One-to-one Time

[RhymingRabbit3]

I was just wondering how much one-to-one time you would expect a toddler or preschooler to have in a nursery?
By which I mean someone sitting down with them and reading them a story, playing a game, helping them do a puzzle, working on counting or something like that. Is it mostly group activities in a nursery setting? Many thanks

[Littlefish]

Children aged 2 are on a ratio of one adult to 4 children. With pre-schoolers, it's either 1 adult to 8 children or 1 adult to 13 children, depending on the qualifications of the adults.

In my experience nursery is a mixture of small groups/pairs of children. Not a huge amount of one to one time, particularly in pre-school. Children are, however given lots of attention and co-adventuring time with adults.

[insancerre]

A few minutes each session but it may not be wholly 1-1 as there will always be other children around
In my room there can be up to 30 children aged 2-4 so it’s near on impossible to get 1-1 time
The ratio is 1-4 for 2 year olds and 1-8 for 3 and 4 year olds
Sometimes we use a 1-13 ratio for 3 and 4 year olds

[insancerre]

Also, the only children that I would expect my staff to dedicate 1-1 time to are those who need extra support, such as EAL or children with SEN
The only time a child truly gets 1-1 is at nappy changes

[Expressedways]

None unless you count diaper changes or comforting a child if they’re upset?!

DD who is 2 is in a class of 15 with 2-3 teachers (our state required ratio is 1 adult to 8 toddlers) and they frequently do small group activities so about 4 children to an activity or station, supervised by 1 teacher.

[RhymingRabbit3]

Thanks for your responses.

In my experience nursery is a mixture of small groups/pairs of children.
So would they maybe do reading a book to a couple of kids or doing a puzzle with a few children working together, or do they just not do this sort of activity much?

I'm asking because my daughter is 2 and may be starting nursery and her favourite activities are things like books, jigsaws, games but she can't do those things by herself so would those activities be done or would that just have to be done at home?

[insancerre]

I spend all day reading stories and doing jigsaws
Just not in a one to one but in small groups while supervising the whole room

[twinnywinny14]

It depends on a lot of factors. I work in a small nursery with up to 12 toddlers with 3 or 4 adults (although 1 child needs 1:1 for Sen needs) we spend lots of time with the children and you will definitely see children having 1 on 1 time throughout the day reading, doing puzzles etc. Mostly it is small groups but with 1:4 ratio it’s often each adult with one or 2 chn and some children will play independently. The staff should move and rotate so that they are giving all children time with their key person regularly. The activities you describe are exactly what your child should be able to do at nursery. Personally I would always choose a smaller nursery as I think this works better for younger ones but some love the large busy nurseries with up to 30+ children in a room. Obv you have the same ratio of adults but it just doesn’t seem to meet the children’s needs so well

[Thefaceofboe]

Hi. I’m a nursery practitioner and even though the ratio is 1:3. I spend lots of 1:1 time with my keychildren. I have 5 keychildren in total of different ages so when the others sleep I get chance to spend time with the others. If it’s not quite 1:1, it’s small groups of children reading and doing activities
I’m sure your daughter would get lots of quality time with her key worker. How big is the nursery OP?