News

15th March 2024

Hessian on the Walls but …

This week, as I visited four different schools, and inevitably had the hessian/ brown paper and calm children discussion!

At Spread the Happiness I prefer … colour displays. I understand the theory of hessian/brown paper, but children would be a lot calmer if they were allowed more movement. They would also be calmer if classrooms were tidier! Which leads me to prompt you? How clean is your classroom?

1. Neat as a pin
2. Needs a tidy
3. Out of control please send a skip!

Calmer children have access to movement more and the outdoors, plus a classroom that is neat, provision that is inviting and all in the right place, also adds to the calm. The bonus factor to calm children? A tighter than tights timetable.

Hope these tips reassured you or prompted you to tidy ????

Lots of Early Years energy

Shonette x

24th January 2024

Food as a Play Resource – The Truth

I recently saw a post about using food as a play resource, lentils, chick peas, pasta, rice and things. When I read some comments I just thought ‘I’ve had enough!’.

Enough of people criticising each other for doing things. I use food as resource because it’s cheap and usually it’s me funding the resource! I also run a charity that feeds children in poverty directly through schools, so am I at conflict with my beliefs or am I, like you just doing the best with what I’ve got?

This constant don’t use this, do use that is made up and different, dependent on setting. When I asked inspectors they look at me strangely, because the truth is they don’t care what’s in your tuff tray, they care about the teaching and learning that activity generates. No setting has ever failed for simply doing its best for the children.

So instead of criticising, let’s start sharing our solutions? I’ve had an idea, because we’ve all been apart WAY too long, to get us all back together in the room, drinking tea or coffee and sharing ideas. I miss those days and the fear culture we are in will only go away if we do something and that something is stick together.

8th January 2024

Over Worked and Overwhelmed?

Do you often catch yourself whispering those dreaded words, “I’m overworked and overwhelmed”? It is a common thing to hear, however…

Would you like to know a little secret?

When you say even just the words, overwhelmed or overworked, it makes your busy life even worse because you create a story in your head about it and it is a  negative one. I promise you when you stop telling yourself this story you will feel better.

Here are three ways to stop the overwhelm story:

1. Notice how often you are saying negative words like overwhelmed, overworked, stressed, busy, manic…
2. Change your vocabulary. I am feeling stressed becomes I can manage this. I am overwhelmed becomes let’s get organised and schedule this. Reminder: You are only human and can only do your best.
3. What’s your screen time score? When I feel negative my screen time hours go through the roof and on Mondays when it pings ‘6 hours’ I think ???? what could you have done in that time?! ( Watch out on my Instagram story for my new phone fasting ???? @basonshonette)

4th December 2023

Talk, Talk, Talk to Me!

Recently people started using words like ‘Quality Interactions.’

When I hear a phrase like this being overused, I know the inspectors are looking for something new! This year it’s communication and language within Early Years.

We know talk is low on entry but what’s the simple solution for our teams?

A child aged two years should know 50 words

A child aged three years 200 words

A child aged four 5000 words

A child aged five 10000 words!

Quality interaction means adults talking to children, and before we download 5000 words and start to speak them, I’ve found research that says it isn’t the word count from the adult to child; it’s the conversation that matters. Quality conversation. Ask your teams to up the level of conversation they are having with children.

I have written a “Talk, Talk, Talk to Me” programme which delves deeper into research, gives staff specific conversations and words to increase their conversation. It also has a whole progressive program for talk within Early Years and even shows how to gain clear evidence as well. It is online, so it’s cost-effective, and my first training is on 7th December from 4-6 pm. Hope to see you there and get you totally confident in Language for Communication.

21st November 2023

Are we Missing an opportunity in early years?

How many Early Years practitioners struggled with maths at school?

I did. I retook my GCSE three times to get a C!

So I know first hand, how early maths education is like the secret ingredient in a recipe for future maths success. When we get it right in the Early Years, the outcomes for children down the road are nothing short of remarkable.

There are three major improvements which can be seen by implementing a quality Early Maths curriculum from 2 years old:

. Increase in Cognitive Development:

The Early Years Maths session taught daily plays a significant role in shaping a child’s brain. When young minds engage with maths concepts, they are actively building problem-solving skills, spatial awareness, and critical thinking abilities.

