The Netmums Podcast - S14 Ep11: Choosing Childcare with Confidence: Insights from Busy Bees’ Early Years Expert

Episode Date: November 26, 2024

In this episode of The Netmums Podcast, Wendy Golledge and Alison Perry are joined by early years expert Jenny Shaw from Busy Bees Nurseries. They talk about the challenges and joys of choosing the right childcare, and how Busy Bees' new “Bee Curious” curriculum is setting children up for success through playful learning. Jenny shares her insights from over 25 years in early years education, discussing the importance of trust between parents and educators, and how nurseries like Busy Bees focus on both care and education. They chat about the overwhelming feelings parents face when selecting childcare, the benefits of nursery education over pre-school, and how to prepare children (and parents) for the transition to nursery life. The conversation also explores the daily activities at Busy Bees, from singing and storytelling to outdoor play, and how these contribute to a child's development. Jenny provides practical tips for parents on supporting their child's learning at home without adding to the 'to-do' list, emphasising the importance of communication, language, and vocabulary development. Busy Bees new “Bee Curious” curriculum is designed to give children a head start in life, setting them up to succeed. Stay connected with Netmums for more parenting tips, community support, engaging content: Website: netmums.com / Netmums socials: @netmums / Facebook / TikTok / X Series 14 of the Netmums Podcast is produced by Decibelle Creative / @decibelle_creative

You're listening to The Netmums Podcast with me, Wendy Gollage. And me, Alison Perry. Coming up on this week's show... Do you know, a lot of the time, it's as much about what we do with the parents as what we do with the children, because we need to build that relationship and trust. And the more comfortable you feel, naturally, the more comfortable your child will feel as well. But before all of that... This episode of The Netmums podcast is brought to you by Busy Bees Nurseries. Alison, what are your memories of having little ones in a nursery?

Oh, I've got such fond memories. The staff became like members of the family and my little ones had just the best time learning new skills and playing. It's interesting you mention learning because Busy Bees have launched their new Be Curious curriculum. It's designed to give children a head start in life, setting them up to succeed. Sounds brilliant, Wendy. Tell me more about it. Industry experts have carefully crafted this outcome-focused curriculum by bringing together the latest research in child development, 40 years of industry-leading experience and global best practice from Busy Bees around the world.

I'm guessing that the kids don't just sit in rows learning though, right? I mean, do they make it fun? years of industry leading experience and global best practice from Busy Bees around the world. I'm guessing that the kids don't just sit in rows learning though right? I mean do they make it fun? Yes the Busy Bees team have been highly trained beyond available qualifications to deliver Be Curious to the highest standards through playful teaching and playful learning to feed every child's curiosity. Sounds incredible. Find out more about Busy Bees Nurseries at busybeeschildcare.co.uk. It seems appropriate today, folks, to talk to you about the overwhelm. Alison, I've got the collywobbles. I've got the wobbles about having too much to do. And I saw a post on Instagram.

The lovely Unmumsy Mum did a post this week where she talked about self-care and me time and basically just threw it in the air and said, I get it. I know that I should have me time and self-care, but there isn't bloody time. So how do we do this? And I am feeling, I look a bit mad.

I feel a bit mad. Tell me I'm not the only one who's going bonkers. Do you know what, Wendy? You're really not. You're not. And I do feel like that there is, this has now become a thing where the act of trying to pencil in some self-care becomes stressful in itself.

It's like an extra thing to add to our to-do list. And I really beat myself up over the fact that I don't do it enough. In fact, I have on my to-do list, I know as of this week have, read 15 minutes of your book which sounds ridiculous but if I don't have it on my to-do list I don't do it and I and I really feel like I do benefit from reading a book so yeah it's it's not it's not good is it but I think if your child is due to start nursery, you might be feeling even more overwhelmed now. It throws up all of the questions.

Regular listeners will know we've got slightly older children now. But, oh, my God, I can just remember that going back to that. Have I picked the right kind of childcare? What can I do to get them ready for starting? What will they be doing when they're not with me what if they cry like yeah oh and they will cry and you know that's inevitable isn't it like especially the first day the first few weeks and it makes you feel so guilty doesn't it so tell us who are we delighted to be joined by today? Well, I'm thrilled that we have an expert guest today.

