At the moment the big buzz word in education is creativity. And creativity matters…
Tag: learning
Play, Play, Play let our children play!
Amazing with all the research in the world a majority of the school systems still have an emphasis on academic learning and not experimental learning which is learning by play, experiences and just fun.
Dirt is good, less screen time, more play time
Dirt is good, less screen time, more play time is quite a powerful message, with a new marketing campaign from OMO Arabia. OMO are making a bold statement below with United Nations article 31. “Most parents are breaking this child’s right every day. #rightoplay ” As parents we need to reintroduce play especially to offset the…
Early Years Maths, Experiential learning vs Academic learning
In a meeting this week, I heard a great analogy from an executive teacher “Do you want to snorkel or scuba dive when teaching’. (Funny enough it also was communicated from my son’s school a few days ago re: curriculum and assessments.) Meaning do you want students to have an in depth understanding (scuba dive)…
Teaching a Child to Love Learning
Why does it sound funny to say “teach a child to love learning”? These days, parents with school age children are so competitive: after-school activities starting from a young age, reading book levels always being spoken about and compared, who is the best or doing the most. I wonder if this is really helping our…
Success in Our Education System is more than just Academic Learning!
‘Education systems can help people lead happier, more fulfilling lives by teaching them to be aware of their thoughts, emotions and behaviors’ say Sir Anthony Seldon. This quote I came across when researching educating students for life. Many countries education do extremely well with academic learning, standardized tests and exams especially throughout Asia with curriculum…
Positive or Negative what is the impact of Technology in the Early Years!
We all understand technology is the way of the future, I know myself I rely on it living abroad whether it is for work or even to speak to family and friends. There are many pros and cons to using technology with children. In this post we are going to look at a little research…
Characteristics of Effective Learning in Early Years!
Characteristics of Effective Learning (CoEL) are a revived element in the current Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS). CoEL advocate that in planning and guiding children’s activities, practitioners must reflect on the different ways that children learn, and then reflect these in their practice. A child’s individual learning characteristic will determine the way they respond…
Messy Play in the Early Years!
With October being #sensoryawareness month lets look at messy play. There is nothing better than seeing children be free to explore, experiment through messy play. The learning opportunities are endless being creative, using their imagination and generally challenging themselves. Whether it be playing inside with bubbles, shaving foam, flour or outside in the sand and…
Lets Build Resilient Children in the Early Years
Lets talk about building resilience in children especially in the early years. Resilience is one of the most important social skills children can learn in their early years. When a child falls over generally a parent assesses the situation if not serious proceeds to say ‘pick yourself up, keep playing’. It has a stronger meaning than…
Channel the Energy of your Highly Spirited Child…
Has your child ever been described as highly spirited or over energetic. Along with overly enthusiastic, too energetic, ants in his pants and so on. Well I can certainly say mine has. My son is what you would describe as a over enthusiastic boy with endless amounts of energy to burn each day. Or simply…
Foundations of Mathematics in the Early Years!
In the early years learning to count and sort is one of your most important skills. Children can do this in everyday activities, by helping parents/gaurdians with house work, shopping, by sorting the fruit from the vegetables, sorting the dark colours of clothes to light. One of my sons favourite activities is to sort the…
Sand, Water, Sensory Play in Early Years
Sensory play is so important for children, Children love to get hands on with activities it allows them to create, innovate and use their imagination. Children learn about the world through their senses, their first response to sand and water is a sensuous one, they touch, pat, swirl, smell and stroke it, sometimes for very…
Early Years Mathematics at home
There are many ways to teach mathematical concepts in early years from showing shapes, counting numbers especially at home. Everyday we all use different numbers, patterns everyday from telephone numbers, house/apartment numbers, time and many more. Once the child can recognise a number it is important to relate it back to their experience. For e.g….
Expressive Art and Design in Early Years
Does your child play with their friends and imagine they are flying a rocket, driving a car, a princess in a castle, a teacher, nurse or doctor. This is the start of using expressive arts in early years. Many curriculums encourage this particular role play, expressing their imagination, emotions, communication and developing socially. Expressive arts…
Teach a Child to Understand the World in Early Years
What an important life skill it is to understand the world in the early years. In the British curriculum this is a key area for EYFS defined as follows: Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places,…