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Written by Julia Gorham Family is the important gift given to us. Many people can help you, but your family understands you best. Family is an important word, it means to feel secure, to have someone who you can count on, whom you can share your problems with. But it is also means to have respect for each other and reasonability. What family means to me is love and someone that will always be there for your through the good times and the bad. It is about encouragement, unders

Written by Julia Gorham Busy in the kitchen and need to keep your child occupied ? Look no further than your kitchen utensils to set up a quick and easy art activity for your child to enjoy! You will need: Kitchen utensils such as a potato masher, wired spoon, spatula , forks etc. Paper Flat plates with mixed paint. To do: Place the kitchen utensil onto the plate of ready. mixed paint. Press down on paper. Continue with the next utensil to create an interesting printed ar

By Julia Gorham “Repetition is the secret of perfection” Maria Montessori Remember the saying “Practice Makes Perfect?” In our Montessori environment, the Montessori learning materials are designed to support learning through repetition. Repetition is a characteristic of a child’s “‘sensitive period” where a child learns a new skill with the greatest of ease. The Montessori materials, which are multi-sensory learning tools, teach children how to problem solve and self-cor

“This is an essence of oneself” Written By Julia Gorham What our children love best at the Fields Montessori Playgroup and Pre-School is being presented with large sheets of paper, bowls of colourful paint and paintbrushes, where they are free to paint. This assists each child to communicate their emotions or feelings. They are able to express themselves without the use of words, growing their emotional development.. Through free painting, young children will be able repr

By Julia Gorham Young children love playing and find water relaxing. Water play provides hours of rich and valuable early childhood experiences to develop children’s creativity and imagination. Water play is both enjoyable and educational. It helps children develop eye-hand coordination and math and science concepts. It also enhances social skills and encourages cooperation. We had such fun at school this week by filling up our water table outside in the garden with water di

Written by Julia Gorham “I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow.” David Hobson I bought an acre property in Bryanston in 2000. With beautiful tall trees and vast open spaces, due to all the plants in the garden being removed by the previous owner. It was dry, alone and crying out in desperate need of loving care. Up

By Julia Gorham Raising young children is one of the toughest most important jobs, yet the most rewarding and fulling role we play in our children’s lives. As a parent, your first priority is to give your child the best start in life from a young age and this starts with their emotional development. Here are a few handy tips for parents to enhance their young child’s emotional development. Teach your child to love and feel loved. Touch – hugs, pats, gentle squeezes, holding ,

Written by Julia Gorham The outdoors is the very best place for Preschoolers to practice and master emerging physical skills. It is in the outdoors that children can fully and freely experience motor skills like running, leaping, and jumping. It is also the most appropriate area for the practice of ball-handling skills, like throwing, catching, and striking. Children can perform other such manipulative skills as pushing a swing, pulling a wagon, and lifting and carrying mov

By Julia Gorham The Emotional Development of a child is fragile and an intricate process. It is important to note that a child’s emotional development is equally important as his intellectual intelligence. If your child does not feel emotionally secure, it is unlikely that he will reach his full potential! How can I enhance my child’s my child’s Emotional development? Encourage independence. Don’t do for your child that he can do for himself, however tempting it may be. For

By Julia Gorham No one can emphasize enough the importance of brain development in early childhood education. Today’s developing technology and research have allowed us to learn more about the brain, how it works, and the critical periods for its development. We now know that through research an enriched learning environment actually increases brain size (Diamond and Hopson, 1998). There is a new growing interest in developmental neuropsychology, or research in brain develop

By Julia Gorham Is your child frequently whining, hyperactive, irritable, angry, aggressive, crying, oppositional, distracted, defiant, or impulsive? If any of these characteristics are common in your child, it may be time to consider if the amount of sleep your child is getting is impacting his/her emotional and behavioral functioning. The quality and quantity of children’s sleep impacts their brain development as well as their emotional and behavioral functioning. In orde

By Julia Gorham Incorporate art-making into your child’s playtime at home. Make an art-zone if you want to isolate the mess. Tape down paper for them to draw on and spill on, and make a smock out of old clothes. Taping paper on a table can help a small child focus on the motion of drawing, without having to hold down and adjust the drawing paper. Children will begin their drawing by scribbling. Around 2 years of age, the scribbles will become more controlled and repeti