We are joined by early years expert Jenny Shaw from Busy Bees, who has got all of the answers to any of the issues that you might be having, any of the questions going around in your head, if you are currently trying to decide on childcare or you're preparing to settle your little one into nursery. Jenny, a warm welcome to the Netmums podcast. Hello, thank you for having me. It's very exciting to be here. Thank you for joining us. I'm loving that you have a very on-brand bee in the background of your video. That is buzz. And you're wearing yellow. And you're wearing, you're matching your bee. I like this.

I'd like to say that was planned, but you know, it's just happened. So let's kick off. Tell me a little bit more about you and how long you've worked in early years and what you love about it. So without giving my age away too much, it's been my whole career. So I'm going to say over 25 years, I've worked in early years in various kind of different roles. And I mean, it's the best job in the world, basically. That's why I love it. There's so many things that I love about working in early years, but to try and be succinct with it, you know, we are really privileged to be trusted by parents. You know, it's the most precious thing you have in the world. And to know that a parent trusts you to look after and educate their child

in those really fundamental early years is just, yeah, it's an amazing feeling. And, you know, it really is for us as much about the education as the care and watching a child do something that you've taught them just every time just blows your mind it's so interesting hearing you talking about you know parents trusting you and I really like as you said that I just felt that in my bones because so my eldest is now 14 but I still remember that you know having her as a six month nine month old baby and knowing that at some point soon I'd be going back to work and handing her over to a nursery and feeling like I'm not sure I'm okay with this you know it can feel so overwhelming just to pick child care and know what is the right option as we said at the start

um there are so many options and everyone you ask has a different opinion of course they do how do you suggest that someone makes that decision i do think it's a really personal choice and as you say there are lots of options out there so it really is kind of about you know doing your research and and kind of really thinking you know what what are what's really important to to us as a family um and kind of really thinking, you know, what's really important to us as a family and kind of going out there and looking and thinking what's going to be really important for us. I think, you know, nurseries are fantastic. I think there's a lot of benefits of going to nurseries that, you know, parents might not think about.

You know, it's all of the social skills that, you know, children get from engaging with lots of other people that you might not get kind of in another provision so I think that's really important. You know also our educators at Busy Bees you know they're trained in supporting children's development as I said already it's not you know the care is huge and really really important but it is about that education as well so they're really trained in supporting children's early development through play. So it's all about that kind of playful teaching that leads to playful learning. So, you know, there's a huge impact on children's development as a result of going to nursery. And a lot of that is around communication as well, just because the interaction they're going to be having, you know, with their key person,

who's that person who, you know, is really to to meet all of their individual care and education needs but also with their peers as well they're going to be meeting lots of other children and just having the best time as well. So my my eldest went to nursery and my two youngest twins and we actually couldn't afford the local nursery so we sent them to preschool the difference that I noticed so before my eldest went to school she could write her name she could count to a hundred I mean I'm probably exaggerating but I felt like wow but you know my two little ones really there was a massive difference what would you say the benefits are between say nursery and something like preschool? I think it's again you know it's an individual choice but I think it's you know it's really about you know thinking you know the communication I always come back to communication and language

underpins all other areas of learning and development and in nursery we sing all day we read stories all day and those are two things that are just have a huge impact on children's communication and language and and that really sets them up in all other areas of learning and development um and you know it's just the you know how that key person plans for them so they really think about that child as an individual and you know looks at the things that they're interested in the kind of stuff you've been doing at home as well and then plans around that knowing right well this is what they love this is what they've already done at home and this is what they need to work on in their learning and development and kind of you know

puts those two things together so to really help them you know in in terms of their learning and development and you're absolutely right I was very similar when my son was little he he initially went to a childminder just because there wasn't a nursery near me and then when he joined into the nursery that I was at the difference in his development he was a real social butterfly and being around you know that wider you know group of children from all different backgrounds um just yeah was ideal for him you must get asked all the time questions for by parents you know when they're trying to choose a nursery can you pinpoint one that you get asked the most when parents are trying to make that choice as you say it, it's a lot. I think often it's about