2. Growth of Maths Confidence and Motivation:

Early success in maths can boost a child’s confidence and motivation to learn. When children experience the joy of grasping mathematical concepts, they’re more likely to view themselves as capable learners. This self-belief can lead to a positive attitude towards education and a greater willingness to take on challenges in the future.

3. Maths with Real-World Relevance:

Maths isn’t just about numbers; it’s a fundamental skill used in countless real-world situations. Teaching maths in the Early Years helps children develop the practical skills they’ll need for everyday life, from budgeting and measuring to understanding data and making informed decisions. A strong foundation in maths empowers them to navigate the complexities of the modern world.

So what’s your Early Years Maths programme like? I myself have taught schemes brought in with little to no Early Years part of it. If the scheme had Early Years, Reception at best (never Nursery or Pre- school) I found it uninspiring, either too hard or far too easy so I wrote my own!

Please may I present to you my very own Spread the Happiness Early Maths Programme from age 2 years through to the end of Reception. Progressive, impacting and enjoyable for everyone. It includes a full years planning per age range and all books and rhymes have You Tube videos (I checked).

Save your Early Years Maths and get the Ebook today at the Early Bird price.

20th January 2023

A new name for January

I know it is nearly halfway through January but let me send you some positivity. 

You can’t remember the Christmas holidays, but we are nearly at Chinese New Year on Sunday 22nd January. Then it will be February with me getting out the love bug and doing a week on being kinder and more empathetic (that is for adults!). Seriously though doesn’t time fly

2nd December 2022

I Will Not Start Christmas Yet!

When do we start Christmas? My team asked after Halloween! Everyone loves a celebration but if it is started too soon in school, I think the children are affected. You lose the will to continue through the half term and someone always cries on party day!

I have 5 tips for a stress-free December in Early Years:

1. Keep your routine structured till the end 
2. Make sure you add in extra time outdoors 
3. Teach some easy breathing techniques (staff and children) 
4. Make it fun 
5. Drink hot chocolate as much as possible (with cream and sprinkles) 

1. Keep your routine structured till the end, why? Because children feel safe in the routine and less anxious. Just sprinkle your planning with Christmas activities. I use a book of the week and we do that right through to the final day of Autumn term. It truly lessens the madness. Check out @spread_the_happiness_ Instagram for all our ideas. 
2. Make sure you add in extra time outdoors, this way the children will be less energetic and fidgety during shows. Also, if you feel the rise of indoor energy and excitement then take them for a run. Play a parachute game outdoors or take all the bells and shakers you have and go sing carols loud outside (guaranteed to make everyone smile). 
3. Teach some easy breathing techniques to staff and children because knowing how to calm yourself when you feel over excited or hyperactive is self-regulation. We use a Mel Robbins mantra, and we breathe in then out four times, place our hand on our heart then repeat ‘I am ok, I am loved, and I feel safe.’ This really calms everyone down.  
4. Make it fun. So much to do and so little time, shows, cards, a sale item for the fair, makes you feel stressed. I always remind my staff that not every child will have the amazing Christmas that we are looking forward to, so everyone needs to be aware of that and make Christmas fun.
   Here is a Count up to Christmas for you to make the days count:
   Click to download the Count up to Christmas here
5. Drink hot chocolate as much as possible because it is delicious and fun to have a hot chocolate station. On a chilly day you could wheel a trolley out for adults at home time to Spread the seasonal Happiness.

28th November 2022

Your Children are a Year Behind

This week I have been fortunate enough to have Dr Jan Broomfield, International Doctor of speech and language, come into my Early Year’s unit in North East of England. I wanted her professional opinion on my children’s developmental age through language assessment.  
 
Guess what she said? 
 
Your children are one year behind.  
Not only are they developmentally delayed by their poverty band (1 lowest in U.K.) but also because of the global pandemic they are one year behind their chronological age.  
 
So, this means, my two-year-olds are age one! My three-year-olds are age two, four-year-olds are age three- and five-year-olds are four years old.  

