Baby’s development: 7 – 12 months
Child Development 7 – 12 months Hello world! The second half of your baby’s first year is all about exploring and her increasing mobility helps her to do exactly that. Let’s look at some of the developmental milestones you can expect to see at this age. Remember however that these are merely guidelines and that […]
Baby’s development: 0-6 months
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Your baby’s development: 0 -6 months At first glance one might not note much difference between a new born baby and a 6-month old baby, but you’ll never guess how much development has taken place in this short space of time! Here are some of the developmental milestones you can expect to see during your […]
Language Development
Language Development Our ability to use language sets us apart from other animals and is, in essence what makes us truly human. We use language to communicate our thoughts and feelings to others, to warn them of dangers and to pose questions in an effort to gain greater knowledge and understanding of ourselves and the […]
Imaginary Friends
Get a little creeped out when you hear your child having a conversation with thin air? Experts once believed that having an imaginary friend was a sign that something was wrong in a child’s life. They hypothesized that children who dreamed up imaginary friends were isolated, socially incompetent or lonely. Yet, it seems that the […]
The benefits of imaginative play for children
I have always been fascinated by children’s imaginative play and love watching them totally live themselves into the moment, seemingly oblivious of their ordinary, everyday surroundings. Beside the hours of fun that imaginary play provides, researchers have also found that it has several developmental benefits: * Children automatically engage in problem solving during imaginative play, they […]
Spelling strategies for kids
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There are 26 letters in the alphabet, which make about 44 sounds individually and combine into a possible 577 letters and sounds. This can be intimidating for even the most confident child. Spelling is not quite as simple as understanding what sound each individual letter makes, a child also needs to understand what sound it […]
Writing exercises for children
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Children need to be able to communicate appropriately in written form. Unfortunately this no longer means strictly pen on paper and so things such as writing and perfect penmanship are almost considered a thing of the past but this does not mean that your child should be allowed to scribble and work untidily. Writing requires […]
Reading methods taught at school
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Schools use different methods to teach reading. For example: The phonics method; this is the term used for teaching reading wherein individual letters of the alphabet are matched with the specific sounds of the languages pronunciation. So ‘cat’ is read as ‘c-a-t’ and the child then runs the sounds together to say ‘cat’. This method […]
Should you be getting rid of the TV for the kids’ sake?
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I grew up in a house where we spent about 90% of our free time watching Television. We watched the 7 am cartoon while we were having breakfast and tuned in to K-TV when we got back from school in the afternoons. My mother had the good sense to deny us access to the TV […]
Blossom Farm Whiskers Cat Pat Mat
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This is the first time I’ve come across the idea of a “pat mat” and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. What a brilliant concept. Thank you Early Learning Centre and Woolworths! In October 2007 Woolworths started carrying a range of toys from Early Learning Centre, a leading educational […]