Deep Dive into Specific routines.

Moving forward from our last episode, We take a deep dive into routines, looking at specific transition points of the day from carpet time to home time. We give tips and advisee guaranteed to revolutionise your classroom management approach. 
Learn from us as we discuss the power of mantras during tidy-up time, and how maintaining a calm demeanor can create a tranquil environment for the children. We reveal the magic of visual timetables and strategies that can support  learners who struggle with transitions. Rounding off the episode, we stress the importance of keeping everything in its designated place and children having responsibility. 
We finish off with a mindful moment of looking at how we use Hygge at home. 
Tune in and take your teaching craft to the next level.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:11

Hello and welcome to the earliest staff meeting podcast with Sarah, keely and Steph, the place where you can listen, learn and laugh with us about all things early years.

Speaker 2 0:24

Hello, hello, we're back Another week. We're back. We're back in the cupboard, back in the cupboard. So this week, on the earliest staff meeting, we are doing a part two of our routines, so we'll be doing a little bit of a deep dive. We've got an apology to start us off with and then we're moving on to our mindful moment, which is about getting snuggly, and it's Hooga, hooga.

Speaker 1 0:58

Hooga knows if we're saying it right. So before we start, sarah, I've got to check something. Yeah, are we actually recording? Yeah, we are Red light. Okay, because you turn those buttons. No, they're to mute us. Thank you, during the journey I just needed to double check that before we went ahead. That's the red light on. Okay, red light's on. Oh, that's Sam's room. Yeah, it does. The sign's on the door and we're in the cupboard.

Speaker 2 1:26

Yeah, okay, so start off. We have an apologies. It's just you and I. Again, unfortunately, it's just the two of us. It's just, yeah, you and I. My voice is back.

Speaker 1 1:37

Yeah, you're not sounding quite sultry, I'm not, I'm not, no, no sexy voice anymore, but yeah my normal voice, but there's a lot of lurky going round at the moment. So if I do cough, it's because I'm coughed at on a regular basis. Yes, yeah, a lot of lurky's going round there is. Yeah, we're confined space, so I look forward to receiving that in about a week You'll be back. Sexy Sarah will be back, okay, okay.

Speaker 2 2:11

So we, we last episode, we sort of did the who, what, how, why didn't we of routines.

Speaker 1 2:17

Of routines, yeah, so if you haven't caught up on that one, yeah, check it out.

Speaker 2 2:22

Catch up on that one. So we did start off by doing sort of a deep dive into snack, didn't we sort of digressed into a deep dive? But there are sort of other routines within the routine, the main routine, that I think often cause a bit of issues. They sometimes a bit controversial. It's difficult to know when these transitions should occur. So if we start off with good old carpet time, so for us in our setting we teach everything in a skills based way, whether that's physical skills or knowledge skills, and we have a carpet time and we have three carpet times during the day, ones for skills, then it'll be phonics and then maths in the afternoon. So and obviously we're aware that not all settings run it like that Somewhere a little bit more prescriptive and have sit downs and others are not. So it is. It's about again going back to your ethos and about finding time to talk in your team and look at the children's needs and discuss how you're going to deliver your main input and what is right for the children.

Speaker 1 3:49

And we do it that way because it gives us the maximum amount of time.

Speaker 2 3:54

Yeah.

Speaker 1 3:55

We're top entailing the carpet, the main play session, so that the children are able to spend most of their time in the provision which is where they should be.

Speaker 2 4:06

So obviously, depending at the beginning of the year, those carpet sessions are very sure and sweet, like they are at the moment, and they remain sure and sweet in nursery.

Speaker 1 4:17

Let me tell you.

Speaker 2 4:19

So and then, as the terms progress, it gets longer as they're listening and attention skills get better. How are you doing your carpet times in nursery? Well, how many are you having?

Speaker 1 4:33

So we've just I've just introduced I think I did say this last week a little bit we've just introduced doing one in the morning as well, so just after they come in, before they get too deeply involved in their play we just stop them for a carpet, because what I found was by not having that carpet session in the morning as good as it is to let them come in and just get busy and get playing if there were skills to model, you were kind of waiting until. So if you're adding something new, you kind of want to add that in the morning first thing.

