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Learning

“Play is the highest form of research.” Albert Einstein
Learning through play

 

Little Acorns Pre School works closely with Surrey Early Years to ensure it meets all the requirements set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage. 

 

We meet regularly with our liaison officers to discuss and review our practices and polices and work hard to continually develop the skills and qualifacations of Our Staff to ensure your child gets the best care and play based learning experience.

 

The theory of play

 

"Play is behaviour that children participate in to explore and learn in their environments. We are involved in play all our lives to learn and to have pleasure which is one of the basic human needs.

 

Playwork facilitates children's play and development. Play develops a number of skills including fine and gross motor skills, sensory knowledge, exploration of different roles, development of language skills and development of social skills, cognitive skills, problem solving and thinking skills.

 

The play types are all linked and can happen together. The value of play has a key role in the development of children. Many psychologists and educationalists have identified the importance of play in helping children to understand the world around them. Free play encourages the child's social, physical, intellectual, creative and emotional development (SPICE) and by doing so:

 

  • Play promotes children's development, learning, creativity and independence.

  • Play keeps children healthy and active and active children become active adults.

  • Play fosters social inclusion. It helps children understand the people and places in their lives, learn about their environment and develop their sense of community.

  • Play allows children to find out about themselves, their abilities and interests.

  • Play is therapeutic. It helps children to deal with difficult or painful circumstances such as emotional stress or medical treatment.

  • Play gives children the chance to let off steam and have fun.

 

Taken from the New Charter for Children's Play, Children's Play Council, 1998."

 

Please click on the link to find out more                  s

 

At Little Acorns we invite you to visit us during any of of sessions so that you may observe the structure of our pre school and allow your child the opportunity to try out this new environment.  Please Contact Us to arrange a visit or for further information.

​2 Year Olds at Pre School
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At Little Acorns we know that your 2 year old toddler will be full of energy and growing interest in the world around them and so will benefit greatly from the opportunity to explore through play and interact with other children of their own age.  It will also help them burn off some excess engery! 

 

Our sessions offer the opportunity of playing with other children and to ease them (and yourselves!) into the idea of separating from their parents for the first time.  We do accept children in nappies.  At Little Acorns we find that toddlers who are ready to attend our sessions relax quickly and enjoy these new experiences. 

 

We understand that this new experience can take some getting used to and so we encourage parents to stay with their child in our sessions should they feel the need to separate slowly.  Our excellent team of staff are always on hand to support and adivse you, and as we assign a Key Worker to each and every one of our children, you will have an exact point of contact for any questions or queries you may have.

 

Please also note that in some instances government funding is available for two year old sessions.  Please ask your Key Worker, or Contact Us for further information on this.

3 - 4 Year Olds at Pre School

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As your toddler approaches the pre school age we are sure you will notice big changes in their acitivies, speech, motor skills (and appearance!) regularly.  This time in their lives is a significant milestone when they really start to absorb and interact with their environments and people around them.

 

Pre school is a fantastic opportunity for your child to learn new skills and to become socialable (even if the terrible two's are not quite behind you!).  At Little Acorns we arrange our setting so that we can offer all children various activies and areas where they can explore, play, and take quiet time.  We also offer outside play when the weather permits.

 

As previously mentioned, we work closely with Surrey Early Years to ensure our programme of activies and play is meeting all the requirements set out by the Early Years Foundation Stage, and to also keep our sessions fun and interesting for our children.  Our highly qualified staff work on class programmes each term (available for you to view on our Term Topics page and our Term Newsletters) to give structure to learning their first numbers, the alphabet, new social and cognative skills.  We also ensure that there is choice and 'free play' in our sessions so that no child is pressured into activies they do not wish to partake in.

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