Cognition and learning for 0 to 5 year olds

To help manage this need you can:

• remember to consult with the child’s parent carers so they can share with you their perspective
• use child’s name when giving instructions
• ask the child to repeat back what activity they are going to do
• use the child’s interest to extend engagement
• keep activities short and finish before the child loses interest to build on success for the child
• use chunking and break tasks down into smaller, manageable steps
• use visual timetables – including some individualised to meet a child’s needs
• implement attention building strategies through Speech and Language Setting Support (SALSS)
• use backward chaining:
• break the overall task down into smaller steps - the adult helps the child with all but that last step with the child being taught to do the last step themselves.
• once the last step is learnt, the child and adult work backwards, learning other steps of the sequence until the child can do the entire task
• ensure that experiences and activities are suitable for the child, for example:
• length
• timing
• interests
• explore what motivates the child and use their motivations to support them to maintain attention
• provide consistent structure and routines to the day, session or task
• give clear simple directions
• provide a consistent staff team and learning environment
• ensure adults support child away from distractions and demonstrate good “learning” role models
• have clear expectations regarding behaviours and a clear and consistent response to behaviours
• think about potential reasons and identify any patterns
• record behaviour, remembering to analyse and review trends
• allow plenty of time for movement or frequent small concentration periods
• plan activities in small manageable chunks
• be aware of the times of day that may be more difficult
• provide calm or chill out spaces
• consider whether any reasonable adjustments need to be made to behaviour policies and ensure these are in line with equalities legislation

To help manage this need you can:

• make explicit links to prior learning by reminding children of past events, activities, or experiences - displaying photographs or sharing individual learning journals, memory books, tapestry and technology can support this
• assess through making observations predominately in child-initiated learning and adult directed tasks to identify strengths and areas of need
• model use of open-ended simple pondering statements such as ‘I wonder...’ or ‘what if ...’ rather than direct questions
• give clear and simple instructions, breaking down longer instructions and giving one at a time - support by visual prompts and gestures
• use visual timetables, visual cues and prompts for example objects, pictures, photos, symbols, choice boards, sequences to support instructions
• give time to process information before a response is needed
• use pre-teaching to support children:
• if there is a new interest that is planned to be expanded or a new book explored, it may be useful to share this with the child prior to others
• It may be helpful to introduce specific language and vocabulary. For younger children before they access a group activity, consider providing this individually to support their understanding and engagement
• share next steps where appropriate so children know what to expect - this can be informally shared through conversation, for example, “Well done, next time we can try....”
• use adapted resources in a variety of ways to teach the curriculum which is appropriate to the developmental stage of the child. For example, a child who has difficulty with spatial awareness could be encouraged to join a physical activity negotiating around cones, or use an obstacle course which is at a level that provides some challenge but is not beyond the child’s ability. When considering the resources needed to support a child, reflect on the child’s stage rather than the age of the child to ensure resources support needs
• use meaningful continuous strategies to boost self-esteem and confidence. Provide specific meaningful praise and feedback when a child persists, achieves something new or perseveres at a new task - staff should praise children for the process of engagement and learning and “having a go” rather than the outcome
• adaptation should be integral to practice, consider how and what should be included to ensure access

To help manage this need you can:

• adopt a neurodiverse approach to celebrate the strengths of each child
• assess through observations of child-led play and playful adult directed tasks to identify the child’s strengths, interests, and the areas of need
• plan short achievable tasks by modelling and giving lots of encouragement
• where appropriate teach metacognition approaches (how we learn) for example, ask children to think in advance about how they will accomplish a task, talking through and sequencing the stages together
• understand the children’s difficulties with learning strengths and needs in consultation with the child and parent carers, including finding out what works well at home
• recognise and celebrate success in effort and show interest in other areas of the child’s life
• work closely with the special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) and other specialist staff to understand what strategies or approaches to use in line with advice from assessments or consultation

To help manage this need you can:

• provide memory aids, visual cues and timetables referring to these regularly throughout the day, ensure that these are always readily available to the child and moved frequently to enable accessibility
• provide practical resources, including concrete and real-life resources to support learning appropriate to the stage of development. For example, in reception classes you may want to use:
• name cards
• letter and number formation resources
• rhymes
• ensure your setting has a consistent routine, supporting children with changes when necessary
• use routine, consistent prompts to support independence
• support children visually and kinaesthetically when changes in their environment occur. For example:
• allow extra time at tidy up time
• allocate specific tasks at tidy up time
• repeat activities
• use visual routines and prompts throughout the environment
• ensure resources are clearly labelled with pictures and words and are at the child’s level allowing independence
• provide photographs of the setting including important people, such as keyworker, teacher, teaching assistant, and the environment, such as where they put their coat, water bottle, lunch box, book bag for home, so that these can be shared with the child at home

To help manage this need you can:

• ensure the child has full access to the breadth of learning by making adaptations, adjustments, and modifications to ensure that the child can access their full entitlement to the curriculum
• sensitive adults respond to the child to support their next steps in learning, based on individual plans and observations
• plan activities designed to develop skills which will support children to become independent learners
• support children to develop their self-esteem through celebration and reinforcement of strengths and successes
• support children to draw on their own experiences in their play and support them to extend and build on their ideas, concepts, and skills
• extend children’s interests and introduce them to new experiences by providing a variety of activities using creative and playful approaches
• provide first-hand real-life experiences as part of your everyday routines for children to explore and discover
• plan and resource a challenging environment where children’s play can be supported and extended
• encourage and support children to persevere through difficulties, to ask questions, problem-solve and take risks
• identify and support next steps in learning and utilising information from home to offer the child consistent challenge

To help manage this need you can:

• ensure literacy opportunities are threaded through continuous provision indoors and outdoors
• include opportunities for mark making and writing across all areas of provision and play
• indoor and outdoor opportunities are provided and across all areas of learning
• encourage and support children’s responses to picture books and stories you read with them
• use different voices to tell stories and encourage young children to join in wherever possible, for example by leaving gaps in repeated refrains
• tell stories in a variety of ways - support children to use pictures to tell a story or make picture scrap books so the children can design their own stories
• use puppets or small world resources to tell stories or use the child’s ideas to build interactive imaginative stories
• be creative where stories are shared, using all areas of the indoor and outdoor environment
• include opportunities for mark making and writing across all areas of provision and play
• consider peers within small group experiences so the child has access to good role models for language and communication
• in reception classes, consider use of appropriate learning resources, for example pencil grips, spelling aids and alternative methods for recording information including verbal and information and communication technology (ICT) methods
• provide opportunities and experiences for children to build on their understanding through repetition with skilful adults scaffolding learning

To help manage this need you can:

• ensure numeracy provision is threaded through continuous provision both indoors and outdoors
• sing counting songs and rhymes using visual aids and cues which help to support children’s understanding of number, such as ‘5 Little Speckled Frogs’
• use pictures and objects to illustrate counting songs, rhymes and number stories, cooking activities
• provide collections of interesting things for children to sort, order, count, and label in their play - use aided language boards to reinforce vocabulary
• ensure mathematical language is embedded throughout the environment and used in all play and routine opportunities
• support children to gain an understanding of individual number sense, for example the ‘twoness of 2’ - I have 2 hands, 2 eyes, I can collect 2 objects and so on
• provide access to concrete resources like counting objects, number lines, Numicon and so on
• use concrete resources to develop number knowledge before teaching abstract numerals or mathematical symbols