food. Food's often really important to families because, you know, children are fussy eaters or, you know, we get a lot of children with allergies and dietary requirements. And people want to know what are they going to be eating and are they going to eat? And we're really lucky at Busy Bees. we've got our menus are accredited by the NHS so you know it's really great for us to be able to say to our families you know these what they're going to be getting is you know definitely you know nutritious and and delicious and they're going to have you know have a really good time eating but also you know we we talk a lot to parents about the importance of actually learning at mealtimes as well, which is another thing going back to what we're talking

about earlier about the benefits of nursery, the amount of times parents turn up at, you know, at lunchtime or tea time to pick up, and they cannot believe the skills of their children pouring their own drinks. They're like're like well they have a you know a sippy cup at home why are they how are they drinking out of this cup how are they managing their cutlery it's funny listening to you say this I remember now I'm kind of going back 12 years and thinking I remember how really worried I was I had a fussy eater and thinking she's just not gonna eat anything and she was only kind of 15 months or so when she started at nursery and I remember thinking well she won't take a bottle from anyone there and she won't do this and she definitely won't eat that

and she did it all she did and she still didn't do it at home but she definitely did there's something around like that kind of you know peers seeing peers eating things or doing things I was the same that my eldest she was so fussy at home but she ate everything at nursery absolutely and it's another thing it's that the idea about that care and education piece because you know obviously you know when we're eating yes you know we're it's a refueling exercise but it is so much more than that at nursery. Because we are really thinking about how are we supporting children's independence? How are we supporting their social skills? So as much as we're setting up the most amazing, a tough tray with all these dinosaurs in that is really exciting,

there is as much learning going on at that dinner table as there is during that dinosaur activity and it gets the purposefulness of our educators knowing actually this child's ready to move on to actually have a knife now this child is ready to start being able to pour their own drinks and you know when we do it we have like the most tiny amount in the jug because if we gave them a huge jug they're going to get it all over the table but if you know the first time they pour it they will get it all over the table but they can wipe that bit up themselves and that's absolutely fine and then we practice as well so if we are we've got a group of children that are learning to pour with jugs then we will

put jugs in the water tray as well because then that's the opportunity for them to practice those skills in an environment where, you know, they can just have a go and, you know, it really doesn't matter. So even though, you know, your mealtimes you might not think of as that great learning opportunity, it absolutely is for us. So, yeah, you know, parents are often absolutely fascinated when we start talking about mealtimes you know they want to know just about the food but that's like a tiny bit of it and it's there's so much more to it that's so interesting so it's normal to like look around a few nurseries usually before choosing one um yeah what would you say you know if I'm looking around a nursery what should I be looking out for when I'm choosing one? It's not a decision you can make at your laptop you know looking at people's websites looking at people's Ofsted reports absolutely make

a short list from that but you've got to walk through that door and you've got to feel it and I would always encourage parents to take their children with them as well even if they're really little if they're obviously a little bit older you'll kind of see their reaction to you know what they're seeing around them but even if they're tiny wee you'll see how the the people who are there are responding to the children as well and And I think, you know, again, it goes back to that values of making a list of what's really, really important to you as a family. So, you know, depending on what your outside space is, you know, you might be blessed with a great big garden or live around the corner from a park or you might not. So actually having a great big garden where your child is going to be exploring, that might be really important to you. But you've also got to ask the question then, well, how often do they go outside?

Because they might have a great big garden, but they might have set times they go outside. Do you think actually my child does better when they're outside? So, you know, how much of that is an option for you? And, you know, things like, you know, if you're the type of parent who really wants to get involved in your children's learning, you know, what opportunities are there for that? So, you know, do they have things like a lending library so you can borrow books and that sort of thing? I think that's really important to say, you know, you'll have your own list of things that are really, really important to you. But one thing I would absolutely say to look at is to ask when you go around about what the qualifications are of the staff, but also what

