At Natural Choice Nurseries we plan the daily activities for children, under the age of three, using the ‘Birth to Three Matters’ Framework

The Framework takes as it’s focus the child and is designed to support children in their earliest years. It identifies four aspects, which celebrate the skill and competence of babies and young children and highlights the interrelationship between growth, learning, development and the environment in which they are cared for and educated.

The four Aspects are:

• A Strong Child
• A Skillfull Communicator
• A Competent Learner
• A Healthy Child

The principals that underpin the Framework and which Natural Choice Nurseries believes in, are:

• Parents and families are central to the well being of the child.
• Relationships with other people (both adults & children) are of crucial importance in a child’s life.
• A relationship with a key person at home and in the setting is essential to young children’s well-being.
• Babies and young children are social beings, they are competent learners from birth.
• Learning is a shared process and children learn most effectively when, with the support of a knowledgeable and trusted adult, they are actively involved and interested.
• Caring adults count more than resources and equipment.
• Schedules and routines must flow with the children’s needs.
• Children learn when they are given appropriate responsibility, allowed to make errors, decisions and choices and respected as autonomous and competent learners.
• Children learn by doing rather than by being told.
• Young children are vulnerable. They learn to be independent by having someone they can depend upon.