Preschool at Home Hub
This Pre-school at Home Hub provides a range of activities to support and encourage children’s interests and aims to keep them playing and learning at home. Included here are a range of typical activities that happen at pre-school which have been adapted for children to do at home, at a time that suits them and their family. Remember, when children are playing they are learning. When children are included in everyday household activities they are learning. Early Learning and Care settings have been asked to connect with families to support the children in their setting during current restrictions. They may expand on the activities linked here based on the interests of their child, if families wish to engage.
- Well-being is about children being confident, happy and healthy.
- Communicating is about all the opportunities in the day where we talk and listen to children. Your aim is always to give them opportunities to talk and expand their vocabulary.
Resources: A series of tipsheets under the banner Playing at Home have been designed to engage, inspire and support children and their families play and learn together.
- Reading together
- Word games
- Exploring & Thinking is about children making sense of the things, places and people in their world. They do this by interacting with others, playing, investigating, questioning and forming, testing and refining ideas.
Resources: A series of tipsheets under the banner Playing at Home have been designed to engage, inspire and support children and their families play and learn together.
- Playing at home – Making a Den
- Playing at home – Leaf play
- Playing at home – Role play
- Playing at home – Baking & cooking together
- Playing at home – Rice play
- Playing at home – Treasure hunt
Try some of these recipes with the children doing as much as possible. You will be working on a range of skills in these sensory activities. Some of these skills are concentration, sequencing, memory building, turn taking and fine motor development. Lots of pre-maths and science learning is happening with these activities including; pouring, measuring, mixing, heating etc.
- Identity & Belonging is about children developing a positive sense of who they are, and feeling that they are valued and respected as part of a family and community.
Resources: A series of tipsheets under the banner Playing at Home have been designed to engage, inspire and support children and their families play and learn together.
- Playing at Home – When I was a baby
- Playing at Home – Showing the love
Children needing additional support
All the information and activities on the Pre-school at Home Hub are for all children in the under 6 age range. Children develop at their own pace and not all children hit typical milestones at the same time. Included here are a range of activities and information prepared by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) supporting children’s development. The NCSE website also has a wide range of resources for parents to support the development of young children with special educational needs. Click here to learn more.
Resources
The transition to school remains especially difficult again this year because of Covid conditions. Attached are some transitions resources that have been developed for parents. This year the NCCA have also developed an additional parents template for children starting in ECCE. You can print them off for children starting school to help them support the children with the transition.
Please contact us if you have any difficulties accessing the resources.
First5 Independence TipSheet-Eng
First5 Independence TipSheet-Irish
First5 Teaching New Skills 2021
First5 Teaching New Skills 2021-Irish
Attached here is a postcard for the children to draw themselves or anything else for their new teacher: First5 Transitions Postcard
The Mó Scéal templates linked below have been developed for parents to fill in to share information for their child’s new pre-school or primary school.
Links to Mó Scéal templates in English:
Moving to Pre-School: http://bit.ly/MoScealPreSchool
Moving to Primary School: http://bit.ly/MoScealPrimarySchool
Links to Mó Scéal templates in Irish:
Ag aistriú ar an réamhscoil: http://bit.ly/MoScealReamhscoil
Ag aistriú go dtí an bhunscoil: http://bit.ly/MoScealBhunscoil
Communicate openly, early and often
Talk to staff regularly and use various ways to keep in touch i.e. video calls, private messages
Talk to your child and remind them that they should talk to grown-ups if something makes them happy/sad or they feel sick.
Choosing Early Learning and School Age Childcare
City/County Childcare Committees (CCCs) are your first contact point for the provision of general information and support in relation to the operation of early learning and care and school-age childcare. You can find your local CCC contact details on www.myccc.ie
FAQs will continue to be updated at appropriate intervals