continuous professional development do they do on top of that? You know, at Busy Bees, again, we're really fortunate that we go kind of beyond the available qualifications. There's a list of statutory requirements that every earliest provision will have to do. So you have to have that we go kind of beyond the available qualifications. There's a list of statutory requirements that every earliest provision will have to do. So you have to have so many people with this qualification, etc. And you have to meet the ratio requirements. But, you know, what do they do to continually upskill their educators to make sure they're really kind of at the forefront of the latest thinking in earliest education?. So yeah, as I say, you know, in Busy Bees, that's something we really invest in with our staff, because we want them to be the best that they can be to support the children to

be the best that they can be as well. A lot of parents find settling their little one into nursery hard slash traumatic. I still remember the tears, like my tears and my little one's tears it was all of us yeah right um that's most people yeah um how can parents prepare their little ones and themselves for starting nursery um so I think it's really important to have left them before so if you have not got kind of you're blessed with having family around you making sure you know have you got a friend that you could leave them with for an hour or so just so they get used to the idea of you going and then you come back again so I wouldn't say the first time you ever leave them you leave them at nursery because you will naturally have your own anxieties about leaving them at nurseries.

You know, you've already talked about it is a really big deal. And you will build up trust in those educators. You've both spoken about, you know, you've had children at nursery. And once you get into it, you're like, they're my new best friend, that person who's looking after your child. But obviously at the start, you don't know them. But they're often your child's new best friend as well oh I remember thinking that they loved whichever carer it was much more than me at the end of the day because you know the person at nursery hasn't

got to also do the washing and the washing up and then try and fit in work and all of those things so of course they are well it's when they stop running to you at the end of the day when you turn up and they're in the sandpit and they're like hi then they carry on i'll see you later i'm a bit busy right now yeah um but yeah in that beginning bit if you can drop them with your literal best friend for an hour who you trust implicitly and you know they're going to be fine for an hour they will know oh look okay so they're comfortable to leave me and then then they come back I get it this is this is a good thing um and then yeah you kind of when they then start at nursery what we do at Busy Bees is these settling in sessions so you can have as many of those as

you like and you don't get charged for them um and so to start with you would stay with your child and you're in the corner doing the really boring paperwork and they're like start off clung to your leg perhaps and then they'll see this lovely you know new best friend person that's like hey I've got some sand over here or dinosaurs or whatever it is and they're like well this is really boring so I'm going to go and play and they start to feel comfortable because you're clearly comfortable because you're sat there you know doing your thing and then after a little while the next time you would leave them for a short amount of time so again they get the message that when you go when they're left here they come you come back

again and I think one of the really important things that parents often struggle with is to say goodbye the temptation when they are at that, you know, the sand tray and they're engrossed and they haven't looked around for you for a minute or two just to sneak out of the door really quietly. But then 30 seconds later when you've gone, they will go, okay, where's she? And that's, you know, that can be really intimidating for a child, but overwhelming. So even if you know, and it sounds awful, you know that can be really intimidating for a child but overwhelming so even if you know and it sounds awful you know they're going to cry when you say goodbye it's so important to do that because then they know that when you leave and you say goodbye

you come back again and we just suggest you kind of extend that period of time and every child's an individual and some children they will take you know one or two of those sessions and then they're like see you later I'm good here and some children will take a lot longer and you know it's one of those whatever you need we'll we'll do it if you want to go and sit outside and peek through the door that's absolutely fine if you want to go to Tesco to get the shop done that's that's fine too. This is just a reminder that this episode is brought to you by busy bees nurseries their be curious curriculum has been expertly developed to give children a head start in life using the latest behavioral science and focusing on subjects directly linked to better

outcomes in life children are playfully taught using their progression model to develop a strong foundation of knowledge. Find out more about Busy Bees Nurseries at busybeeschildcare.co.uk We always get told as parents, they stop as soon as you leave. Yep. Do they? Do they actually? Or is that just go to Tesco and chill? It's fine. But do they actually stop? That's the question. They do. They absolutely do.

