In a nursery setting, how do u offer ideas to improve team work?

Question

In a nursery setting, how do u offer ideas to improve team work?

Answer 1

Teaching team work to children can be a lot of fun - have everyone work together for one common goal- build a tower - create a large art project. Show the children the benefit of working together- make a huge mess and tell one child to clean up as much as they can in 2 min. - count the number of objects they put away - now invite the entire class to clean up all that they can in 2 min ( the mess should be cleaned up in 2 min of the whole group working together) talk about the volume of material that they put away and talk about what else they can do when everyone works together.

teach the children how they are the same - its easier to feel a connection with people that you have things in common with. I use Calli the Culture bear in my class - Calli visits a student for 1 week at a time and returns with pictures of things that Calli did over the coarse of the week. ( This shows the children that they visit the same parks, they all like to eat ice cream, or that the have older brothers and sisters.) These are topics that children of 3-5 may not tackle on their own, however with the bear they are able to see that they have lots in common!

Answer 2

For staff or for the kids??  

For the staff:  you shouldn't have to.  the preschool i worked at we were like a big family.  there was no need because a preschool requires the teachers to be mature minded adults!  but if you're really struggling i'd say call a staff meeting.  have a list of key points you want to talk about.

For the kids: encourage sharing and "together play".  i.e: getting three or four kids to sit down on the floor with one of those yellow canisters with the blue lid that has the three shape cut outs in it and the kids have to drop the correct shape in the correct hole.  you may want to sit with them, at least guide them from affar.   but make sure to remind them about taking turns.  and at the end make a big deal about how "they did it and did a great job at sharing!!"

Answer 3

Team building activities; Getting people to work together more instead of working individually. Once people are made to depend on another person, they are more likely to gain more respect for the other person and it may create a friendlier enviroment which could also improve the quality of teamwork. This works despite what setting the teamwork is placed in.

Answer 4

At our nurseries we have team training days, team buileding activities, shared planning sessions, and as much fun together as we can, in order to actively demonstrate positive relationships and collaborative working role models to the children. Some of our staff are currently preparing for a commando challenge assualt course that we did last year, so much fun and real team building exercise. I think thew trick is to get together and do something aside form work from time to time.

In the words of the song, the more we get together, the happier we'll be.

Answer 5

People work better when they feel appreciated. So have a staff appreciation day. We had this at our center and parents were asked to bring in a snack, and the whole building was able to eat.  Offer staff members 15 minute breaks (feeling refreshed will help build spirit).  If you cannot offer the breaks due to staffing reasons, pay them for their lunches.  Have staff share responsibility so that they can work together.  If possible make everyone equal (obviously you will probably have lead caregivers, but treat everyone the same).  Have training sessions, and have a session on team work.