St Mary’s Early Years BIG TALK DAY!

Having their say For very young children there are broadly two types of talk: ‘real talk’, which is based around the reality that the child lives in (where they live, who with, what they like to eat, what the weather is like, etc.). Then there’s ‘fantasy talk’, which is not a recount of a real event but talk that’s fictitious and based on imagination. Often with children, the line between the two can get blurred, and children very convincingly combine the two. It’s through fantasy talk that children really get to use and expand their imaginations, creating amazing ideas that they can store in their brain and re-use later in their academic career.

For children who are able to speak, talk is the most powerful tool that they possess. Good quality talk is the key to opening up so many opportunities, and a child’s ability to talk well has a great and long-lasting impact on their attainment. The more they talk, the better at it they get. The wider their experience of things to talk about, the bigger their range of vocabulary becomes. The more words they know, the better they are at communicating what they think and feel – which helps reduce their feelings of frustration and anxiety when they cannot find the right word or phrase to use.

The best talk always comes when children are talking about something that particularly interests them, and when you provoke an emotional response from them in the stimulus you give them to talk about. Is it something that will make them happy? Sad? Excited? Apprehensive? I find that children engage far more in a talk activity when they think they’ve discovered the subject matter/object for themselves. Children are not going to talk if they’re not interested in what you want them to talk about!

IF A CHILD CANT SAY IT, THEN THEY CANT WRITE IT!

If the words are not in your head, then they can’t come out of the end of your pencil. So, our job is to stuff children’s heads to capacity with varied, exciting, challenging and engaging experiences.

Another question or statement Thinks about it Respnds Another question or statement Another response Why? Sadly a lot of our children find this cycle hard. To reach a ‘good’ level of development children need to be able to engage in a cycle like this!

(it’s a lot harder than you think!) Outline of the day The Early Years have been having a NO PENS DAY! We have had a day of TALK (it’s a lot harder than you think!)

What is BIG talk? Big Talk is a where children take part in educational activities that are designed to promote • Listening and attention • Understanding what is said • Learning and using new words • Building sentences and talking socially

How it links in with our curriculum The majority of the EYFS curriculum is based on talk and the children being able to verbalise their answers. If they cannot write a detailed answer or talk to us about their ideas then it becomes very difficult for us to assess a child. Here is an example of what we mean…

In this piece of work the child has fantastic answers but it is only through dialogue that we really see the child’s imagination and understanding!

Development Matters This is the document that we refer to when we are assessing your child. Lets have a look at some of the stages!

Development Matters

What we are finding at St Mary’s… What we are finding in our school Its all about piecing the learning together! Children don’t have the words to express their ideas. Good at learning HFW Good at phonics Lots of parent support Reading is supported at home

What parents / carers can do We are going to make a list of your ideas of what you think we could do to support children at home! Don’t be shy!

What next? It’s TALK TIME! SOME POINTERS..

Don’t forget! Use the time with your child to see if you think there is anything you could do to extend their talking! Fill in our evaluation sheet so we know if there are any areas that you would like more help with.

Places you can go for help www.fundationyears.com http://www.ican.org.uk www.stmarysenfield.co.uk