Guest Blog Post | Sarah Neville | Ofsted registered Child Minder | Early Years Writer, Trainer & Consultant
Wizzy’s Words | Guest Blog Post
I met Sarah, somewhat fortuitously, when I mis-posted on social media when Wizzy’s Words, book of rhymes, was first published in August 2021. Clearly, social media can be a powerful, positive tool and some connections and networking are meant to be! It quickly became clear that Sarah and myself had the same passion for early development and learning. We have stayed ‘in touch’ ever since and I am delighted to present her guest blog post here. Jacqueline
Sarah Neville | Ofsted registered childminder for over 25 years
Owner of UK based Knutsford Childminding
‘I am absolutely passionate about my work in the early years.’ Sarah
Wizzy’s Words - ‘I read it and loved it and I use it in my everyday childminding practice.’
What is it?
Well, ‘Wizzy’s Words’ are short poems based on children’s popular songs and rhymes, re-worked for the modern world. They give me and the children something new to think about and they are a challenge for our brains. They help me to share new vocabulary with the children – vocabulary acquisition is a huge Ofsted ‘thing’ at the moment given the identified word gap in the early years.
We play with words
We play with alliteration
We play with repetition
We play with sound discrimination
We play with silly rhymes
As the children play, they learn
The pictures in the book are warm and friendly too, inviting comments and further conversations.
My latest Ofsted inspection report (May 2022) states: ‘Communication and language development are particularly well embedded.’ This could not have been achieved without daily quality interactions with the children in my early years setting, using resources such as ‘Wizzy’s Words’.
Sarah is also a writer, trainer and consultant for the early years
Sarah writes for Childcare.co.uk, a UK childminder ~ parent online matching service and for the free childminder information website Independent Childminders.
As a fully qualified trainer and consultant, Sarah works with childminders, nurseries and other early years professionals face-to-face in the north west and across the country online.
Sarah is dedicated to ensuring all childminders have the information they need to stay independently registered with Ofsted. To help with this, she has a blog and monthly newsletter for childminders on the Independent Childminders website. https://independentchildminders.weebly.com/
To find out more about Sarah’s passion and
work in the early years head to her website:
www.knutsfordchildminding.co.uk
For those wishing to find out more about how they can apply Wizzy’s Words book of rhymes in their early year settings simply use the tabs on the Wizzy’s Words website www.wizzyswords.co.uk
The research that Wizzy’s Words is based on focuses on promoting development of the preschool vocabulary that is known to underpin successful life-long learning. To find out more about how schools are attempting to address the word gap that Sarah mentions follow the link: https://global.oup.com/education/content/dictionaries/key-issues/word-gap/?region=uk