Solution?  
There isn’t one! I am joking of course. Dr Jan gave me a recommended list of speech and language schemes but all of them cost money. The thing is I know how to make a dent in this problem? Turn up adult engagement to high quality.  
How? Well, if you jump across to my Facebook group, I am sharing this week my top-secret ingredient to get staff making quality engagement  
Simple, quick to implement and, a shocking reveal, I found out from a consultant Early Years inspector.  
Come join me and keep up to date with ideas and techniques that will bridge this one-year gap in development and language.  

25th November 2022

This Might Make You Cringe

I know the key to increasing children’s potential in the classroom. Happy staff!  
I know, cringe! That’s a cliché surely, making staff happier increases the children’s academic chances?

Well it isn’t and it’s why at Spread The Happiness we encourage and empower staff to get happier within themselves. In our new course we aim to make you aware of:

• Aware of your own mood – it affects everything  
• Let go of more stuff – quickly 
• Stop worrying so much 
• Be more childlike  
• Make more time to fall in love with your class 

These 5 things alone should be in our staff wellbeing programmes (it is in ours) because with these five under your belt you will be happier.

• Being aware of your happiness levels on a daily basis is paramount to being a well-being. We can’t be happy all the time but we can be aware. On a scale of 1-10 (10 off your head happy) most people daily are a 5. (That grey dull Monday feeling -5!)

Solution: Switch up your routine. Change parking spaces, do something different in your daily routine and you will notice your happiness levels more. 

• Letting go of more things quicker.  

Solution: Imagine holding a cricket ball in your outstretched arm and holding it. You’d be thinking what’s the point, I want to throw it. It is the same with thoughts, throw them. If you want to hold on to them imagine that visual with the cricket ball – Let it go!  

• Stop worrying! (Wouldn’t this be wonderful?) 

Solution: Write all of those worries out your head. You don’t even need a special book – just paper and pen. Writing them onto paper helps you see two things – (1) How our thoughts are 99% fiction (written by ourselves) (2) You will often think through a solution when writing it down. 

• Be more childlike. Create more joy in your personal life. 

Solution: Look around you at the changing seasons and enjoy the aspects of change. Take an umbrella out in the rain. Recently someone told me to wear walking boots but I love wearing wellies to dance in puddles and in the sea. 

• Make more time to fall in love (not with the children as such) with things you both love.  

Solution: Add into your curriculum something you love or explore something they love. Once my nursery loved penguins so we watched them on YouTube, became them in our role play and even slid in freezing water on a tarpaulin. What does falling in love with something do? Create more joy for staff and children which increases academic potential.  

If you love these 5 tips and want to inspire your team why not get in touch and host a wellbeing event at your school. I have so many more tips and exercises to help staff take responsibility for their own wellbeing and in turn increase children’s potential within the classroom  

24th November 2022

I have stopped doing Celebrations in Autumn Term 2 

I have  stopped doing celebrations on the actual dates, or the run up to them, because I want the children to come to the provision and activities having experienced the celebration (sometimes not).
Why? Because the after party allows more conversation from what they know.  

This Autumn Term I will do celebrations because I think the season is littered with awesome ones. Halloween or winter solstice. Diwali for me has the best story with Rama, Sita and the ten headed demon monster. Followed by Bonfire Night but I will change when I do it, it will be after the event! It also makes resources cheaper.  

 
We’ve made a pumpkin patch after Halloween ? and we are exploring them as observational drawings, weighing them and opening a pumpkin shop. Did you see my Instagram pumpkin ideas? @spread_the_happiness_  
We will make pumpkin scones (you need tinned pumpkin) and dry the seeds from an open one for counting. We will make seed art and each day we will hide our pumpkins in different places. Of course we will read “Pumpkin Soup” by Helen Cooper. 

Diwali was in our half term but the story is so rich that I will still do it as a Story of the Week. Bonfire Night can be explored after the 5th November because it will be fresh in their minds. I love the splatter paintings and musical opportunities after the 5th November so here are my plans for Autumn Term 2 in books:

• “Christopher Pumpkin” by Sue Hendra,
• “Pumpkin Soup” by Helen Cooper,
• Bonfire Night, The Story of  Guy Fawkes
• The Story of Diwali

Then we will start Christmas celebrations!