How many of you speak a second language? How many of you are completely bilingual? Perhaps some of you readers speak three or more languages. I loved learning languages as a child, French was the most natural for me as we spent a significant amount of time there whilst I was growing up and that […]
Learning begins at home: part nine
Welcome to part nine in our ‘learning begins at home’ series. The little ones have been learning about colours recently. We do this day-to-day with a range of activities such as plasticine, building bricks and crayons but as the weather was so lovely last week we took this learning outside and did some chalking on […]
Boys and Barbies
Do you let your boys play with dolls? Do you let your girls play with cars? As a child, I had My Little Ponies and dolls but I also had Technic Lego. After my brother was born, my ponies and dolls played with his cars and garage and they all went on holiday to the […]
Little people, big questions: part five
Welcome to part five in our series of “Little people big questions”. The children are fascinated about the body and how various bits and pieces work. Are your children the same? We’ve had some interesting questions, explanations and comments about various parts of the body and how they work, such as: “Is blood hot or […]
Learning begins at home: part eight
Welcome to part eight of our learning begins at home series. I wrote in part seven about how useful games can be in helping older children to enhance their learning at home. Games are a great way for us all to learn, as learning becomes fun and enjoyable and largely subconscious. There are some great […]
Learning begins at home: part seven
Welcome to part seven in our series of ‘learning begins at home’. Whilst early learning should begin at home, long before children enter school, it is also important for learning to continue at home. Our children’s learning should be a partnership between us as parents, their teachers and of course the children themselves. On-going learning, […]
Little green fingers: part nine
Welcome to part nine of our series on “little green fingers”. It feels like a while since we did anything in the garden. We have a plum tree in the garden which didn’t fruit at all last year. This year however we noticed fruit appearing. Almost overnight, it seemed as if we ended up with […]
The power of play
Never underestimate the power of your child’s play. When they are playing dressing up, fighting imaginary monsters or busy inviting dolls, teddies and superheros for a tea party they are developing crucial life and developmental skills. Free play is so important for children and from a parents perspective it can be quite fascinating to watch. Play […]