Free play at preschool

[Gargula]

Hello,
After a bit of advice from those with children at preschool. I've just started visiting preschools for my son who's 22 months and had a look at my first one today.
They had loads of activities out: messy play, home corner, books, dolls, cars etc. all the usual and the children could just wander around doing as they liked for pretty much the whole session, though I think there is a story time and rhyme time at the end for ten mins or so.
Is this amount of free play usual or are some preschools more structured than this - and does it really make any difference?
I suppose I just thought that they would be a bit more directed but DS enjoyed himself and that's the main point!

I think good pre-schools and nurseries use the EYFS to improve their practice - they get ideas on ways to extend children's learning, provide exciting learning opportunities and generally use the information to the advantage of all. The poorer ones often lack understanding and interpret the E.Y.F.S. through their own perceptions of good childcare/education which in some cases is dire. I've worked in both, plus reception classes for the last 20 years most recently as an E.Y. advisor and in my experience, the good would be good regardless due to their own personal committment/expertise/intelligence but you can spend hours and hours and hours trying to improve the others with negligible results.

On the whole, people in childcare love the EYFS.

Childcare these days is about learning through play. In fact learning IS play. Don't think of it as free-play, think of it as free-learning. Children decide what they want to learn with. If the child is interested in something, they will learn far better than if you make them do stuff. Every time you stop a child a child playing, you're stopping them learning.

'Snackbar' snack times are great. At a nursery last year, I had to get a group of children to come indoors and sit at a table for snack. Out of the 7 at my table, none of them wanted the oat biscuit that was for snack, and they had free access to water anyway. So I had interrupted their learning in the garden to make 7 children sit at a table for 20 minutes doing nothing. The approach nowadays is to ask the children.

DD loved free play at pre-school

But I have just pulled DS out of the same pre-school because he hated it. He needs much more direction that she did and is loathe to just walk up to an activity and start doing it, especially if lots of other children are already involved. So he ended up just aimlessly wandering around the room

I think it is good to have a bit of structure in with the free play.

My dd1 has never been great at just getting on' with playing, and she prefers to 'do stuff' eg craft, painting, having stories, washing up etc. At her preschool, I can see that there are some children who come in and head straight for a particular toy, dressing up etc and dive straight in. Then there are the children (like dd1) who hangs back and waits for someone to start something off, like painting, and then she's off. One of the things I liked about her preschool was that they facilitate both types, they have lots of activities set up for them to play with, painting, etc then they have a structured snack time (they serve each other, and have open cups), carpet time at the end (sories and songs), small groups each day for a show and tell session, and they randomly have a project on the go, so they might all make an enormous aeroplane to decorate, or a giant tree on the wall.

x posted with mii, but yes, that is exactly what dd1 would do, just mill around too nervous to just plough into the playdoh etc.

I was the same when I was little, I went to a montessori briefly, but my mum took me out because apparantly i used to spend most of the session sat under a table because I was so intimidated by the other children!

DDs preschool is a mixture of structure and free play, there are three tables with activities than the children can choose to do or not and some toys that are always available (dd seems to play with the drs kit alot) some large toys are available on rotation, so there will be either a trainset on a table or rocking horses out for example and some things are vailable at different times (they seem to try and restrict glitter to the pre xmas half term)

They all sit down for snack time where they do poor their own milk and water they have open cups but are not allowed to walk around, the dont have to eat but fruit is provided from home so they all do seem to. I dont think they would ever be able to walk about with food/drinks as there are children with allergies and the staff do seem very vigilant about choking- the cut my dds grapes when i hadnt and she is 3.5 and i had stopped a while ago.

The sitting down at snacktime incorporates lots of learning though, they are given a coloured card with a number on and sit in that munbered chair on that coloured table, they also discuss concepts like the all had to name the person sitting opposite them, apparently if no one is seated there you say "Mr Nobody" which is hysterical

He needs much more direction....and is loathe to just walk up to an activity and start doing it, especially if lots of other children are already involved. So he ended up just aimlessly wandering around the room

It's social skills that really need teaching at a nursery. Showing children learning skills like finding something to do and to overcome shyness.

Why should a child need to go to nursery (do you mean pre preschool) to learn social skills - I have taken dds to playgroups, singing groups, and have friends with children round, she is just of a wary nature. Dd2 on the other hand would wade in and hog all the toys, and is completely different.

A nice nursery promotes free play and choice within a structured day.

I would be unhappy with a nursery where children wonder around all day aimlessly. I would be equally unhappy with one where the children are sat down all day for routine activities.

As for open cups - my children were using these by the age of 2...a pre-school really should be allowing children to drink properly.

civil this is an ancient thread

Interesting thread. I recently got into a discussion about this with the head of a prep school where they do lots of carpet time and introduce the national curriculum to their 3 year olds (most state-based nurseries don't from what I understand). When I asked why that was, she said they had to get them ready for the 11+. They're 3.

I know each child is different (for example, my 3 DS loves numbers, carpet time, etc at his state infant school nursery), but I wonder if as a general rule of thumb making 3, 4, 5, even 6 and 7 year olds stay still too long isn't counter-productive in the long run. They were built for play, not for sitting still at desks.

Sorry - just read the post immediately before mine! I guess the discussion has died down...