How you can help your child at home

Supporting your child’s Personal and Social Development

Helping Build Confidence:

• Listen carefully to what your child is telling you.
• Show your child that you respect their views and their efforts. (Take interest in and comment on their paintings, drawings, models etc.)
• Show your child that they are special to you.

Supporting Behaviour:

• Be consistent in how you expect your child to behave.
• Try not to be overly hard or overly indulgent with your child.
• Remember to give praise and attention to your child’s good behaviour .

Aiding Independence:

• Encourage your child to be personally independent (e.g. dressing, washing, toileting).
• Give your child choice in his/her daily routines (e.g. choosing which cereal for breakfast, clothes to wear, which walk to take).
• Give your child choices in how he/she uses his/her time at home.

Developing Social Skills:

• Allow your child to meet and socialize with other children during the week.
• Invite other children to play with your child at home.
• Visit other people’s homes.

Encouraging Tolerance and Interest in others:

• Help your child learn about the similarities and differences of others (e.g. from people within your neighbourhood, books, pictures and television).
• Talk to your children about celebrations important to your family and festivals celebrated by others.

Encouraging care for the environment:

• Help your child care for growing things (e.g. through having his/her own patch of garden/window box, providing food for the birds, helping him/her care for a pet).
• Help your child become responsible for keeping the environment tidy (e.g. picking up litter in the park, at the seaside).

Above all, show your child that you really enjoy being with them. Unconditional love is the greatest gift you can give your child, and it costs nothing!

Keeping In Touch

                To keep you fully informed, we have the following ways of passing on information:

Notice Board - This is regularly updated and contains a copy of our Registration Certificate, Liability Insurance details, the latest newsletter, notices, themes etc.

Newsletter - Issued monthly, this gives details of news, themes, events, fundraising activities and term dates. It is usually emailed out, but paper copies are available too.
The latest newsletter can also be accessed on our Facebook page and on the website click here

Blackboard - Each day, we put a blackboard outside before picking up time, with details of activities that the children have been able to take part in. You can use the information on here to find out what your child has been up to at Playgroup!

Website -This contains copies of recent newsletters, term dates and other useful information.

Facebook - Gives details of activities and events and our theme for the week, along with photos of some of our activities and crafts. The comments are usually turned off, except during an occasional live session, which is monitored by staff members.

Open Sessions
We try to hold one open session each term, which gives you the opportunity to come and spend time with your child in the setting, seeing what they get up to; looking through and contributing to their Leaning Journal. Staff are also on hand to discuss any issues or concerns you may have and to talk through your child's development with you.

" We both love the opportunities to attend together, really helping bridge the gap between home and pre-school"   (Parent Feedback, July 2023)

Parent Appointments - Pre-arranged times for you to come in and talk to your child's key person, look at and contribute to their Leaning Journal and an opportunity to share concerns and achievements. If parents are unable to attend, it is usually possible to take your child's Learning Journal home to look at.

What's App - This is a new way for us to share photographs of your children's progress and achievements, which we will have been trialling since Covid.

Parents Folder - This is available every day the setting is open, for parents to look through. It contains information about the setting, all the setting's policies, details about the committee, as well as useful information and leaflets about children's development in all areas of learning, which you may find useful, in order to support your child at home.

Getting Involved

We try to hold open sessions for parents and carers each term and since Covid, we have been pleased to encourage parents and carers to come in and join their child for a Healthy Eating Teddy Bear's Picnic; A Royal Jubilee Tea Party; Christmas Craft afternoons; Summer Fundraising afternoons; Dad's Days and joining in our end of the session singing and ring games.

Parents have valued the opportunity to be included in these activities, which provide them with a better understanding of what their child experiences at Playgroup and how they might be able to support this learning at home and it enables them to get to know the other families attending Playgroup, creating opportunities to build friendships and share experiences.

Our regular newsletters will keep you advised of events as they occur and these can be accessed on our website. Parents are always welcome at playgroup and we appreciate help with special projects and fund raising events.

We would like to encourage you to join the committee as new ideas are warmly welcomed. There is an Annual General Meeting each Autumn, when the committee members are elected and this is an opportunity for your voice to be heard.

"We will miss being part of Penhill " (Parent, 2022)

"Thank you for letting me be involved. I have enjoyed my time as a committee member" (Parent and committee member 2022)