Curriculum for 18 month old with nanny?

[Cosmia]

I was wondering what people do in terms of structuring the days that their children spend with their nanny. Our nanny is great and does lots of out and about activities but I'm not sure how much soft "learning" they do. I saw the daily activities that the local nursery does and it seemed very structured and learning focussed which made me think (panic) that I am being too relaxed about things. Or am I being a total loon and at 18 months they should just be having fun and the learning will come through that?

An 18 month old does not need a curriculum. So long as the nanny is well educated in what sort of activities help children learn through everyday life and does not read magazines all day while dc entertain themselves. If you are happy yours provides a stimulating environment then leave it at that. Time enough for a curriculum when she starts school, she is barely much more than a baby now!

If you use a nursery or childminder, as they are Ofsted registered they are required to meet the guidelines set out in the EYFS (uk) hence provide a structured and tailored environment designed to bring the children's learning on to the next stage. Nannies are no required to do this as you know so can provide a more home based, relaxed style of care. It just depends what you want. You can download the EYFS to look at if you want ideas.

But I agree with Kat... I don't think they need it

The EYFS stuff, especially for children under 3, is the kind of thing you do automatically when looking after a child as a parent or nanny - for example, you can actually go to the shop and look at different kinds of fruit, talk about the colours, weigh them and count them, hand over money etc. In a nursery a "shopping" activity might have to be engineered with play fruit, play money etc so the staff can talk to the children about colour, weight and quantity, and can assess which of the children understand those concepts and record it.

Your nanny knows your child, knows if they can identify fruit, say some numbers, understand that to buy something you exchange coins with the shopkeeper - she doesn't need to plan for it, assess it and record it.

Relax. Learning will come through play and everyday to day stuff

At 18mths let children enjoy playing

As they get older most nannies do simple colour shapes number letters etc to get ready for playschool

Learning goals for an 18 month old are so basic that anyone with any sense and looking after a child in a even a half decent manner would cover them automatically IMO. You don't need to plan/document 'introducing numbers' for example. Everyone counts, sings number songs etc with a baby! It isn't until much older, around 3 years IMO that some planning and curriculum based learning should be introduced, and they'll get that from preschool. Children just need play and fun! It would be a complete waste of time IMO for a nanny to start 'teaching' and learning goals for a 18 month old. The sort of stuff they need to be 'learning' happens in everyday life and play. A half decent parent/nanny will be covering it all without any particular effort to follow a curriculum. If your nanny is having fun and communicating with your child, they'll be just fine. But that's just my opinion. I hate the thought of a curriculum for a baby! ??

The easiest way to ensure that your nanny is doing all the stuff she should be doing with your baby is by having an organised week of group activities - swimming on Monday, singing on Tuesday, baby gym on Wednesdays etc.

My two have some nanny time and some nursery time each week.
Nursery obviously have to do the early years stuff, but to me the major advantage of them being in nursery is - learning to play with other children, new/different toys to at home, eating in a group etc adn generally fending for themselves more, and messy play - painting, craft, baking etc - which they're much better set up for at nursery than at home.
Nanny days they get more loads and loads of 1-2 attention, talking talking talking, reading, playing, trips out and about, lots of fresh air, home cooked food.

Both equally valuable in my book (nanny would happily do messy stuff if I asked her to) but not really related to the 'curriculum'.

(Mum days they get mostly home cooked food, lots of reading, slightly distracted attention, and lots of mildly harrassed days out )

Agree with Bonsoir. The easiest way to tackle this is if you feel a particular activity would beneit the 18 month old, sign them up and tell the nanny about. I have gemerally founf that nannies like to have some flexible time where they can plan stuff (particular play groups, etc.). But, no reason you can't select two or three days to sign up for activities (swimming, singing, maybe a particular play group you like, etc.).

But, if nothing jumps out at you as something your toddler would especially enjoy, I wouldn't go out of my way to rock the boat of a otherwise happy nanny/charge relationship.

oh good god - it's pfb parents like you are the reason I would NEVER go back to nannying. I'm a cm now and have my own way of doing things. Parents who use nannies get a tad on their high horse ime and think they have to be 'the boss' Any parent who tried to instruct about a curriculum to myself or any of my colleagues would be given their notice pretty sharpish tbh.

Good grief, reetpetit. Breathe...... innnnnnnn.... and oouuuuuttt.....

If parents can't come here for a check on reality, then what the heck is Mumsnet for?

I've never referred to it as a curriculum, but I have certainly prescribed alot of activities to our nannies / au pairs.

I think there's a misunderstanding that the EYFS is a "curriculum" for under 3s as well - it's not really. It's information about child development and appropriate activities to meet and extend children's development.

Honestly, it's all stuff that a child with a interested carer living in a well resourced home (which most children with nannies will be) will be doing anyway. The "curriculum" is things like; sing number songs, give children the opportunity to explore volume by filling containers with water and sand, weigh things while baking, name body parts, provide dolls for role play and construction toys for building.

I think the EYFS has done a good job in focussing some (less good) childcare providers on what activities and experiences should be provided for young children, rather than just leaving them to it with "free play", but it's not rocket science.

I think most nannies will do this automatically. Like others said nursery might have ' texture and nature play' which will be gloop/ pine cones/ feather pictures/ sand, where as a nanny will take to the woods where they can dig/ find things/ climb/ jump in mud.
In the end it's the same things in different environment

Only on Mumsnet. "Curriculum" for an 18month old?

It really comes down to how good your nanny is and how well they know their stuff. A good nanny dies it automatically but there are crap ones who let children run wild or play with the same things day in day out by themselves and those ones could benefit from a structured approach for the nanny, not for the child. IMO a curriculum should be a framework for the educator, not the child and informs the activities which are provided.

So if your nanny is aware of the EYFS and child development, and is able to plan and talk to you about activities which provide suitable learning opportunities, then there's nothing to worry about. If that means acting like a line manager then it's only reasonable to expect an employee to be doing their job but you have a responsibility to inform yourself about what their job is supposed to be so you don't have unrealistic expectations.

Tis all about balance.

Thanks for the inputs! fwiw, I should have put " " around curriculum! I wasn't intending to give the nanny a reading list for them to cover each day, starting with a bit of light Dostoyevsky, but more wanted to make sure that there weren't any areas that we weren't all missing just by doing the same old things each day. Good advice re the activities, I'll see what might be a bit more interesting than the usual library sessions. Wonder if the local university does Quantum Physics for Toddlers.....

I think it can be very easy for parents to see the resources and activities on offer at a nursery and not look further. Op, having seen how some nurseries self-promote, I'm not surprised you're worrying about your daughter missing out.

Take a step back from all the gleaming child-friendly furniture and think about what your daughter really needs. Is she happy with your nanny? Does she feel safe and secure? Are her needs (love, food, sleep) met? Does your nanny know your daughter well and is able to respond to her changing interests?

If your answer to all these questions is an unequivocal YES, then you have the best childcare in place for your daughter. Give yourself a shake, stick two fingers up at the gleaming nursery that won't know your daughter half so well as your nanny does, and carry on as you were, maybe suggest a class that you know she would enjoy.

If your daughter is obviously bored, unhappy or uncared for, that's when you look to change things.

Young children of this age don't really need structure and it's mainly in place for the staff's benefit rather than the children. Think crowd control

Thanks Tanith! Yes, the nanny definitely does all of the above really well. I will stop looking at the nursery brochure! :-)

And tell the nanny what a good job you think she's doing. It's nice to hear sometimes .