some feelings, for example, feel sad because a toy is broken or feel frustrated because they cannot go outside to play.
Conscious of adult approval or disapproval for own actions, for example, checks to see if adult is looking before being naughty or looks guilty if 'caught in the act'.
Knows own mind and expresses it, for example, objects to having bath, getting dressed or going to bed.
Defends own possessions.
Shows initiative and autonomy in relating with others.
Is curious about others and will modify behaviour to fit in with what others are doing, for example, removing shoes and socks before going on slide after seeing others doing this.
Identifies self with children of same age and sex.
Likes to perform for others.
Ways in which children show that they feel safe and cared for.
Children who like to be with others, and those who need support to join in.
Children's strategies for coping with change.
How adult approval or disapproval affects what children do.
Children's awareness of the feelings other people have, for example, that another child is crying because a toy is broken.
The different ways in which children show they know their own mind and what they want.
The circumstances in which children like to perform for other people.
Establish routines with predictable sequences and events.
Encourage children to choose to play with a variety of friends, so that everybody in the group experiences being included.
Prepare children for changes that may occur in the routine.
At the start of the day, talk to the children about what you're going to do, the people they will see and the places they will visit. Remind them at the end of the day what they have done.
As children's understanding of language increases, begin to tell them about everyday activities in advance. Do this about five minutes before you want them to change activity. Then, when you get to the time, say "Now, it really is time to stop playing. Let's go and have a story".
Establish clear limits and boundaries and stay in control of routines. This gives children predictable routines and a better understanding of your expectations. If children refuse, follow activities which are disliked with activities that they like, as a reward.
During everyday routines, ask children to tell you what happens next in a sequence of activities and what objects or toys you will need to get ready so that they can show you how much they know about the order of events.
Be consistent about using and expecting attempts at saying "Please" and "Thank you" or "Ta".
Provide stability in staffing and in grouping of the children.
Provide time, space and materials for children to collaborate with one another in different ways, for example, building constructions.
Provide a role-play area resourced with materials reflecting children's family lives and communities.
Behaviour and Self-control
Begin to accept the needs of others, with support.
Show care and concern for others, for living things and the environment.
Children's recognition of the needs of others.
How children show their care for others and the environment.
Share with parents the rationale of boundaries and expectations to maintain a joint approach.
Demonstrate concern and respect for others, living things and the environment.
Set, explain and maintain clear, reasonable and consistent limits so that children can play and work feeling safe and secure.
Collaborate with children in creating explicit rules for the care of the environment.
Self-care
Show willingness to tackle problems and enjoy self-chosen challenges.
Demonstrate a sense of pride in own achievement.
Take initiatives and manage developmentally appropriate tasks.
Dressing:
Puts arms into open-fronted coat or shirt when held up.
Hangs up own coat.
Finds items of clothing in the dressing-up box.
Pulls down own pants when using the toilet.
Independence skills:
Asks for help or support when needed.
Note:
Early Support material relating to feeding, washing and toileting appears in Physical Development: Health and Bodily Awareness
Instances of children celebrating their achievements.
How children use their own ideas to develop play.
Give children time to try before intervening to support and guide them.
Create an atmosphere where achievement is valued.
Encourage children to solve problems, and support them by clarifying the problem with them.
Plan opportunities for children to take the initiative in their learning.
Provide means for children to keep track of, and share, their achievements.
Build on children's ideas to plan new experiences that present challenges.
Sense of Community
Make connections between different parts of their life experience.
Instances of children drawing upon their experiences beyond the setting, for example recognising that the lunchtime helper is somebody who lives near to them.
Encourage children to develop positive relationships with community members, such as firefighters who visit the setting.
A visit from the Community Support Officer - A Community Support Officer visits a local nursery, and talks with the children in the outdoor play area about his uniform and walkie talkie. [transcript]
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Provide activities and opportunities for children to share experiences and knowledge from different parts of their lives with each other.
Acknowledgements
Disclaimer
00012-2007CDO-EN