I first met Kathy when I delivered a keynote speech at a conference she had coordinated for the North West EYP's. Since then I have been a regualr vister to her website and have enjoyed reading her thoughts on what good EYFS practice could look like, especially for 0-3's
Kathy is an Early Years Professional and trainer who specialises in the EYFS and effective provision for 2 year olds. She designs and delivers a variety of courses for Early Years practitioners in the North West and undertakes coaching and mentoring for practitioners with the EYPS. She also tutors on the Foundation Degree course at Stockport College (awarded by Liverpool John Moores University).
Kathy is a contributing author to Hodder Education's 'Early Years for the Foundation Degree’, edited by Dr. Francisca Veale, due out early 2013.
Clearly Kathy is a VERY busy lady, but thankfully not too busy to agree to write not one, but two blog posts for me. This is part one - 'the theory bit'. It will be closely followed by part two which has lots of practical ideas and activites illustrating how you can put the theory into practice.
A reflection on 2 year olds in mixed age rooms
The advent of the 2-year-old funding has created some interesting dynamics in some nurseries. It has meant that, possibly for the first time, there are children of mixed ages in one room. In this blog post I discuss the areas where practitioners may have to reflect on their practice and environment to ensure that the needs of their 2 year olds are being met in the mixed age room.
First of all, I must admit that I am a big fan of mixed age rooms and the benefits they bring for both the older and younger children. There is plenty of research that illustrates the range of benefits, from social interactions to symbolic play (see a few of the research references at the end), although not everyone agrees on the extent or type! And, just to clarify, by mixed ages I mean where there is more than 12 months, and usually 24 months, difference in ages.
I have discussed some ideas under the headings language development, personal, social and emotional development, physical development and the environment. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but a set of starting points for you to think about.
Language development
Between 2 and 3 years old is a very important age for language development. Practitioners must be especially cued into the needs of the younger children to support and encourage this. Some points to note are:
If you ask a 2-year-old a question, it can take about 10 seconds for the average 2-year-old to hear, interpret, formulate an answer and then physically speak the answer. This is a lot longer time than you may think – try it now! Ask a question and wait 10 seconds before giving yourself an answer. How did that feel? And how often do we jump in with an answer before our 2-year-old has time to formulate their answer?
Younger children will be more easily distracted by activities going on around them in the room. It is really useful to have a quiet area, or a quieter time during the day, when you can specifically support language development in the younger children. One solution may be to keep the younger children indoors for a few minutes while the older children are playing out.
Similarly, children of this age are more likely to be “butterfly brains" where they flit from one topic to another very rapidly. This will definitely keep you on your feet, following their line of thought and apparently random connections.
Instructions need to be short and to the point. It is unlikely that an average 2-year-old will be able to keep in mind several things at once. For example, “go and wash your hands, get your shoes and then put your coat on" would be far too long for a 2-year-old. You would need to break this down into each element, giving a new instruction after the previous one has been completed.
Very often we concentrate on giving children nouns, naming everything in their immediate environment. Do encourage the use of verbs, adverbs and adjectives as well. Children will use richer language if they hear richer language.
Giving children language to express their emotions can help to reduce frustration and emotional outbursts. If a child can tell you that he or she is upset, embarrassed or jealous, it may stop them resorting to a temper tantrum to let you know.
It is important not to “correct" a child's speech at this age. They are still developing physically and have plenty of time to practice the correct speech sounds. However, practitioners should repeat back to the child the correct pronunciation or sentence structure. Personally, I think it is very interesting to hear children of this age talking, because it gives an insight into their thinking and level of development. For example, children are beginning to formulate the past tense and can make some very endearing mistakes “I goed to the park" or “Tifoter” for Christopher. Sometimes it seems a shame when children start getting it right!
Finally, children will repeat whatever they hear, usually choosing the most embarrassing moment possible!
Personal, social and emotional development
One of the defining things about 2-year-olds is that they are testing boundaries. This is all part of the development of their personality. They're not deliberately trying to be awkward, although it may feel like it; they're just trying to work out how the world works. This can be especially frustrating for practitioners who are used to older children that “understand the rules”. It is worth spending the extra time with the younger children to explain and reinforce the type of behaviour expected in nursery. Sometimes the older children may even do this for you. For example, I was in a nursery recently and saw an older girl bring a 2-year-old back in from the nursery garden, so she could put his coat on him.
Although you may have behaviour rules already established in the nursery, it is worth revisiting these from the viewpoint of the 2-year-olds. They should be positive i.e. the sort of behaviour you would like and unambiguous. For example, “we have kind hands” is reasonably meaningless to an average 2-year-old. Much better would be “always be kind to the other children". It would be very useful to have clear pictures or illustrations to reinforce these rules.
