As a child, you remember sitting for hours, making your own fun, without the constant supervision or attention of your parents. You recall a sense of deep absorption in your games and how powerful and vivid your imagination had been during these hours spent happily at home or in the garden. But your own children […]
Would you like to help your child learn some maths but don’t know where to begin? Or do you think that maths is something that happens once children start school? In early years teaching, there are two main branches of maths: number and shape. At first glance they don’t seem to have too much in
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Learning to distinguish between shapes is essentially an early form of reading. Children who can tell which shapes are which, can better differentiate between different letters when they progress on to reading. Being able to recreate shapes also helps with writing. Most letters are based on a combination of circles and squares, or lines at
Learning to read is a long journey. It begins before your child can even speak and continues for many years after they read their first word. Here’s a quick primer on the basics. Contents: First books First books aren’t so much about learning to read or even understanding what’s printed on the pages. They’re about
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Are you attracted to the Montessori method? What is it that appeals? The beautiful environment? The organisation? The practical activities? The Montessori method is an engaging educational model that continues to captivate parents and educators alike. But what is it that makes it so special? What Makes Montessori Unique: Didactic Materials As a teacher, what
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Have you thought about how you’ll get through those long summer holidays? Do you have a patch of ground outside your back door, even if it’s just a patio? Yes? Then I have the answer: digging. All you need is a spade (or a shovel, sand and a tuff spot if your space is completely
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When faced with familiar situations, we don’t have to think too hard. We have a mental map, a schema, for how a ball will drop because of hours spent testing this out as children. And we instinctively recoil from spiders. Our ancestors learnt to do that to survive. But what about those situations where we
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Puppet play is not just an amusing game for your little ones. It’s a powerful developmental learning tool that offers a multitude of cognitive, emotional, and social benefits for preschoolers. We’ll take a look at how puppet play can not only foster a better sense of empathy and self-expression, but also enable children to be
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Here is a toddler and here is a cardboard box. Curious, the little boy crawls inside. He peers out, like a fox from his den, pleased with his work. He tugs at one of the flaps. Now you see me, now you don’t. It’s a discovery that amuses him greatly and he repeats the action
Games with rules are the third of the four types of play outlined by Sara Smilansky, a developmental psychologist who studied how play develops in young children. The rest of the series is here: What are games with rules? When you think of games with rules, what comes to mind? Cricket? Snakes and Ladders? These