Speaker 1 5:07

So, for example, like we've had quite a few enhancements this week where we've had sort of fireworks and things like that, so I've been able to model it to the children so they can go off and use it, but then the same that we don't have one in the afternoon. So I do have to consider children that are only coming in the afternoon and offering them sort of something slightly different at a different time and just catching up with them. But we don't have many children that only come for the afternoon. So it's working out okay and, yeah, do one before lunch. So it's just again, it's just having that really lovely long time in the middle to play.

Speaker 1 5:45

And you know, I use lots of visuals. I use I have a little dinga. I like a little dinga for attention, like ding I think it's like a chime bar thing okay and I do love that because it's a nice gentle sound. But you can kind of sometimes you can ding it softly and then you know if you need to like, if the noise is quite loud, you need to just to get their attention really, and it's just there's a lot of children, isn't there?

Speaker 1 6:11

yeah, I've always. I've reused that for a few years. Actually, I used to use it in reception as well. It's very much like grease. Yeah, it's just one. No, and the children like grabbing that as well and playing with it yeah, so yeah, it's just about using those strategies, I think, to make your carpet times repetitive, so the children know exactly what to expect yeah, of course, and our carpet times are the same time every day.

Speaker 2 6:43

They always happen. Skills first thing, phonics before lunch, math straight after lunch when they come in, and it's always like that. Very rarely do we have a change, unless there is, you know, we have photographs today it's flu, vaccines, so but any, obviously any changes to routine. We let children know it goes up on our visual time table. We try to reempt it we do and talk into those children.

Speaker 1 7:09

That would really find that very tricky, really making sure that they understand that it is all going to be okay yeah, and they're still going to get to have their play when they want to have their play yeah, I've taught children before who, if we made a change to the routine, they felt like they were missing out on some of their play, and it took me to sort of go through the visual time to show them actually. Look, we are getting the same amount of playing time. You're not losing any playing time. And then they were okay with that.

Speaker 2 7:37

Yeah and that's really important and that's that just comes because you know your children. So yeah, that is our carpet times. I think also it needs to be said about interventions. They are different to carpet times and we are firmly believe that we do not pull children out of their play for interventions as much as possible, and if we do have to do that, it's giving them chance to have a place and maybe do it maybe an hour in so they've had a chance to have a good play to get it out of their system and anything that needs saving can be saved and they can come back to it afterwards.

Speaker 2 8:20

But we really try not to do interventions that way. We try and almost differentiate our skills teaching and have our adults come out whilst we're doing our teaching.

Speaker 1 8:33

So everyone is doing a task and we do have some interventions that run, but I think within them, then the routine in them is the same as well. So, like the tier would use an objective reference to call them out and the children are actually looking forward to, they don't actually mind. Once they've attended a couple, they know something special is going to happen. They're going to get to do some special piece, special piece of a special activity, and they're quite happy. So it's again. It's developing that security through the routine of that.

Speaker 2 9:04

If you have got to pull them out, and also interventions are not worksheet based for us, absolutely not. Basically a I hate to say a better, dumber version of what we've done in the class. They are usually speech and language interventions or some emotional coaching kind of interventions, and they're literally all through play within a group. So just a little caveat.

Speaker 1 9:30

There didn't you know, pulling them out to yes, so, yeah, so that's carpet time.

Speaker 2 9:39

Another very chaotic moment of the day is tidy up time. So it, I think over the years we started off with the tidy up music, a bit of tidy up rumba yeah, and you'd put the tidy up song on and you know, the children just knew it was tidy up time.

Speaker 1 10:02

there was no need to stop them because you just put the music on and they knew automatically they did but some of our sensory children would find the tidies and noise so overwhelming that they would.

Speaker 2 10:18

They would create their own noise and that would then stop pure like supporting of tidying up because you were dealing with with their issues of noise. Also, some children would just get really hyped up by the music. Where we've had some really chilled play, you'd put the music on and it's their cue to be silly, mess around, dance around, and I think we sort of have moved away from the tidy up rumba.

Speaker 1 10:50

We have. Yeah, we tried something new, didn't we? Without time last year, we talked, we did some. I think some of us did some training and it was about all the maths, and I think we mentioned this last week as well that there's loads of mathematical opportunities within tidy up time, but actually what you need to do to get the most of those opportunities is, instead of making it in this frantic quick tidy up, put that away.

Speaker 2 11:16

We've got five minutes. Go, go, go.

Speaker 1 11:17

It's slowing it down. So you know, we started tidying up a little bit earlier, like maybe five minutes earlier or something, or did we push the carpet? I think we actually pushed the carpet time back, didn't we? Because we?

