When was the last time you painted a picture or knelt down in the mud and dragged your nails through it? When did you last hop? Or tested what happened when you poured nail polish on the carpet? I bet you remember with crystal clarity – and more than a touch of revulsion – what …
Transitions are a part of life, even for the very young: from birth and starting nursery, to changing jobs and moving house. As adults we have been through enough of these changes to have some idea of what a new situation feels like and how we will cope with it. Children starting school do not …
A starting school scrapbook | Banish first-day nerves Read More »
What’s the best way to hold a pencil? The answer varies depending on age but it’s helpful to develop a functional grip by the time school starts. For a toddler, it’s often with a balled fist or all five fingers arranged in an impromptu combination. Exactly how they hold it doesn’t matter at this stage. …
It’s easy to get caught up in the academic preparations for starting school, but just as important as literacy and numeracy is the idea of self-care. What we mean by that, in this early-years context, is does your child have the skills and know-how they need to face the challenges a school day presents? This …
Self care for preschoolers | Help your child become independent Read More »
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 …
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 …
You can’t teach your child to write in an afternoon. It is the work of many years, going right back to birth. A newborn flaps her arms, a baby shakes a rattle. These are the incipient movements that eventually lead to letter formation. Writing is a broad topic including letter formation and handwriting, punctuation, spelling, …
As a child, did you love colouring in? It felt a bit like cheating, didn’t? Filling in someone else’s drawing. But it was satisfying – even therapeutic. But it’s not really drawing, is it? Does it have any value? Some early years teachers frown on colouring in because it’s not creative and has a pre-determined …
Colouring in | Your secret weapon for great handwriting Read More »
Have you ever had a brilliant idea an activity but your child showed no interest? Have you played a game which you hoped would be fun but your child needed so much support that all momentum was lost. What went wrong? You didn’t start with the child. You know, of course, that you have to …