The Hub
Working with Families (0 to 5 years)
Guidance for practitioners to work effectively with families of young children aged 0 to 5 years. Including key information and signposting to relevant support ensuring every child has the opportunity for the best possible start in life. You will find links to fun meaningful home learning activities to ensure we are all working together to support our young children and their families across Waltham Forest.
Online resources for families to support their child’s learning and development through the Learning Together Project and posts on Chit Chat Pitter Pat Facebook and Instagram pages.
Chit-Chat Pitter-Pat
Chit-Chat Pitter-Pat is a home learning project across Waltham Forest. It offers a variety of sessions specifically focusing on sharing simple ideas to assist you to develop a child's language along with key opportunities for physical development.
Look out for:
- Top Tip Tuesdays – Where we share Top Tips with families to support a child’s Communication and Language development! With a focus on their Emotional Wellbeing and Physical Development too!
- Think About Thursdays – Where we aim to get parents thinking about something with a focus on developing their child’s learning. E.g. “Think about the shapes around you… how many different ones can you spot when out and about with your child?”
- Share Day Saturday – Where we want to create a sharing community celebrating learning and family fun together! This is also an opportunity for settings to share activity ideas and top tips to support families too!
For further information please like and follow our Facebook and Instagram pages.
Resources
- Chit chat information for practitioners video
- Chit Chat Spring Gameboard
- Chit Chat Spring Gameboard template
- Spring Gameboard Explanation video
- Chit Chat Places Summer blank template
- Chit Chat Places Summer
- What to Expect in the Early Years
Starting Nursery Video
We know starting nursery can be an anxious time for parents and carers. Share our video on ‘Starting Nursery’ with parents and carers at your setting. This video will help to answer some of the questions they may have, find out more information about what to expect, as well as getting some top tips to help their child to have a smooth and happy start at nursery.
Share our ‘Ten Top Tips for Helping Your Child Become Independent’ document with parents and carers at your setting, or those due to start at your setting soon. This document will help support children starting nursery.
Learning Together Project
Waltham Forest’s Early Years and Childcare Team has developed the Learning Together Project which has been created by qualified teachers and speech and language therapists in partnership with Chit Chat Pitter Pat. This programme includes top tips on how parents/carers can help their children with their development through fun activities at home.
For further information please like and follow our Facebook and Instagram pages.
Chit Chat Pitter Pat will share videos and photos of how to do the fun and exciting activities through weekly:
- Top Tips Tuesdays - An activity will be shared with top tips to different learning opportunities.
- Challenge Wednesday - Charlie Chit Chat and Peggy Pit Pat will post a Starting School Challenge to support transition to Reception. These challenges will be fun for younger children to try too.
- Think About Thursdays - We will share a Did you Know fact and something to Remember to do when playing alongside little ones.
- Share Day Saturdays - a chance for all to share photos and videos to celebrate Learning Together! Helpful Hakeem will also share a video to see how you are getting on with the challenge from Wednesday’s post.
Learning Activity Cards
Our mission is to create a Learning Together Community support network in Waltham Forest, for us to support parents/carers and for them to support and inspire each other.
Storytime Project
This summer two resident story tellers from Waltham Forest brought vibrant stories to life with amazing expression, actions, and singalongs. Individual and community stories were shared throughout the summer celebrating the diversity, home languages and families of Waltham Forest. Click below to share them with your families and settings.
Stories from Valentine
1. Hip and Hop - You can do anything -If your child is starting school soon this is a lovely story to share teaching them that they can do anything if they put their mind to it! Just focus on your dreams and go!
2. Anna Hibiscus - Anna is so happy she is going to explode! What a great way to celebrate happiness with your children! Snuggle up with your children and enjoy @valentinehanson fantastic voices and storytelling of this lovely story.
3. All are Welcome - If your child is starting school or a new setting in September this is a lovely story written to encourage and support all children really celebrating diversity and community.
4. Tell us a story - Can you get up and move around pretending to be the different animals in the story?
5. Bringing down the Moon - A lovely story for Fun Filled Friday about a mole trying to bring down the moon.
6. All around us - Get a toilet roll ready and see what you can see when you look up and around with your children. Get them moving around pretending to be some of the things they spot!
7. Brave Bitsy and the Bear - Have you ever been lost? Bitsy has! Snuggle up and enjoy @valentinehanson reading this lovely story where Bitsy meets a very kind and gentle bear.
8. Walking through the Jingle - Get ready to move like animals in the jungle with Val this morning! What animal would you like to be? Thank you @valentinehanson this certainly woke us up and got us moving this morning!
9. Be Kind - What a gorgeous story to listen to with your children to teach about kindness. Snuggle up and join @valentinehanson telling this beautiful story about simple acts of kindness and how quickly they can spread.
10. Augustus and HIs Smile - Join @valentinehanson and move like a tiger! He will be sharing the story Augustus and his Smile about a tiger who lost his smile. What beautiful things can you find around you this week to make you SMILE?
11. The Magic Window -It’s our final story for Fun Filled Friday from Val! Thank you so much for all of your fantastic stories over the summer @valentinehanson we have loved them! Here is one about a little boy who is very sad that he can’t see his friends as he is unwell and has to stay inside! Watch this video if you want to find out how he entertains himself and manages to smile once more!
Stories from Lottie
1. The Day the Crayons Quit - This story is a fantastic end to our week all around mark making! Enjoy this fantastic story all about Duncan's different coloured crayons. Find out why they want to quit colouring in for Duncan and enjoy Lottie's fantastic voices for each crayon!
2. Wake Up Wednesday movement activity - It’s WAKE UP WEDNESDAY everybody! This activity from Lottie will get you all moving and smiling!
3. Rhinos Don't Eat Pancakes - Here is Lottie for another fantastic Storytime Sunday! A lovely message around talking and listening to each other!
4. Wake up Wednesday Pirates - Find some energy and get involved with Lottie for her pirate magic box storytelling activity this week! If your child has a pirate costume why not get it on them!
5. The Detective Dog - Cuddle up and enjoy this fantastic story from Lottie for our Story-time Sunday! This treasure hunt involves looking for books!
6. Wake up Wednesday Dinosaurs - Thank you Lottie @magicboxe17 for a Roarsome Dinosaur Adventure!
7. Story sack fun a bit of bonkers! - Check out today’s @magicboxe17 Story-time Sunday! Lottie will show you how to create a story sack with things around the house and then do some FANTASTIC STORYTELLING!
8. Pirate Wonky Nose - Get moving with Pirate Wonky nose (Lottie) this morning she is lots of fun! If you haven’t checked out her previous pirate story you might want to first as this is a follow on!
9. Little Red Riding Hood - Snuggle up with your children and enjoy this version of Little Red Riding Hood read by lovely Lottie for Storytime Sunday! This is Little Red Reading Hood a girl who loves reading - the perfect choice for our Reading week!
10. Space Adventure - What will Lottie @magicboxe17 bring out of her magic box today? 5,4,3,2,1 Blast off! Get ready to create a story about space with many exciting objects from the magic box.
11. Snail and the Whale - To finish our mark making week listen to this fantastic story about a snail who leaves marks and messages for all to see! Thank you so much for all of your stories Lottie!
Community Stories
1. Grey Squirrel, Grey Squirrel, What Do You see? - Our families of Waltham Forest have all come together to create a fantastic Chit-Chat Pitter-Pat Community Story based on Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
2. The Very Hungry Caterpillar - The families of Chit-Chat Pitter-Pat have all come together to create a fantastic Community Story using the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
3. Starting Nursery - A story all about starting nursery together to support families with children starting nursery this September.