Inspiring Spaces Create Talking Places

It is important to consider the organisation of the learning environment and how this may impact on all areas of a child’s development. A ‘communication friendly environment’ or ‘communication friendly setting’ should be a place where children can communicate easily and effectively. There should be lots of opportunities for everyone to talk, listen, understand and take part. Taking time to discuss and make changes to the environment in your setting will also develop awareness and understanding of how important communication is for children’s development.

Consider the areas in the diagram here, and think about how these features in your setting:

• Space, Light and Layout – can you re-arrange furniture to allow opportunities for interactions and talking? is the environment chaotic or are there clearly defined spaces? do you have quiet, cosy spaces that encourage chatting e.g. dens, tents, large boxes to climb into.
• Noise levels – can you section off smaller, quieter areas if you are a very large setting? can you use material/cardboard/displays to absorb some of the sound? Can you create smaller areas using material, boxes or screens?
• Opportunities for communication – consider what children like to talk about. What will capture their attention and interest? Make sure you have a good range of resources and experiences. Also think about how you structure your routine activities and whether there is a chance for children to communicate e.g. making a choice during snack time, asking peers what they would like for lunch, choosing a song to sing at group time.
• Use of visual support – do you use objects, photos and pictures to support language – when giving instructions and to support learning new words and concepts? do staff use gestures, facial expressions and pointing to support communication?
• Use of interactive displays – use colour, objects, photos, pictures to make displays interesting. Have them at a low level so that children can look, touch and talk about what they can see. Consider using natural resources to add interest – pasta, draped material, leave, cotton wool.
• The role of the adults – be an excellent role model to children in the way that you communicate and interact. Do the adults sit down and engage with the children? do the adults know how to model and extend play and language skills? are they spending lots of time sweeping up or doing paperwork/observations?
• Quiet/Cosy Spaces – it’s important to include a quiet/cosy space in your setting. This provides a separate area, with a different ‘feel’. Children will use this in different ways – from having intimate conversations with their peers, to just taking some time out from the busy environment. Think about how you could create one in your setting – what resources do you have lying around? Could you ask parents to donate old sheets/material? Do you have a large box or unused table? Have you got a couple of cushions or a rug you could add? It doesn’t have to be fancy or elaborate, have a look at our photos below for some ideas.

Responsive Adults Build Confident Communicators

Adults play a crucial role in developing young children’s communication. The way in which they interact is important. A range of strategies can be used to support and extend communication skills. 

• Get down to their level – When you are face to face with children this engages their attention and shows that you are ready to listen and interact
• Let them lead – Noticing what a child is interested in, and then talking to them about it, boosts language development
• Watch and wait – It is important to observe what a child is attending and wait before you start the talking. Children need time to put their ideas and thoughts together
• Match your language to their level – You can imitate children’s words and sentences to show them you are listening and value their ideas. Then you can extend thinking by modelling language, ideas and concepts
• Use commenting – Talk about what you are doing together using simple sentences
• Be careful with questions – Try not to ask too many questions unless they are necessary. Too many questions stop the natural flow of conversation.

Anytime is Talk time

Communication happens throughout the day, in everything that we do. Everyday activities can be used to develop language and communication skills.

There is lots of language adults can model within these activities. These routines provide lots of repetition in a natural situation, which is vital for language learning.

What daily routine activities do you have in your setting?

• snack time
• putting on coats to go outside
• lunchtime
• small group/keyworker time

These routines happen every day and so because of the repetition, give lots of opportunities for language and communication

What do children learn from routines?

• children develop their understanding of the world around them, through participating in these routines they learn everyday skills e.g. putting on their coat, cutting up fruit during snack, eating their dinner
• children learn new words that they hear modelled during the routines – this helps them to understand the meaning of words, as they can ‘map’ the word onto the item or action
• children develop their social and communication skills by joining in with other children, taking turns during the routines and sharing and engaging in interactions e.g. starting a conversation, having a conversation, listening to other children, laughing and talking together

Why is Repetition important for language learning?

Repeating the same words and phrases each time you do an action or activity will build a child’s understanding of the words. Using the word together with the action will allow the child to ‘map’ the word onto the action or item. For example, saying “ball” every time you throw a ball, the child will start to associate the ball with the word ‘ball’.

By then hearing this word repeated in other situations and with other different balls, this will develop and cement their understanding of the word. The more times the child hears the word “ball” together with the object, the clearer the meaning will become.

Parents and Practitioners Supporting Together

Parents play a vital role in developing their children’s’ communication skills; therefore, it is important that settings demonstrate effective partnership working with parents and carers.

Practitioners are in the best place to model good communication – take every opportunity to talk with children in front of their parents, during drop-off or pick-up times. This is the perfect opportunity for practitioners to demonstrate effective communication techniques such as using eye-contact, listening carefully and allowing time for the child to respond.

Here are some ideas on encouraging parents to have an active role within your setting:

• Spend time building a relationship with parents – make a conscious effort to greet them, give some feedback and share information each day
• “Come and have a look at this” – invite parents in informally to have a look at something the child has done – this will help to build a relationship with the parents and encourage parents to participate
• Set up a regular time – maybe weekly or monthly – where parents can come into the setting and join in with an activity – try different activities to see what works best e.g. music session, reading session, messy play, cooking together or just  stay and play
• Help parents understand and know why you are inviting them into the setting and what they will be doing – some parents have a different experience and understanding of what happens in an early years setting and may feel intimidated or daunted
• Promote sessions as much as possible to parents, and speak individually to the parents that would most benefit, or might need some encouragement
• Share a moment – ask parents to send in a comment or example of something the child has done at home – a ‘wow moment’ or a ‘proud cloud’. Celebrate this together.
• Share an interest or skill – if parents have a special interest or talent, ask them to come in and share this with the children and talk about
• Run sessions focused around different religious/cultural events e.g. Diwali, Eid, Christmas, Ramadan, Easter, Hanukkah. Ask parents that you know will be celebrating this event to come in and share cultural/religious items that may be of interest

Keeping Home Language Alive

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough with many children learning English as an additional language. Borough statistics show that the top languages spoken in the borough other than English are Urdu, Polish, Romanian, Turkish and Lithuanian.

Growing up in a bilingual environment is an advantage for children. 

Some children may experience difficulties understanding and using English and it is possible that these difficulties will also be experienced in their home language.  However, some children may have had limited exposure to English so will need time to adjust to the new environment and language.  

You can look on our working with bilingual families resources for information and downloadable, translated resources.