Emotionally, 2-year-olds will be very varied in their development. For example, parents or carers may never have left their child before, whilst others may have been at nursery for 2 years or have been left with family members. This means that practitioners need to think carefully about their rules on comforters and toys from home. It could be these rules may need to be relaxed for the 2-year-olds. In my experience, most children will accept the fact that younger children have slightly different rules.
Physical development
Physically most 2 year olds will be smaller than 3 year olds. That seems like a very obvious statement. But, this does have implications. For example, do you have smaller chairs for the 2-year-olds? The child should be able to sit on the chair with their feet flat on the floor. This is so they are well supported at the table for eating or activities. 2-year-olds have got to build up their core strength yet, so are less able to support themselves on a chair. Similarly, can the younger children reach all the shelves, pegs and taps that they will need to at nursery?
Typically, a 2-year-old is gaining confidence in gross motor skills such as climbing, throwing and running. However, they may not know the limits of their abilities yet, meaning that practitioners should be extra vigilant. Your 3 and 4-year-olds will know not to climb up the bookshelf but for your 2-year-old it may be a challenge waiting to happen! It is very important that children of this age do get physical activity, especially the large body movements, but that it is appropriate and supervised as necessary.
Environment
2-year-olds can be overwhelmed by the activity and busy-ness in a mixed age room, even if they have been away from parents or carers before in the past. It is a really good idea to have a quiet, withdrawal area, with soft cushions and calming decorations. Ideally children should be able to access this area, as they need it throughout the day. 2-year-olds in particular need to have some quiet time during the day so they have time for the learning to be embedded. It is also a nice time for practitioners to spend a short amount of 1:1 time with their key child.
The 2-year-olds should be able to access resources and toys in the nursery as they need them, as with all children. These tend to be kept in storage boxes with pictures or words on the front. Not all 2-year-olds will understand that the photograph illustrates what is within the box. It is worth considering putting “objects of reference" on the front of the box instead. An “object of reference” is an object that represents something, for example gluing a piece of Lego onto the front of the Lego box. This makes it much easier for the 2-year-old to understand that there is Lego in the box.
Conclusions
Having children in a mixed age room for the first time can be daunting and there are lots of things to think about. Once practitioners start seeing the nursery through the eyes of a 2-year-old, it becomes much easier and much more fun.
The images are by kind permission of Amy Willoughby, Nursery Manager at Sure Start Grange Park Children's Centre, Blackpool. They illustrate the environment that her 2 year olds enjoy in the Children’s Centre.
Further reading
Goldschmied, E. and Jackson, S. (2003) People Under Three: Young Children in Day Care London: Rouledge
Lindon, J. (2008) What Does It Mean to Be Two? Step Forward Publishing
Nutbrown, C. and Page, J. (2008) Working with Babies and Children: From Birth to Three London: Sage
Research around mixed age rooms
Derscheid, L. (1997) Mixed-Age Grouped Preschoolers' Moral Behavior and Understanding Journal of Research in Childhood Education Vol. I I. No. 2
Di Santo, A. (2000). Multi-age groupings in early childhood education: The affordances and opportunities of a multi-age child care model. Ottawa: National Library of Canada
Dunn, L., Kontos, S. and Potter, L (1996) Mixed-Age Interactions in Family Child Care Early Education and Development Volume 7, Number 4
Ellis, S., Rogoff B. and Cromer C. (1981) Age segregation in children’s social interactions, Developmental Psychology Vol 17(4), Jul 1981, 399-407
French, D. (1987) Children's Social Interaction with Older, Younger, and Same-Age Peers Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 4: 63
Goldman, J. (1981) Social Participation of Preschool children in same versus mixed-age groups Child Development Vol. 52 p. 644 - 650
Goldman J. and Chailléb C. (1984) A comparison of same- and cross-age interactions in mixed-age groups Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology Vol 5, Issue 1 p. 23 - 33
Howes, C. and Farver, I. (1987) Social Pretend Play in 2-Year-Olds: Effects of Age of Partner Childhood Research Quarterly, 2: 305-314
Johnson, J., Ironsmith, M., Whitcher, A., Poteat, M., Snow, C. and Mumford, S. (1997) The Development of Social Networks in Preschool Children Early Education and Development Vol. 8, 4
Katz, L., Evangelou, D. and Harman, J. (1990) The case for mixed age grouping in Early Education Washington DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children
McClellan, D. and Kinsey, S. (1999) Children’s Social Behavior in Relation to Participation in Mixed-Age or Same-Age Classrooms Early Childhood Research and Practice Volume 1 Number 1
Rothstein-Fisch, C. and Howes, C. (1988) Toddler peer interaction in mixed-age groups Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology Vol 9, Issue 2 p. 211 - 218
Umek, L. and Musek, P. (1997) Symbolic Play in Mixed-Age and Same-Age Groups European Early Childhood Education Research Journal 47 Vol. 5, No. 2
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