I would say 99.9% of the time, no. Do you know what? When I was in nursery, I used to have this little boy who just put on the most, he will be an actor now. I don't know what he's doing all these years later down the line, but, and he put on this great big show and then he used to put in the door would close and he'd look at me and laugh like that. It was awful. Most children won't do that. But 90% of children would say, you know, yes, they absolutely do because, you know, their key person will know that actually this is their favourite storybook. So yes, they've gone, but we're going to read The Bear Hunt together

and that's really exciting. Or, you know, they know that they absolutely love being outside. It's just rained, let's put our welly boots on and go and splash in the puddles together. Or whatever it is that your child loves to do, whatever they need, that key person will be like, right, this is what they need from me right now to settle and to calm. And for that very small percentage that don't, we're going to ring you.

We're not going to leave your child being really upset because that's not in anybody's interests. So, you know, if it's a child that really we think, do you know what, this isn't working today for whatever reason, and it might be actually didn't sleep brilliantly last night or you know they might be going down with something whatever it is we're not going to you know drag that out for them we're going to give you a call and say do you know what should we have a little bit of a rethink today so if you haven't got that that phone call but also it's it's absolutely fine for parents to ring you know we always say you know if you need to ring us every 20 minutes for the first week, that's okay. I've just remembered our nursery had a camera

and you could go in on the webcam and look. And I thought when she started, I'd spend hours on this webcam. And very quickly, I was like, yeah, she's fine. But you think at the beginning, don't't you it's going to be so hard and actually everybody usually adapts quite fast I think yeah yeah they do as I say because it's all you know what we we do in our curriculum is we tailor everything around that unique child so it's getting to know them and you and what's important to you and that that's you know absolute gold dust to us because we will use all of that information to help your child settle we want them to feel safe and

comfortable as soon as possible and you know a lot of the time it's as much about what we do with the parents as what we do with the children because you we need to build that that relationship and trust and the more comfortable you feel naturally the more comfortable your child will feel as well um now the rooms at my daughter's nursery were jam-packed with fun engaging corners and all sorts of cool things that they could do um what are the things that little ones can do all day at a busy bees nursery because often you drop them off and you're a bit like not really sure what they can do all day at a Busy Bees nursery? Because often you drop them off and you're a bit like, not really sure what they're doing all day. Yeah, so I've already mentioned about the kind of the singing and storytelling. And I mean, we literally sing constantly, we sing about, yeah, let's go and wash our hands. We sing about lining up to go outside. And we sing, you

know, wheels on the bus and all of that kind of stuff as well because we know the impact that singing has on children's learning and development and the same with stories you know we will be sharing stories throughout the day those are two absolute cornerstones and then there's you know all of the activities are really tailored towards their learning and development so we've got opportunities for, you know, those creative things that you might not want to do at home. So, you know, the, you know, really messy painting kind of stuff that you think, you know, I've just got new carpets, that's not going to work for us. They're going to be doing all of those wonderful things at nursery. So you haven't got to worry about it. But again, it's that, you know, really thinking about, we're looking at, you know,

what are the learning benefits out of these activities and how can we support their learning and development? Mealtimes we've obviously already talked about, but we'll also have those quieter rest times as well. So if your child still needs to sleep, then that's fine. But also we have those kind of more chilled out times of the day because it can be a pretty full-on day at nursery you know we are having fun a lot of the time so we do have those kind of quieter times so they can just kind of you know have a bit of you know rest and headspace and you know even if they're not sleeping again it's those snuggly story times that are really important. I remember thinking she wouldn't sleep now you say that as well because nap times with this i think it's you're i'm kind of having a bit of ptsd here i'm

going back to all these things i remember thinking she'll never sleep in a room with eight cots in it it's never gonna happen and she sometimes they'd be like oh yeah she had a three hour nap today because they're so exhausted from all the fun in the morning yeah yeah absolutely my daughter's nursery had this thing where the key workers they all like laid on the floor on like mats and the key workers rubbed their backs and it was like some sort of witchcraft thing where they would just like rub their backs a few times they would all go to sleep but it was like what is this it's the magic touch we've just you know what can i say but we also you know if you're thinking kind of you know what is my child doing all day again at Busy Bees we have these kind of online learning journals so we'll send

you photos of what your child's been doing during the day with kind of what they're learning as well but also you know just get these great little you know insight into their day. So what are they learning? Tell us a bit about the curriculum and actually what you're teaching them on a day to day basis. So I think you mentioned the word curriculum there. And I think for a lot of parents, they're like, sorry, what are they at school? Like it feels like a big word for what we do in early years. But, you know, early years is the foundation of everything that comes after it. So we have a really clear focus on three particular areas of learning to start with. So communication language, obviously, I've already really talked about, and that underpins absolutely everything.

