Educare for Early Years’ Minis
Our Mini Room is designed to cater for babies as they become increasingly mobile and begin to explore more of their surroundings. Our Mini’s get the opportunity to explore lots of different rooms throughout their day at Educare – something we feel is very important to keep them happy and stimulated.
Babies will move from our Baby Room to the Mini Room once they are having a single nap at lunchtime and are becoming increasingly confident on their feet. The room layout and high-quality furniture allows our Mini’s to self-select what they wish to play with, this helps practitioners to understand each child’s individual interests.
Our Facilities
The Minis room is well equipped with a wide variety of exciting toys for them to explore. There is a well-resourced ‘home corner’ area for acting out experiences they have seen and building on imagination skills. A construction and small world area to help develop fine motor skills and an understanding of the world around them. We have a calm cosy book area where our Minis can read books with practitioners or take some time to relax during the busy day. And finally, lots of open plan space for them to transport toys and negotiate, practicing all of their gross motor movements. Practicality is key, which is why our Mini Room also has an en-suite changing facility where we provide high quality nappies, wipes and cream included in our prices. There is also a kitchenette where medicines are stored out of reach.
A separate Art Studio and mealtime area allows our practitioners to maintain the highest level of cleanliness while our Minis experience a variety of messy situations; from full body painting to learning to independently feed themselves. Getting creative with paint and glue is encouraged and early mark making skills will start to develop with carefully planned activities. Mealtimes are a social event and miniature tables and chairs provide the next step from highchairs. The children are encouraged to feed themselves while being carefully supervised, encouraged and supported.
Our Minis make use of our outdoor garden space, which is an extension to the learning environment and is used every day regardless of the weather. Our Minis will enjoy experiences such as splashing in muddy puddles, building sandcastles and finding minibeasts – all activities that drive investigation and problem-solving skills. They also use our indoor physical play space ‘Playclub’ for their daily Baby Moves session – more information on the benefits of these sessions for this age group can be found on our Baby Moves section of the website.
Your Baby’s Development
Whether your baby is starting at Educare in our Mini Room or transitioning from our Baby Room we try to make the transition as smooth as possible. We recognise the importance of working in partnership with parents or guardians; and by assigning each child a key worker you will be kept you up to date with your baby’s experiences and progress through the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Curriculum. They will provide you with regular written updates on their progress and we hold a Parents Evening to allow you to discuss your child’s development in more detail. The practitioners at Educare keep daily diaries for each of our Minis, recording the activities they have been introduced to, and encouraging good communication between the nursery and home. This is another vital line of communication, giving you peace of mind that your baby is in the best place to thrive.
Our gradual transition process allows our knowledgeable practitioners to get to know your baby’s interests, sleeping pattern, and eating habits. Our practitioners listen to your baby’s interests and provide toys that will encourage them to excel in their development. We tune into a mixture of educational approaches, taking parts from Reggio and Steiner with a sprinkle of Montessori. We also follow The Curiosity Approach which is a modern day approach to Early Childhood. For more information on the Curiosity Approach see our inspiration tab on our webpage.