How to effectively support early years children with Special Needs

This month, we are going to discuss Early Years children within SEND education and some effective strategies to help children thrive. Working with children in the 0-5 age range is already challenging in itself! Children who fall within this age bracket are figuring out how the world works, making sense of their emotions, and learning coping mechanisms. To effectively support early years children, we need to think about nurturing and fostering their social, emotional, cognitive, and sometimes physical development. Using appropriate developmental strategies is essential for early years children, with an aim for the child to blossom and develop. Many Early years settings and primary schools now have a higher ratio of children with SEND. It’s important to make sure nurseries and Reception classes hold an inclusive environment. I hope this blog helps you feel more prepared to support Early Years children with SEND and gives you a fresh perspective on this age group.

There are specific strategies that are effective in supporting early years children, I am going to break them down into three sections. We are going to focus on three core groups: Relational, Communication, and Educational. This is a good base structure and order to follow to appropriately support Early Years children with SEND. Once a safe and nurturing relationship is formed, a child will then be open to and learn effective communication skills, which will then lead to coping better in an educational setting.

Relational strategies to help support Early years children

Relational strategies build the foundations for early support when working with young children. 0-5-year-olds rely on emotional safety, trust, and nurturing relationships to help them develop healthily.

• Respond to the child in an authentic and predictable way
• Get down to the child’s level: (Don’t tower over an early year’s child when trying to calm them down or give them instructions)
• Use consistent routines that are familiar
• Create a safe and welcoming environment by using a warm and welcoming tone of voice
• Try to follow the child’s lead when engaging in play
• Mirror and validate the child’s emotions: “I can see you’re really sad right now,” “I can see you’re angry about this”
• Co-regulate with the child when they are distressed: (You can do this by modelling calm and controlled breathing)
• Praise and celebrate a child’s accomplishments

Once a strong and safe emotional connection has formed, we can start implementing effective communication strategies.

Communication strategies to help support Early years children

As we know, communication for an early year’s child can be challenging. Early years children can have delayed speech or struggle to communicate their needs. Supporting Early Years SEND children with communication requires both general and individualised strategies.

• Using visual aids such as Visual timetables, PECS, or symbols for children who are visual learners. (Please see my blog on Speech and language for more information)
• Try to stick to consistent and clear language
• Implementing Makaton into the structure of the day. (Makaton is a form of children’s sign language)
• Using songs to help develop language skills
• Model the child’s behaviour you see: “I can see you’re jumping!” “I can see you want to run around”.
• Practise turn-taking games
• Practice reading social stories
• Make sure all adults in the settings are using the same strategies with the children to help with their development.
• Repeat and expand a child’s language: “You have a blue car”, “You are pushing the blue car really fast!”

Once a child has been supported in the first two steps, we can then move on the educational stage, where staff can work towards fostering inclusive and age-appropriate educational activities and environments.

Educational strategies to help support Early years children

• When possible, create a calm environment that contrasts the outside environment
• Always encourage inclusive practice- Normalise SEND within the setting and integrate SEND children alongside their peers
• Create a multi-sensory learning environment- sensory toys, visual timetables, soft furnishings, and a quiet/calm area.
• Encourage play-based learning
• Encourage physical development to help fine and gross motor skills- sand play, ball games, sensory circuits
• Use repetition in child’s learning for consistency
• Emotion coaching activities- Label a child’s emotions to help them understand how they are feeling
• Practice SEND-based inclusive activities such as ‘Bucket Time’

Inclusivity within early years settings is essential in helping children with SEND thrive and develop. During a child’s first five years we lay the core foundations in helping social; cognitive, physical and emotional development. Early intervention and inclusive practice help address and identify developmental or learning challenges a child may have, giving a young child the best start in life. I hope these strategies prove effective in your practice and help develop your skills.

Support for Educators and Caregivers

We understand that supporting children with SEND has its challenges and can, at times, take a toll on your well-being. If you are struggling in a particular placement and need some support and advice, we are always here to help you. Please reach out to Karla Tondel at Five Education and arrange weekly check-ins for advice, support, and guidance to help you with your work and provide you with a safe space to talk. Please call 07978983657 or email karla@fiveeducation.co.uk to schedule a chat. If you're looking for a role in September supporting children with SEND, you can take a look at our website or jobs page. We will support you every step of the way during your time with Five Education.