Am i doing enough?!

I was worrying today whether i am doing enough with my mindees. On any day i have my own child and 2 others - they are all 2.5 and under. We do playdough, drawing, arts and crafts, painting, colouring, messy play, free play including dressing up, puzzles, read books, nursery rhymes, garden play, sand and water that kind of thing every day. I only do outings occasionally, i did lots more when i had older children. They all walk but no more than 5 minutes max without needing to be picked up so we tend to stick to the garden and I get them out each day in it whatever the weather. I occasionally follow a theme and try my best to teach them new things continuously. Does this sound like enough though? I haven't had any negative feedback or anything to make me think that it's not but i never really know what parents want.

The chances are, if it's enough for your own child then it is enough for the other children his age. It sounds like you are doing tons. As long as you can see progress then that's the main thing. If they look bored then you need to reassess - but it sounds like a lot of fun at your place.

It's also not just about what you provide, but how you interact with the children throughout the day that is the most important thing. x

It sounds like you are doing plenty. I really do think that less is more. On Monday I have two 2 year olds, sometime we go to a local toddler group run by the gymnastics club (usually when its wet), this week they got engrossed with the duplo and train track that was all we did for well over an hour, we had a bit of snack, drove 5 mins to the library, changed our books, came back, had lunch, one had a nap, one chilled looking at books and having stories, a little play in the garden then the school run, Other days we spend all morning in the garden.

Children need opportunity to experience things and the time to really make the most of the activities they do. If you are whizzing off on outings all of the time they may not get the opportunity to fully engage in what they are doing- think about the characteristics of effective learning.

You know your children and what works for them and you. :)

Be aware of their current interests and use every opportunity to expand their learning through these current interests. Being in the garden shows you using outside space. If you have evidence, ie photos, of going to parks etc it may be good to display these so you can show you do go further when/if needed. Sounds as if you have a rich learning environment.

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Originally Posted by BallyH

Be aware of their current interests and use every opportunity to expand their learning through these current interests. Being in the garden shows you using outside space. If you have evidence, ie photos, of going to parks etc it may be good to display these so you can show you do go further when/if needed. Sounds as if you have a rich learning environment.

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Thanks BallyH. This is something else ive been wondering (worrying!) about. I dont feel they have set interests at the moment. They have different personality types for sure so i know which ones will be loud and confident, which ones will play 'nicely' and which ones will give something a glance over and then wonder off etc. But they just enjoy playing with all the toys and resources really. Some of them are reluctant to get their hands messy so maybe thats an interest or lack of there... They all like being outside so i guess that's classed as an interest...?

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Originally Posted by mumofone

Thanks BallyH. This is something else ive been wondering (worrying!) about. I dont feel they have set interests at the moment. They have different personality types for sure so i know which ones will be loud and confident, which ones will play 'nicely' and which ones will give something a glance over and then wonder off etc. But they just enjoy playing with all the toys and resources really. Some of them are reluctant to get their hands messy so maybe thats an interest or lack of there... They all like being outside so i guess that's classed as an interest...?

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Yes outside is an interest as my inspector quoted 'a love of outdoors' in my report. You feel they don't have any interests but if a child was to momentarily to show an interest in say a car/block/teddy use that moment to engage them in a conversation, it may be fleeting as this age group are, it even maybe mainly one sided due to speech development, something like 'oh yes what colour is the car, yes a red car, do you think it looks like daddy's car, is it big or small, will your favourite teddy fit in it, do you think teddy is tired, what happens if teddy is tired, why do we need to go to sleep??? Something like this obviously not all these questions but teaching them something different, extending their vocabulary, testing their listening and understanding skills etc and then you could turn to the inspector and say 'oh yes yesterday he repeated 3 new words to me and when mum collected him she was delighted and said he's been chatting at home about his new wellingtons which you talked about yesterday.......' and this shows sharing information with parents and extending learning at home and your setting. Sorry to keep typing on and on but does this make sense?

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Originally Posted by BallyH

Yes outside is an interest as my inspector quoted 'a love of outdoors' in my report. You feel they don't have any interests but if a child was to momentarily to show an interest in say a car/block/teddy use that moment to engage them in a conversation, it may be fleeting as this age group are, it even maybe mainly one sided due to speech development, something like 'oh yes what colour is the car, yes a red car, do you think it looks like daddy's car, is it big or small, will your favourite teddy fit in it, do you think teddy is tired, what happens if teddy is tired, why do we need to go to sleep??? Something like this obviously not all these questions but teaching them something different, extending their vocabulary, testing their listening and understanding skills etc and then you could turn to the inspector and say 'oh yes yesterday he repeated 3 new words to me and when mum collected him she was delighted and said he's been chatting at home about his new wellingtons which you talked about yesterday.......' and this shows sharing information with parents and extending learning at home and your setting. Sorry to keep typing on and on but does this make sense?

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Thanks BallyH, haha don't apologise, that's great, yes absolutely it does. Thank you :-)