Speaker 1 11:28

were like right, this is what's right for the children actually not to not to cut their play off early, but we'll cut the carpet time down and just spending a little bit longer doing the tidying up with the children. So it becomes more of a problem-solving activity and last year I don't think you've implemented this in reception yeah, we will do but you will, and it is to give children a specific job.

Speaker 1 11:53

So we had a jobs board and we had all the areas of the classroom and the children would then be allocated to an area and they would become an expert at tidying up that area. So then it became a more efficient tidy up time because, say, for example, putting the blocks away was quite a tricky job because you've got to find all the even with shadowing, it does take time.

Speaker 1 12:19

So you know, but once you had children that were experts at that, they knew exactly where to put it and they could sort of help each other, and then we'd swap them around so that they could become new experts and, yeah, it just became a bit more of an enjoyable time, but it's always the time when people come in the room. As an ex, I was just thinking yesterday. Obviously we're not quite there yet in nursery, because we still have children that don't understand the concept of tidy up.

Speaker 1 12:48

So it's you know, we're picking things up and we're putting them back away where they go, and we have photographs and we have labelling and all those lovely things to help them, but they still are not quite there yet. Some children are great at tidying up and others are not, and that was the moment that the school improvement advisor, of course, came through my classroom, so I think we had it off-stead.

Speaker 1 13:10

Off-stead came in during my we were really lucky that we had tidying up and they have to be there, we were really lucky that we were able to be quite prescriptive about where, where off-stead went and at what time. So I was expecting off-stead at one particular time and they came in five minutes early or something, while we were tidying up and I just, you know, had to like, right, what are you doing to tidy up?

Speaker 1 13:35

suddenly had to, like you know, yeah, sort out the children that were rolling around doing cartwheels instead of putting things away. Yeah, so we just had that yesterday. But while I was sitting in the middle of the the home corner I think I was, you know, covered in blankets or something like that, nice, and I made a cake. Didn't actually know my cake, I do, I do know your cake. So I made a foam cake because the children have really been into birthday, so I made them this foam birthday cake Home out of sponge foam, not as in edible foam.

Revolutionary Tidy-Up and Home Time Strategies

Speaker 1 14:07

No, no, yeah or like yeah, and I think people are probably imagining like something really elaborate. It was like you know this, what do you call them? Scourers? It was Scourers with some buttons on and I was very proud of this cake and it was a bit of an Instagram vs reality. One saw this on Pinterest and nailed it one of those. I should actually share the picture. I think you should share it. And the children, just they played with it but they destroyed it.

Speaker 2 14:38

Did they pick the sponge apart by any chance?

Speaker 1 14:40

Today we noticed there's a little tooth print and somebody actually thought, you know is it cake.

Speaker 2 14:47

It's actually real. It's like that Netflix show. Is it cake?

Speaker 1 14:51

And they actually tried to eat it. So, yeah, I think that's what I was doing yesterday. Anyway, we digress.

Speaker 2 14:58

So something that has been also revolutionary, with tidy up time is part of our rules, which is, like our mantra is we had some Anna at Grave training. Anna at Grave is the in the moment planning lady. If you're not aware of who she is, she's an amazing, inspirational lady, so definitely check her out. But we had training with her some years ago and we she taught us the mantra choose it use it, put it away.

Speaker 2 15:32

And actually every time children get all the blocks out or the train track out and then they suddenly like, try to disappear, you go actually no, you need to come back, choose it, use it and now put it away. And it's ingrained in everything. I think I dream it and it does work, because the children know that if they try and scarper without tidying up, that they are going to get pulled back and we are going to say choose it, use it, put it away. And children are doing that without being asked now.

Speaker 2 16:06

They are choosing, using and remember to put it away.

Speaker 1 16:08

And we use sign language for that as well. We do Just to reinforce it, and it's one of our golden rules.

Speaker 2 16:14

It is we should post our golden rules really. So, yeah, we'll post our golden rules, because we have four rules being kind, sharing, being safe, choose it, use it, put it away. I said you said the rules. Yeah, I said the rules. So they are our mantras. We say that over and over again. It embeds everything that we do when we interact with children. So, yeah, that's been very revolutionary, okay. And then probably the last sort of transitioning time is home time. Oh dear, this is not your favourite time, is it? No?

Speaker 1 16:52

Never nailed home time. If anyone has any tips on smooth home times, please send them in our web, the children are ready to go home.

