But I Smile Anyway…

Two weeks almost done…

And the kids aren’t even in full time yet!

Switching from Nursery hat to Reception hat is surprisingly tough, you know!

Even though these two years are in the Early Years Foundation Stage, they are both very different in terms of developmental milestones a child hits.

Nursery at 3-4 years old is a time for building confidence, looking at their personal, social, and emotional development. For us, with our extremely mixed cultural demographic, it is also a time for teaching spoken communication in English, and fostering understanding of simple concepts. The children need to learn how to play together, talk together, take turns, learn patience and perseverance.

Throughout the year there is emphasis placed on counting, and learning the sounds of the alphabet through play, and recognising their names too, with hopefully, attempts at writing it.

Reception at 4-5 years old, is a time to just consolidate these things above, but there is a high expectation to really build the academic learning foundation too. These children should be writing sentences by the end of the year, counting fluently to 20, and doing simple addition and subtraction. Oh, and hopefully they should be reading simple words and sentences too!

Within both groups we need to give them experiences to enhance their learning of the world around them, culture and community and technology. They need to experience ways to create in different ways too.

So, what impact does this have on me?

My expectations for each group have to be different.

I need to remember not to push my babies too hard, and to make sure my older babies are stretching themselves enough!

The nursery children are doing a couple of hours in the morning then the afternoon session are doing two hours. We have worked on settling them, and showing them how to keep busy, trying different things.

The reception class are still doing mornings only. They are learning about structure, and listening, and exploring their new environments.

But this doesn’t mean lots of free time! No!

We have to assess each child individually, to see where they are at the start of their academic life.

In Nursery it is for our records. In Reception it is for the National Base Line.

Yes, I can sit with a cuppa and go through my paperwork. But I am running back and forth between the two classrooms to confer with my colleagues. The path from my class to the printer is wearing thin.

And that teacher tiredness encompasses all in my profession, not just me!

And I attended my first Governors meeting too, which was actually not as daunting as I thought it would be!

I arrive home and the Mummy hat goes on. Dinners for the kids are already cooked by my dear Mother In Law, so that is great! But homework, housework, laundry, all still need doing. Making the lunches for the next day, and feeding myself and Hubby Dearest also takes priority.

Then I finally sit and can write for my blog! Ritu’s ‘Me!’ hat finally on!

My novel has a little bit left, but with the tiredness I am experiencing, I don’t want to try and finish it without a fresh brain!

So when I am yawning, and craving asleep before 10 pm, I am not fighting it at all!

Do you blame me?

Right, I’m off to finish my week!

Enjoy your weekend Peeps! I’m planning on enjoying mine!