Understanding the World in the Early Years
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The EYFS Statutory Framework states that Understanding the World involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community. The frequency and range of children’s personal experiences increases their knowledge and sense of the world around them – from visiting parks, libraries and museums to meeting important members of society such as police officers, nurses and firefighters. In addition, listening to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems will foster their understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world. As well as building important knowledge, this extends their familiarity with words that support understanding across domains. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will support later reading comprehension.
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The Early Learning Goal at the end of Reception involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community. The frequency and range of children’s personal experiences increases their knowledge and sense of the world around them – from visiting parks, libraries and museums to meeting important members of society such as police officers, nurses and firefighters. In addition, listening to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems will foster their understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world. As well as building important knowledge, this extends their familiarity with words that support understanding across domains. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will support later reading comprehension.
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Understanding the World can be divided up into the following areas. However, as with all the areas of learning in the Early Years, they are all interlinked.
The Natural World –
There are many ways that we can learn about our world; for example,
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Watching the changing seasons,
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Planting seeds and watching them grow
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Looking at the life cycle of animals
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Talking about where our food comes from
An excellent TV programme for this is Come Outside https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006v94w/episodes/guide
There are also different ways we can look after our environment, by reducing waste, recycling unwanted and unneeded things and by reducing pollution and our carbon footprint.
Here are a few things you could do at home:
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Recycle old clothes, shoes and toys. Give them to people who may need them.
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Recycle food waste and develop a compost bin
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Recycle food packaging
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Share ways in which we can save energy
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Walk or cycle to nearby places and use public transport for longer journeys
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People and Communities, Culture and Festivals –
All children have something unique to offer and themselves and their families are very important to them. They love to look at photos and talking about the experiences they have had. Using photos, they can learn so much about previous generations and their personal history.
We live in an increasing multi-cultural world and at Nursery we welcome the rich diversity that is offered for our children. We celebrate the festivals and customs that represent the children we teach. Some are linked to religion and others to the culture of that country. That includes Christmas, Easter, Diwali, Chinese New Year to name but a few. We immerse ourselves in the culture of that country, dressing up in traditional clothes and sampling food.
We also consider the wider communities that are outside of our local community. This gives the children opportunity to compare, contrast and broaden their understanding of the world.
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Science –
Science is found in everyday exploration and play – sending cars down a ramp, tipping and pouring water, wondering what happens to puddles when we jump in them, building with wooden blocks, creating a train track that stays together, model making with Lego, baking. These activities develop skills that are at the core of our Engineers and Scientists of tomorrow.
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Geography –
Children need to have a sense of place and where they belong in that space. Walks in the local area show children what is in their immediate environment. It helps them to create an internal map. Trips to the shops, seaside or theme park, awakens a realisation that in other places some things are different, but some things stay the same. What an exciting world we live in.
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History –
Children also develop a sense of time, both the recent and the past. Knowing the routine of the day teaches them what to expect at certain times. Talking about the past for example when Mummy was a little girl gives a longer sense of time. Using language like yesterday, today and tomorrow helps children to see the logic in time. Talking about tomorrow helps them to see where they fit in on a timeline.
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Technology
Children are very interested in technology and are adept at finding the website or game that they want to see. We teach the children how to stay safe online and at home you can help by putting parental controls on ALL devices and monitor what your child watches.
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Lots of ideas can be found at
https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people/3-to-4-year-old-child-development-activities
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/grownups/understanding-the-world