And then we really focus on children's physical development and their personal, social and emotional development as well. So that's our kind of foundation of the things that we focus on with the children. And again, it's that idea of playful teaching that leads to playful learning. So we will be doing just lots of activities, let's say, you know, going back to dinosaurs, lots of children love dinosaurs, so I always use that as an example. So we might have a great dinosaur activity out with the children, but we might be utilising that to teach them fine motor skills, or we might be utilising that to teach them vocabulary or engaging with their peers and that kind of social interaction.

And as children kind of get a little bit older, we then start to think about some other areas of learning and development as well. So we're building the early foundations for mathematical development for knowledge and understanding of the world literacy is really really important to us as well and that kind of the creativity the expressive arts and design so all of these areas of learning are kind of encompassed in what children do but it's all done through that play and and it will look different for different children because they're interested in different things and some children like learning outside some children like learning inside so um yeah it's uh it really is unique to them now my kids just love running around outdoors especially when they were little come rain or shine

they were out there um what are the benefits of outdoor play whatever the weather so again you know outdoor play is is a really significant feature of what we do at busy bees um and a lot of children we find kind of learn better outside and and there's a bit of research i read recently which was fascinating that children ask more questions outside. And that's because the outside world is constantly changing. You know, every time you go out there, it'll be slightly different because the weather's slightly different. And, you know, what's happening to the trees is different depending on the time of the year. So there's so many more opportunities for that communication and language outside than in a static indoor environment.

We know that when children are mobile, they should be having three hours of rigorous physical activity every day. And, you know, that sounds like a lot. But actually, if again, if you cast your mind back, if you've got a 14 year old year old it'll be a bit different but they don't stop when they're little do they they are just everything's rigorous constantly going to the toilet is rigorous everything is like done at full pelt absolutely and if you've got one like that sorry to interrupt no no go for it you're at full pelt because you're chasing them the whole time. Absolutely, absolutely. And it's those real big body movements that we do with children that are really important. And again, it's something that you wouldn't necessarily think of. But we always say you've got to do it big before you can do it small. So when we're talking about making great big movements like this or, you know, like this,

that actually helps pencil grip later on, which, you know, kind of makes sense when you think about it. But, you know, if you see children, you know, rolling around the garden, you're not naturally, ah, yes, this will later support their early handwriting. But it absolutely does, because those big body movements have got to be kind of embedded for them to then develop those fine motor skills that really help later on and just things like it helps their respiratory system so the there's higher levels of oxygen outside so oxygen content outside is 20 whereas inside it's 11 so you know it actually you know a lot of parents get worried about them going outside when it's cold we always say there's no such thing as as

bad weather it's bad clothing you want your welly boots you want your decent coat and those puddle suit things where they're basically just a giant plastic bag they're the best yeah yeah absolutely i miss those in kind of like mid childhood when so we should have adult versions of those right absolutely yeah actually i could do one for the dog now you mention it oh that would be amazing so I hasten not to use the word homework here but how can parents support what you're doing at nursery at home um is it important that we're recreating what you're doing at nursery to kind of mirror what's going on? No, is the short answer. And I know on the podcast, you guys talk a lot about kind of that

mum guilt, that parent guilt, that overwhelm. And we absolutely don't want to just add another thing to your list that, you know, as I'm talking, you think, right, well, I must get some dinosaurs and I must do some sand and I must do this. And, you know, that's'm talking, you think, well, I must get some dinosaurs and I must do some sand and I must do this. And, you know, that's one of the reasons you send them to nursery. You absolutely don't need to replicate that. But the key things that we're focusing on is, you know, thinking about what does that child need in terms of their learning and development? So what I would suggest is that you find out from your child's key person what is it they're focusing on at the moment and say at Busy Bees you know because we've got these online learning journal platforms you you know you will see that and then you can just think about how you can really simply

