Why Ball Play for Children of All Ages is Important
Our Early Childhood Educator, Jan Jones, explains why ball play is such an important part of a child’s development.
Early Childhood Expert Tips: Choosing Childcare for your Child
Choosing a child care option for your child can be both daunting and overwhelming. How do you know what the best option is for your family, and will you instantly know if the centre is up to scratch? Our early childhood expert, Jan Jones, provides some suggestions for things to look our for and what each type of care has to offer.
Language Development Milestones in the First Five Years
Many parents wonder if children’s language and listening skills are developing normally. While individual children develop their talking and listening skills at different rates, our early childhood expert, Jan Jones, reveals that there is a general pattern to children’s language development.
Baby Sitting Clubs: What are they?
Do you find that it is difficult to find someone you trust to look after your children? Do you feel guilty asking friends or relatives to baby-sit? Do you feel you often need to pay for a baby-sitter? A baby-sitting club is the ideal way to solve some of these issues.
Autism and Fussy Eaters
Fussy eating is a normal part of a toddler’s development between the ages of 18 months and 3 years, but sometimes it can result in food refusal or persist for a long time. Jan Jones provides information about how you can tackle fussy eating and what you shouldn’t do. (Information relates to both general fussy eaters, as well as more specific information for children who are on the autism spectrum)
Does your child shout too much?
Wish your child would learn to use their inside voice? Early childhood educator Jan Jones has some great tips for you.
The first few weeks of school or kindergarten
Starting school or kindergarten is a massive change for children and parents alike. Lots of us face a few bumps in those first few weeks, here are some tips to deal with those challenges.
What is Autism and What does it Look Like
Our Early Childhood expert, Jan Jones, explains what Autism is and how to recognise it.
The sound of speech – the ages and stages of children’s speech
Learning to communicate is a step by step process for all children, but many parents wonder if their children’s speech and language is developing normally. Our early childhood expert, Jan Jones, discusses the stages of speech development, the general pattern that most children follow, and when to seek help.
Water play
Kids love the water, and there are so many ways to incorporate it into playtime. With summer on the way, Jan Jones shares a number of water activities that we can use with our 0-6 year olds that are fun and will keep them entertained for hours.
Best Play Space Ideas for Babies and Toddlers
Babies inhabit the floor – and it is a very different world to what we are used to. Jan Jones, our early childhood expert, challenges us to get down and see things from our baby’s perspective and provides a range of activities to allow us to play at their level.
How your child develops?
The first few years are extremely important in the growth and development of your child. Parents guide their children through these years. These are wonderful times to laugh, play and learn from and with your child. Our early childhood expert, Jan Jones, looks at the four main areas of development and provides some ideas to help aid your child’s development.
Creative development in babies and toddlers
Children grow naturally – therefore, given the right environment most will grow into happy well-adjusted human beings. Jan Jones explains how the carer’s rule is to enhance the setting and respond to their interests, answer their questions and cater for their energy, and encouraging them to take advantage of the moment.
Stages of Development by Age (12 months to 5 years)
Jan Jones lists the stages of development from 12 months to five years. She covers developmental milestones for skills such as fine, gross and social, as well as speech and language, and suggests ways to encourage development at home.
Helping your baby to talk
Every baby learns to talk by listening to people talk, by playing with sounds and words, and by talking to others. Our early childhood expert, Jan Jones, describes how babies first learn to recognise sounds, and then create them based on these foundations.
Play and learning activities (0-9 months)
Jan Jones provides a comprehensive list of activities that you can use during playtime with your 0-9 month old.
Play and Leisure Resources for your Baby
Jan Jones provides an extensive list of play and leisure activities to stimulate particular areas of learning from birth right up until 12 years old.
Guiding Children’s Behaviour
The first step to guiding children’s behaviour is understanding what is behind the unwanted behaviour, but sometimes that is easier said than done. Our early childhood expert, Jan Jones, discusses some of the common causes of bad behaviour, and suggests strategies for helping to develop your child’s coping mechanisms in these situations, and for encouraging new, more positive, behaviours to form.
Simple handmade toys for baby
Instructions on making a scrunch bag (suitable for 4-18 month olds) plus other homemade toys. There is also information on the value of these toys for babies’ development.
Helping baby communicate
Babies might not be able to talk, but they definitely know how to let us know how they are feeling! Jan Jones explores how children communicate and provides tips on how to encourage their communication skills and reasons why things might not be progressing as well as they should.
Understanding your child’s behaviour
When children are behaving well, the reasons for their behaviour are very similar. Well-behaved children are happy, engaged and responsive. However, when children are not behaving well the reasons behind this behaviour can be very broad, and can require different reactions from you.
Kindergarten readiness
This list contains the main skills that your child should have before they are ready to begin their year preceding formal schooling.
Childhood Development: Developing through Play
Decades of research have documented that play has a crucial role in the optimal growth, learning and development of children from infancy through adolescence.