Ideas to support your child's development

Please use the link below to find activities and ideas linked to the 7 areas of learning

Developing independence 

Independence is important because…

1. It promotes confidence and self-esteem as well as motivation and perseverance in school.
2. It fosters self-reliance, allowing your child to feel they have control over their choices.
3. It gives your child a sense of importance and belonging which is essential for building social relationships and for contributing to the world.
4. It develops their levels of self-awareness and sensitivity towards others which teaches them to help those around them and develop empathy.
5. It teaches them self-motivation as they can follow their own interests and complete tasks intrinsically opposed for external reward.
6. It provides them with the belief that they are competent and capable of taking care of themselves which makes them resilient to external challenges.
7. It allows them to become good decision-makers as they have the freedom to consider various options before choosing the one they feel is best.
8.  It develops other vital qualities such as patience, concentration, self-help, cooperation, self-discipline and self-trust.
9. It gives them the freedom to experience life fully and learn its many important lessons. 
10. It makes them happy and healthy as they feel a great sense of achievement and success as a direct result of their own actions.

Reading

Children benefit from adults who enjoy telling stories and can bring them to life.

Below are some tips to support  great story telling and share adventures in new and exciting ways throughout the day - with stories that spark and develop children’s imagination and creativity.

Tips and ideas:

• Use different voices, tones, intonations and pauses to build anticipation and suspense during story times
• Regularly update your book areas at home to provide material that meets the children’s areas of interests, including: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, magazines, comics, newspapers, recipe books, books showing people with disabilities as positive role models and homemade books
• Stories should match children’s current levels of development, interests and length of concentration
• Use story stones, shadow theatres and story boxes, making the children part of the story to encourage them to develop their own narrative
• Create small reading nooks, or pop up reading tents in a new spot each day

Developing a love of books early is essential to support lifelong joy with literacy and story telling.

Cooking

The benefits of cooking with preschoolers:

 Social-Emotional Development: Hands on cooking activities help children develop confidence and skill. Following recipes encourages children to be self-directed and independent, it also teaches them to follow directions and develop problem-solving skills.

 Physical Development: Fine motor and eye-hand coordination skills are developing by chopping, mixing, squeezing, and spreading.

 Cognitive Development: Cooking encourages children’s thinking, problem-solving, and creativity. It also allows children the opportunity to use the knowledge they have and apply it by counting, measuring, following a sequence, following directions, and cause and effect.

 Language Development: Cooking offers the opportunity to develop language development by linking it to all other areas, including Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Arts, and Literacy. This is done by encouraging children to talk about what they are doing, counting, and watching materials change color, texture, and medium.