do some of those things at home so like we were saying earlier with the um you know pouring drinks add a jug to bath time like you've got to do bath time anyway so why not add a jug and that will help your child's pouring skills um you know you're thinking about those kind of big body movements you know next time you go to the park you know get you know get involved you know make those big movements together um stories and singing again really important find out what love your books your child loves at nursery go to the library i'm a massive fan of libraries and again a lot of parents don't know their children can have a library card from the time they are born go to the library order those books in

there's lots of research that shows children learn words you know really well during reading stories it's a great way to teach children new vocabulary and if you're reading the same story over and over again that helps them learn words more quickly so if you know that their favourite book is The Bear Hunt and they've been loving that at nursery borrow a copy from the library for a couple of weeks and that is going to help their learning and development so it's it's thinking about what can you do that just fits into your routine that just enhances that a little bit more i don't know about you allison but i can still recite we're going on a bear hunt we're going to catch a big one what a beautiful day we're not scared because we read it so many times i'm still

reading it we having five-year-olds we we still do the bear hunt. We do all of those classic books. I had a little weep at the weekend because we had to make the decision to put some of the picture books either in the loft or in the charity pile because we're on chapter books now and there's not enough

room in the house for a hundred picture books and a hundred chapter books and I'm there going through um you know Julia Donaldson's all of the Lady Bird ones like we can't get rid of this one because they're such a big part of that early parenting I think it's good to keep a few like absolutely I mean you know some of the classics like the Gruffalo or you know those sort of books I think hang on to them. Oh, we've kept a lot more than my husband was happy to keep, put it that way. But I think, you know, often because my son was exactly the same.

It was the same one. And it was Bear Hunt for a very, very long time. When he went to nursery, if you sat still for longer than about three seconds, he was on your lap with the bear hunt. And I think, you know, sometimes the parent, it can be a little bit, you know, that's why you want the really good books, because if you're doing it over and over again, you know, it does become a bit repetitive. But next time, just think to yourself, I'm helping them learn words much quicker because I'm reading the same thing over and over again. So you are doing the right things, because, you know, a lot of what we do in in

busy bees is really think about how we can extend children's vocabulary because again research tells us the number of words a child has heard and speak by the age of three is a predictor of later language development so that's why we you know we have this significant focus on you know how can we support children learning new words so again at home you know next time you, you know, how can we support children learning new words. So again, at home, you know, next time you are, you know, your child's doing some role play cooking, for example, you could talk, you know, introduce words there. So rather than saying, oh, you know, you'll see you're cooking, you know, you're sauteing, you're stir frying, you're baking. Just those words used in context will just expand your child's vocabulary that's so interesting

because i find myself i i'd fallen into a bit of a bad habit when i was reading to my little ones i used to and i've stopped myself doing this but i used to change um complicated words i used to simplify them as i was reading the book so know, sometimes like a kid's book could say, he exclaimed instead of he said, I would change it to he said. And I recently stopped myself doing it because I realised that I was almost depriving them of hearing these new words and I wasn't actually helping them. And this is why storytelling is so important for vocabulary learning because authors choose their words really carefully. And there's a lot of words that are in books that you would not come across in in day-to-day conversation but they do exist in in books so and we always say like if if you're using a word in a book think about how to say it so it

helps the child's understanding of what that word means so So you would say exclaimed, because that, you know, helps you understand, you know, what that word means. So it's just, again, you know, when you're thinking about doing things at home, it's what can you fit into your day-to-day routine you're doing anyway, but just do slightly differently. So, you know, if you say, you know, then a story has got the word shrieked, you wouldn't say shrieked, you'd say shrieked, you know then um a story it's got the word shrieked you wouldn't say shrieked you say shrieked you know because you're emphasizing what that what that word means yeah that's so interesting well jenny thank you so much for joining us today i think that your words will have reassured and helped so many parents listening so it's been yeah brilliant to chat to you i hope so thanks

for having me it's been really lovely to chat to you I hope so thanks for having me it's been really lovely to chat to you both don't forget you can get in touch with us on all social channels Instagram Facebook TikTok just type in netmoms and you'll find us and if you liked what you've heard today we'd love for you to give us a five-star rating press the follow button and share the podcast on all your socials