Verbal praising is where children are told how well or good they have done in whatever they many are doing so therefore this encourages the children to carry this further on. Throughout verbal praising things such as, “great stuff”, “thank you for doing that so well”, “you’re a star”, “I’m really impressed” and things along them line are said to children to give them confidence which promotes happiness throughout the child. Also when praise is given to children from the practitioners this builds a secure and safe relationship together and unsettled children begin to enjoy and have fun within their settings. Self-esteem can also be shattered through verbal communication if a certain child is always spoken to in a negative manner so therefore this will result in the child becoming withdrawn and not as confident as other children who do not receive negative communication.
Whilst I was on work experience it seemed to me that all children were given verbal praise on a regular basis. This came about me as when I noticed what everyone was doing I noticed that if a child had built something or drawn a picture the first thing they would usually do was run to the practitioner to show them and verbal praise was given to them which encouraged the child to build/draw something more extravagant. Throughout my time at my work placement I noticed children would come up to me to show me what they had created and I would give out verbal praise just as I had seen during my observation. I started to notice the more verbal praise I gave the more the children would confide in me and this showed they trusted me and that both myself and the child had a more stable relationship.
Non verbal praising includes facial expressions, gestures, eye contact and posture towards a child. This may include a smile, a nod, a wink, a high five, a pat on the back or a sticker or special badge which will inspire children to do well in future tasks. If a practitioners actions are expressed with love and kindness this will be noticed by the child and will motivate them to carry on behaving in an excellent manner or producing work to the best of their ability.
Whilst I was on work experience non verbal praise was always known to the children in the nursery so therefore it also seems to me that this was given to children on a daily basis. Non verbal praise was given to all children whether they had done well or not so therefore this encouraged them to do well in further tasks. No children were excluded from non verbal praise as this therefore would upset the children not given praise, so all practitioners were supportive all children in every manner.