Speaker 2 17:02

They want to see their special adults. They want to go home. And it's the getting of the stuff, isn't it? The book bags, the coats, the water bottles, the artwork, all the junk.

Speaker 1 17:16

Check in their truck, check in their chat tray, yeah.

Speaker 2 17:20

Letters to go out and a story to be read and that is very difficult Some years if children are finding it tricky to get all of their things. I've had a list like a pictorial list on the board and I've had a coat, a water bottle and I'll keep saying check the list. Does the things in front of you match the list on the board? Have you got your water bottle? Have you got your coat? Have you got your jumper? Have you got your artwork? And that has worked for some of your groups, others not so.

Speaker 1 17:56

So I've got something very similar. I've got a little mini like visual timetable for getting ready to go home and I use that and it's got the pictures and it is slowly. Slowly we're getting faster. We've actually got time for a story some days. It's amazing at the end of the day we get to the end of the day and I'm like, yes, we're getting there.

Speaker 1 18:20

But then we've had a lot of children of six. So maybe it's just sad. The volume is low, so it's quicker, but it is just, isn't it about that? Calm? If we're calm, the children are calm. They pick up on us. So sometimes it's taking a deep breath and just chilling out and just yet that repetitive. It's going to be the same. We've got to do the same steps and eventually it does go in. And sometimes it's individual children that need that. So I've had children in the past that really struggle. We sort of process in information. It might mean that they need a little picture that's actually right in front of them to help them to get their things ready to go home. Use strategies like that before as well.

Speaker 2 19:00

I think it's also important that their stuff stays in the same place and that there is a place for all of their stuff. So we have a box that has cardigans, Because children get hot.

Speaker 2 19:13

They don't stay on pegs because their coats are so bulky, so it goes in the box and then at the end of the day we hand them out or the children find them. Usually we hand them out because they've got no names on them and sometimes you have to do the sniff check. Yeah, that's definitely her. Yeah, it's making sure their stuff stays in the same place and there is a place for all of their things and they know how to access it. It does make it so much easier. Absolutely so.

Speaker 2 19:44

Tidy up times, no, home times are very chaotic especially because you're on the clock, some things you can kind of let go, but parents do get a little bit of a home rate.

Speaker 1 19:56

if you're late, parents do get cross, and understandably so. I mean, as a parent, I don't mind if you come out here. In fact, I normally time the school run to just get there right at the back of the line so I don't have to wait for very long. But yeah, absolutely is one of those things and it's kind of a least. The least that you can do is get them out on time and with their coat on and also some children that can only do a one-step instruction.

Speaker 2 20:27

You can get your TA to start them off first, so they've got a bit of a head start. I've had that with groups of children before and because you want them to feel successful, you don't want to feel as though you're going right now Get this Come on get this. Because they feel rushed and they won't learn anything if they're feeling really rushed. So yeah, it's.

Speaker 1 20:46

I think you're right. I think that's true. You know we've got to, even if it's like you start early and then you build up and you make it like later and later Because, yeah, it's that pressure isn't it, it is they pick up on it, they do.

Speaker 2 21:00

And they feel our stress, we feel their stress. Yeah, ok. So so I think that sort of we've I think that's our deep dive, deep dive, deep dive.

Speaker 1 21:11

Is that the right grabber into all things routines we do?

Speaker 2 21:15

it.

Speaker 1 21:15

But obviously, as with anything, if there's ever anything you'd like us to discuss, yeah, any routines. Drop us a yeah, drop us a message and we can discuss it.

Speaker 2 21:24

Yeah, on Instagram. Or you can email us the earliest staff meeting at gmailcom. We have our own. We do have our own email account. So, yeah, you're welcome to drop us a message. Ok, let's have mindful moment Now, the mindful moment this week, because we have got.

Speaker 1 21:42

We've had a change of weather, had a change of temperature.

Speaker 2 21:47

We have that lovely warm sun, that, yeah, that summer that lasted forever and it was never going to get cold.

Speaker 1 21:54

And it's. It's finally starting to get darker and colder in the evening. Yeah, and wind, the wind. Yeah, we've had some pretty strong yeah strong, yeah, strong.

Speaker 1 22:02

Yeah, we've had some pretty strong, strong. So yeah, this week, for our mindful moment, we were just going to reflect on what we do to be more huger. I don't know if we're saying that, right, still Huger. I think it's huger, yeah, huger. Which is, if those of you are not aware, it's a sort of a Scandinavian, I believe approach to life and it's all about warmth and comfort and sort of soothing. It's about nature and bringing nature in. Bringing nature in.

