How to get a reluctant nanny to teach reading and writing? Post Reply

[Sunny007]

JenWaken - thanks for the book link. we'll order it and try it out

Sherlika - thanks for taking the time to reply to my post. Don't worry about us not "being bothered" to do things with our children. We do! It just happens that the time that our nanny works happens to coincide with the only opportunity for one-on-one time that we get during the week with my eldest.

[schoolgatesmum]

Even at nursery, your child will only be doing structured reading/writing for a maximum of half an hour probably (and that will be fun exercises rather than traditional style working). Some children arrive at primary school being able to write, others barely able to recognise their name. Primary schools know this and it has no bearing on how they perform academically later on in school life. At this age I think it's probably more important just having the tools at home - i.e. books (that you read to your child), comics (with colouring in etc.), paper and pencils. If a child chooses to use them then they're ready for if, if they don't then they're not. I've got four children and I never did structured reading/writing but we've got loads of books and there's always loads of paper available. My youngest is 4 and she does drawing and puzzles in magazines and loves being read to. My eldest is 11 and he's writing a novel (slight exaggeration but that's what he says!). They do so much structured stuff at school I think it's better to give them the tools and see what they do with them.

[Nicoleblonde32]

I was a nanny in London for 10 years before becoming a mum so I have some insight in this area. I agree with you that your nanny should be spending some time every day with your child doing educational activities, but I would be wary asking her to teach your child to read and write unless she has a lot of experience in doing this or has a teaching qualification. If she doesnt know what shes doing she could cause more harm than good by teaching your child completely differently than they do at school/nursery, which could be more confusing and frustrating to your child. Your nanny probably feels very daunted by this and doesnt really know where to start or how to do this.

I would instead ask her to spend lots of time reading, drawing, doing arts and craft projects, beading, cooking, playing memory games and maybe some simple jolly phonics workbooks/flash cards/online word and number games etc.

If she's not doing the above things, then it could be that she is a lazy nanny who isn't putting enough effort in, but my best guess is that she feels a bit overwhelmed and inexperienced when you ask her to "teach" your child.

My advice would be to do the school drop off together one day with your Nanny and together you could chat to the teacher for 5 minutes - asking what the teacher would recommend you both do at home with the child to enhance the learning they have at nursery.

[Mrs Contractor Mum]

Paints and patterns are a useful way to start writing without being formal. So learning to do zig zags, spirals, curls etc will help get into the practice of the shapes the letters make.

If you have an ipad, there are some great apps for spelling and tracing of letters which the nanny and your child can do together. Also, you can get educational posters with words and pictures. You pin them up or put them on the floor and your child can match the picture with the word by spelling out the word.

Personally, I don't think there is too young an age to start teaching as long as your child is leading and enjoying it.

[Sunny007]

Hi, I think that I may have mislead people when I used the word 'teach'. I meant that i wanted to find a way to get our nanny to reinforce or practice what they already do at nursery.

I mean spending time sitting down and writing basic letters, phonics, writing numbers. (And this level of work must be relevant at this age as they are taught this at nursery). My daughter likes writing and is always asking what different words say so we are not pushing her to do stuff she doesn't like.

We just wanted to find some way to track that our nanny is doing this on a regular basis and the book recommended earlier looks really good so we'll try that - thanks again for the Amazon link.

[kjn]

Hi, sorry you're getting it in the neck from some people - nannies are expected to read to children and do all the things a parent would do if they were not at work.
I don't think you should be worrying about letters at the moment but more the issue is your nanny isn't following instructions. It is in fact hard to get rid of a nanny if you want to, so it is important you log your conversations with her somewhere in case it comes to it. Ask her to a meeting and review the issue, chat openly about it and why she is not doing what is asked. I imagine this isn't the only thing she isn't doing. Set tasks you want doing.
My nanny reads to my kids after their dinner and my son practices his reading with her, it's their wind down time before bed. My daughter who is 3.5 is desperate to learn to write and she does her name and pretends to do lists. She copies her brother when he is making up words - all just play stuff and no real work.
My nanny writes a diary of what they do each day so when I come home I can see what they had for lunch, where they went, that they went for a walk etc etc this is what I would suggest - just bullet points and times - then you have a record and it's nice as a prompt to talk to the kids as to what they did.
If you decide to get rid of the nanny you need to have a review meeting stating the issues and give her 2 weeks to rectify the issues, you then meet again and only then can you give her notice (unless it's in probation period) if she hasn't sorted the problems.
Hope that helps, good luck but don't worry about reading at this age - there's plenty of time for it and you don't want her getting bored at school when she starts.

[frenchpanache]

I agree that having fun and spending time with loved ones. Also playing are far more character building at this age than phonics, especially when they're done by some-one untrained and reluctant.

[AbbevilleMummy]

Hi, I would suggest talking to your nursery school teachers about it.

My little girl is 3 and has asked her nursery school teachers if they will teach her to read and write and so they spend some time with her every day teaching her this as she requested it herself and so they are running with it whilst she is interested in doing so.

However, at a recent teacher/parent meeting, when I asked whether there are any workbooks I should get in order for her to consolidate her knowledge at home they told me explicitly not to do that. They were concerned that if I did stuff at home too that she would end up being over-worked as she is only 3. They advised me to just let her be a child at home and play and have fun with her as she gets taught more than enough at nursery school.