Beyond the Basics: Incorporating Geography and History into the EYFS Curriculum

Teaching big ideas to little learners: How geography and history can thrive in EYFS.

Before you all throw your bears at me, please engage that curious side of yourself and come on a journey with me. You might be surprised…

YOU CAN’T TEACH SPECIFIC SUBJECTS IN EYFS!!!

Roughly 7 years ago now, I joined a new small coastal school and thought that I knew everything about great early years practice. I’d read every book by Alistair Bryce-Clegg, so I must know what I’m talking about. Please note, I’m not here to debunk everything he has to say; in fact, there are many of his principles that I still apply today. The early years lead practitioner at the time told me that we were going to teach specific subjects, such as history and geography. My jaw dropped at the time, and I was appalled at the suggestion. But, putting on my curious hat, I decided to give it a go, and I fell in love with it. I will never look back.

There is a common misconception that you cannot teach specific subjects to early years children, but I am here to tell you that this is not quite true. If you map it out carefully, make it contextually relevant, and think carefully about the knowledge and skills you want them to obtain, it is absolutely possible—and necessary. Our role as early years educators is to give children a strong foundation to build upon. That includes subject-specific knowledge and skills like history and geography.

When designing my curriculum, I thought very carefully about what I wanted my children to know and how I wanted them to learn it. Just because I said we are learning specific subjects doesn’t mean that it is all entirely formal. It absolutely embodies all of the principles of the EYFS framework. Gosh, I’m getting excited just typing about it!

I have a question I would like you to reflect on for a moment. Why can’t we teach specific subjects to our reception children? I understand nursery-aged children, but why not our reception children? Reception children are brilliant and very bright human beings, and they understand more than we give them credit for. Again, if the curriculum is well-organized and thought out, anything is possible.

A Strong Foundation

Looking at the KS1 curriculum, there are basic concepts of foundational subjects that are just not covered. For example, kings and queens are a huge part of our history curriculum. What are the basic symbols that represent royalty? Crown, palace, throne, coronation. These are basic concepts that can certainly be introduced to our reception children.

In my setting, we are blessed with our school being built in the Victorian era, and we still have some of the artefacts from that time period. Looking at schools from the past to now is a great and easy way for young children to develop their comparative language skills (now – present and then – past) and their sense of enquiry. This is contextually simple, as it is relevant to their everyday lives and experiences. Year after year, my children love to set up a Victorian school outside with the big chalkboard! It’s a real joy to watch. As we look at Victorian schools, we explore Queen Victoria and compare Buckingham Palace, the crown, and the throne to the current royal family. Children are also able to explore the change in technologies, just from a single photograph!

KS1 teachers often compliment how much our children know when they start to explore more complex historical periods because they have a strong foundational knowledge to build upon.

So, hopefully, I have been able to inspire you—go on, give it a go! You’d be surprised at how much your children will love exploring these subjects.