Supporting Your Child’s Learning at Nursery and at Home: Exciting Changes at Tots Are Us

As we get ready to close Tots Are Us for our two-week summer break, it feels like the perfect time to share some of the exciting things we have been working on behind the scenes and what our families can expect when we return in September.

We are always looking at how we can make Tots Are Us better. For me, that doesn’t mean changing things for the sake of it. It means looking at the children in our care, reflecting on what we do as early years practitioners and asking ourselves how we can give every child the best possible opportunities to learn, develop and thrive.

One thing I feel really strongly about is that children’s learning shouldn’t simply stop at the nursery door. Parents know their children better than anybody, and when families and early years practitioners work together, we get a much richer picture of a child’s development. Strengthening that partnership is a big part of the changes we are introducing from September.

A More Personalised Approach to Your Child’s Learning

Every child develops differently. They have different strengths, interests, personalities and areas where they may benefit from a little more encouragement. This is exactly why early years education should never feel like a one-size-fits-all approach.

From September, each child at Tots Are Us will have an individual area of learning to focus on each month. This will be personalised to your child and based on what we are observing through their play, interactions and everyday experiences at nursery.

Their focus could relate to communication and language, physical development, personal, social and emotional development, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world or expressive arts and design. The important part is that it will be meaningful to your child and where they are in their development.

Alongside their individual focus, we will give you some simple ideas for supporting the same skills at home.

And please don’t worry – we aren't sending nursery children home with homework!

The ideas will be things that can fit naturally into everyday family life. Developing early maths skills might happen while counting the stairs on the way to bed. Communication and language can be supported while sharing a story or chatting about your day. Fine motor development might involve helping with baking, drawing, threading or playing with dough.

Young children learn incredibly well through play, conversation, repetition and real-life experiences. Supporting their development at home doesn’t need to be complicated.

We Want to Hear About the Learning Happening at Home Too

This is the part where we would really love our families to get involved.

Have a go at some of the ideas we share and let us know how you get on. You might notice your child using a new word, suddenly mastering something they have been practising, becoming more independent or showing an interest in something completely new.

You can share these moments with us through the messaging system on Baby’s Days, including photographs or short videos where appropriate. These can help us see how your child is using their developing skills outside of nursery and can be linked to their learning as valuable evidence of their progress.

Those little everyday moments really do matter. Something that might seem insignificant at home can tell us a huge amount about a child’s confidence, communication, independence and understanding.

Keeping You Connected With Your Child’s Development

From September, your child’s monthly learning focus and the ideas for supporting it at home will be shared through Baby’s Days, so please keep an eye on the app for your individual updates.

We also wanted to remind parents that your child’s nursery reports can be viewed by logging into the desktop version of Baby’s Days. This gives you the opportunity to look back through their reports and see more about their progress and development over time.

We know life is busy and it isn’t always possible to have a lengthy conversation at drop-off or collection. Baby’s Days gives us another way to keep that connection between nursery and home going and allows you to access information about your child when it suits you.

Your Child’s Key Person

There will also be some changes to our key person arrangements as we move into the new term.

During September, every family will receive a message through Baby’s Days confirming who their child’s key person is.

A key person is much more than simply a named member of staff. They build a close and trusting relationship with your child, get to know their personality, interests and individual needs and play an important role in supporting their emotional wellbeing, learning and development.

They are also an important connection between you and nursery, so we want parents to feel comfortable sharing information, asking questions and celebrating those lovely little milestones with us.

Our Brand-New Tots Are Us Website

Another change we are very excited about is our brand-new Tots Are Us website!

We wanted our new website to give families a much better feel for who we are, what we believe in and what life at Tots Are Us is really like.

We’ll also be regularly adding blogs for parents covering early years development, learning through play and some of those everyday questions that come with raising young children.

Whether it’s supporting speech and language, understanding children’s behaviour, developing independence, preparing for school or simply finding activities to try at home, we want our website to become somewhere families can find practical, useful and reassuring early years advice.

Nursery and Home Working Together

Ultimately, all of these changes come back to one thing – your child.

The early years are such an important period of development, and we want every child at Tots Are Us to receive support that reflects who they are as an individual.

By combining what you see at home with what our practitioners observe at nursery, we can celebrate achievements, recognise emerging interests, identify areas where a little extra encouragement may be helpful and plan experiences that genuinely support each child’s next steps.

We are really excited to put these changes into practice when we return in September. We hope our families will get involved, try the ideas we send home and share those lovely moments of progress with us.

For now, we hope all of our Tots Are Us families have a fantastic summer. Our team will be enjoying a well-earned two-week break before returning refreshed and ready for another exciting year of learning, playing, exploring and growing together.

And if you’ve found this blog because you’re currently looking for childcare or a nursery for your little one, we’d love to welcome you to Tots Are Us. Please get in touch with our team to find out more about our nursery, our approach to early years education and current childcare places, or to arrange a visit and come and see us for yourself.