Confidence Through Connection and Building Social Skills in Early Years

When children first arrive at nursery, they become immersed in a home-from-home environment which encourages them to explore (often unfamiliar) concepts of sharing, learning, communicating, and negotiating.

Away from their home environment and parent or guardian, children are able to start developing and exploring their own interests, with one of the core aims of any nursery being to recognise these traits and encourage them further – thereby building confidence. At My Ohana, we have different ways of doing this, blending free play and interaction with more structured activities that establish good communication skills among groups of children.

But socialisation is not without its challenges.

By recognising that different children have different ways of expressing themselves, the blend of mind, body, and world becomes especially important. Nurturing can-do characters who are self-aware and confident is something that we strive for across all our nursery sites. But not all children develop at the same rate, and so it’s especially crucial that we encourage both those who are proactive and confident, and those who are quieter and less expressive.

It’s easy to place a group of children in a room together and tell them to go and play.

And in many cases, this is exactly what will happen. Young children have an incredible ability to come together and play, free from the barriers of social interaction and awkwardness that we develop as adults.

But this approach to social interaction does not contribute as readily to the development of confidence – which is why mixing this with more structured activities is something that influences the daily routine at each My Ohana nursery. As well as play both inside and out, we encourage child-led activity selection at specific points during the day, engage in group reading, and underpin basic skills via our core enrichment and learning blocks.  

The three core learning blocks that we offer at My Ohana are myHappymind, the Nursery Library, and Outdoor Learning. While the Nursery Library facilitates group and personal reading, and Outdoor Learning immerses children in nature as part of their development and exploration, when it comes to encouraging socialisation and the development of confidence, it’s myHappymind that takes centre stage at My Ohana.

Introducing myHappymind

This programme is backed by science and is designed to prioritise each child’s individual characteristics as well as their academic prowess and basic learning skills. It recognises the importance of individuality by encouraging emotions, creating a safe space for children to work well together, and making resilience a core trait for every child.

Children who experience a positive nursery environment, where emotions are validated and socialisation is approached in a tailored and personalised manner, tend to be far better equipped to deal with the transition to school and beyond.

For us, it’s that all-round preparation that is so important.

With all that in mind, here are just some of the activities that we offer at My Ohana nurseries, that encourage the development of confidence through connection and socialisation:

• Reading aloud

• Exploring outside, fulfilling tasks revolving around protecting wildlife and learning more about different habitats

• Sharing each child’s achievements with the group

• Positive reinforcement in the face of bad behaviour

• Introducing children to music

• Getting children involved in the preparation of healthy snacks, empowering them to make decisions and recognise what makes something healthy or unhealthy

Confident children are born from the experiences they receive in their early years. Our nurseries are designed to facilitate confidence through good communication, socialisation, and a feeling of security.