Speaker 2 22:38

It's a feeling, isn't it? Yeah, it's that we have talked about it more later in the past, but it is a feeling.

Speaker 1 22:44

It's like that warm. Yeah, it's like a warm soup.

Speaker 2 22:47

I suppose, yeah, soup for the soul, it is yeah, yes.

Speaker 1 22:51

So what do you do to be huger in the winter?

Speaker 2 22:54

So recently, because we've had Halloween, I've grown little mini pumpkins in my garden Of course she has, and they've been up on my mantelpiece and I've had my lovely candles on and I do actually have a proper fire.

Speaker 2 23:12

So I have an open fire, not a log burner, a proper old-fashioned open fire which we have my children have been enjoying. As my one of my children just said, I love warming my bottom on it. There is a fire guard, just want to make that clear. There is a fire guard, but yeah, it's for us as a family. It's something that when my husband comes home he's literally pyromaniac starting that fire.

Speaker 1 23:41

Yeah.

Speaker 2 23:42

So it is really nice, and the candles as well, turning the lights down.

Speaker 1 23:48

Yeah, yeah, that's my little huger. I feel like I'm kind of similar, but probably not, just not as wholesome. So it's a little bit more like just have to get in, you know, put your pyjamas If you know you're not having to go out, put your pyjamas on, get the children to put their pyjamas on and just sort of snuggle under the blankets. We've got sort of a sofa that's like a corner safer, and we have a puff that we bring over and so like the whole family can like sit and put our feet up. Is it like?

Speaker 2 24:18

a big bed because, like, does it fit in?

Speaker 1 24:20

Almost, almost, it's not quite that big, but we can all fit on, and it's fine, the four of us. So yeah, just like snuggling up under the blankets, putting a film on you know? Cup of tea, something sweet to eat, yeah, and that's it. I just feel like in the winter you kind of want to reward yourself with these like cosy moments to get you through when you're feeling tired, especially as we're about to hit the dreaded sea season.

Speaker 2 24:50

We are and like it's very hectic. I very much look forward to my like creature comforts at home and just feeling really snuggling yeah.

Speaker 1 25:01

So I think it's like your sort of your social life and your experiences go through like seasonal changes, don't they? So like, at the moment, it's all about just being warm indoors and yeah, until the till the spring, so that's it sort of hibernation in a way.

Speaker 2 25:19

It is like hibernation, yeah, but I love it. I think I'm quite a hermit. I think I hibernate too long.

Speaker 1 25:26

Yeah, I need to wake up earlier Okay well, I think that probably brings us to this end of this week's podcast. Sarah, do you want to do a call to arms?

Speaker 2 25:45

Yes, please, please, please, check us out on Instagram and TikTok, and we also have a website. If you like what we do, please click follow.

Speaker 1 26:00

Can I just do a shout out that some people I've actually shared us, I know and that's been so, and we are so and I don't know if they want to be named, so we won't name them. No, but somebody is sort of sharing us on their story. Somebody shared us on our story and we were like, oh my goodness.

Speaker 2 26:20

It means the world to us, because it means someone's listening yes, someone's listening and thinks it's worth sharing.

Speaker 1 26:26

So it's so lovely. And then somebody else who was passing us up, sort of recommending us to other people.

Speaker 2 26:32

So you know, thank you, thank you, thank you and we also had that lovely lady say that she appreciates everything that we do. We had a message as well to say that they appreciate all of our work. So it just means the absolute everything, because we've always wanted to do a podcast, but you know it's having your voice heard and knowing that what you say actually does some good to people. So, yeah, please.

Speaker 1 27:01

that's, and we know we've got some regular listeners as well.

Speaker 2 27:04

Yeah, I know, let them listen to everyone.

Speaker 1 27:05

So shout out to all our regulars, you know who you are. Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2 27:11

Yeah, some of our lovely team as well. Who do you support us? That does mean the world to us, so thank you. Yeah, check us out on socials. We're trying to get better. We're trying to get better, yeah, and follow, click, follow on there on your However you're listening to your podcast add us. It does loads for our reach and how we get noticed on all of the platforms. So, yeah, we really appreciate that. But have, hunker down, get warm. I think there's more storms to come and, yeah, we hope to be podcasting very soon. Yeah, right, see you Bye everyone Bye.