How do Nurseries Nurture Early Learning and School Readiness?

Nursery is often the first touchpoint that a child experiences outside of the home, where aspects of their behaviour, attitude, and life skills are picked out and shaped.

Socialisation is an important part of the nursery journey for any child and forms the foundation for many future social and emotional skills. Similarly, finding new and effective ways of communicating is something that we focus on at My Ohana, via a series of formal and informal activities.

Factored into the nursery routine alongside early learning opportunities, we aim to make life skills a core part of the overall experience – building habits which last a lifetime.

So, with skills building and early learning making up the foundation of the nursery day, how does our environment promote school readiness in young children?

In short, the answer to this lies not only in preparing them for time spent outside of the home and with new people, but also in developing a healthy sense of curiosity and wonderment for the world around them. By spending time both inside and out, introducing them to all manner of activities and habits at nursery, we send children to school with a healthy attitude to learning and development.

By far the best way to understand our approach to early learning and development is by considering the routine of a typical day at a My Ohana nursery.

But before we get started, a little disclaimer – a “typical day” doesn’t exist here at My Ohana. This is because, as part of our commitment to supporting resilient and forward-thinking little ones, we put the power of decision making into their hands - for at least a portion of each day!

By empowering our children to make decisions about what activities to partake in and which skills to learn, we effortlessly integrate skills building into the daily routine. Communication, negotiation, and decision-making are all critical skills which grow evermore important as children prepare themselves for school – and we find that encouraging them to talk amongst themselves and make decisions at nursery is a great way to introduce and finetune those skills.

What’s more, it keeps each day fresh both for the children and for our nursery team – a crucial benefit that pits us well above other local nurseries.

Of course, there are elements of the nursery day which do follow some semblance of a routine, covering a handful of touchpoints which are all centred around early development and preparing children for both school and life outside the classroom. These include the creation of healthy snacks throughout the day, bridging activity and outdoor play with quiet time, and even highlighting the importance of health and hygiene habits which ensure children are safe at all times.

We may be biassed, but here at My Ohana we believe that nursery isn’t just necessary for early learning and school readiness but also for introducing and developing the social and life skills that children need to thrive in life.

By combining routine habits and ideologies with a flexible program which puts the power of decision making in the hands of children wherever possible, our goal is to nurture resilient and curious young people who aren’t just ready for school but excited by it.

Find out if a My Ohana nursery could be your little one’s home-away-from-home and contact us today!