Qualification: NCFE CACHE Level 3 Diploma for the Early Years Educator
Unit: Unit 3.4: Contribute to enabling play environments
Learning outcome: Understand how the Early Years practitioner supports children’s behaviour and socialisation within play environments
Assessment criteria: Explain how the Early Years practitioner provides for: group learning, socialisation
There are several ways that Early Years practitioners can provide for group learning and socialisation.
Group Learning
Early Years Practitioners provide an important learning environment for group work that allows children to collaborate and explore different ideas.
By setting out activities and tasks that involve working together in small groups, children can gain valuable experience in communication, problem-solving, teamwork and negotiation. Through carefully structured scenarios or games with clear objectives, pupils can learn the value of cooperation and how to divide tasks fairly.
This type of learning offers numerous benefits to both groups and individuals alike; it allows participants to grow in confidence as they practice their social skills while also building on their knowledge and understanding of the world around them.
Group learning activities are not usually suitable for children under three because the cognitive functions that support interaction and engagement are not yet developed. Younger children will also find it difficult to focus on a single task for very long.
Examples of group learning activities can include rules-based games such as board games, catch or hide and seek; problem-solving tasks such as puzzles or treasure hunts; art projects that require collaboration between the group members; and musical activities, such as singing songs or making music with instruments.
Group learning activities help children to develop their social skills by encouraging cooperation and communication while also allowing children to have fun while they are learning.
Socialisation
Early Years Practitioners provide an important role in helping children to learn and grow. As they interact with other children and adults, they develop social skills that will be fundamental in their lives.
Providing a safe and nurturing environment allows children to build trust among their peers and explore the world around them.
Through planned activities, games, and stories (including group learning activities), Early Years Practitioners can help facilitate conversation among the group and encourage interaction between participants; this helps children understand different perspectives while also teaching values such as respect and responsibility.
Play activities such as dressing up and roleplay can support children to understand and practice socialisation skills, as well as cooperation skills (such as sharing and taking turns).
Again, planned socialisation activities should be appropriate for the age and stage of development of the children.