Founder's Perspective

Useful Stationary

Fri, 21 Apr 2023 14:27:18 GMT

Useful Stationary

Our useful stationary list!*

A4 Paper

A4 white paper for all uses.

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Recommended Musical Instruments

Fri, 21 Apr 2023 14:05:01 GMT

Musical Instruments - under 5s

The Musical Instruments that we use at The Tots' Clubhouse*. Buy via our Amazon links:

A-Star Maracas Red

These maracas are big and make a great sound. They are made of plastic and can be hand-washed in soapy water or ant-bacterial wiped.

A-Star Maracas Green

These maracas are big and make a great sound. They are made of plastic and can be hand-washed in soapy water or ant-bacterial wiped.

Egg Shakers

These egg shakers make a great sound. Perfect for small hands.

Bells and Triangle

Great hand-held bells and triangle for jingling all the way.

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Let's Talk About Porridge!

websitebuilder@1and1.de — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 10:25:30 GMT

Let's Talk About Porridge!

Porridge - Hot and Cold!

There's lots of reasons my little one has eaten porridge each day from 6 months. Higher calcium and iron content than other cereals. Combined with other rich vitamin D foods, this is a really healthy start to the day.

Try it cold from the start to make it easy to make when travelling, out for the day or as a snack - mix with breastmilk, formula or other milks (including plant based alternatives). Porridge comes in handy packets for popping in your lunch box. You'll never have to make it hot if they love it cold or room temperature!

30g of porridge a day gives you...

We use Ready Brek (nutritional information as given below), but other varieties are available. Check for comparable nutritional information.

Compare this information to other cereals.

The biggest difference is the calcium. Calcium is needed for the maintenance of healthy bones and teeth.

Iron is also an important difference. Iron is needed for a health blood system and growth.

Vitamin D is lower than other cereals. So, top up with other foods.

It's a great choice for easy making and deliciousness!

Learning to read

websitebuilder@1and1.de — Thu, 26 May 2022 13:27:39 GMT

Navigating the reading process - where to begin.

One mum's perspective on accelerating reading ability

Being able to read early means that you can access more information in the real world - earlier. The unknown becomes known. You can see and read words on pictures, signs and toys etc, so understanding the world becomes demystified earlier! That's the joy! And the more words you hear, see and understand, the less frustrating the world becomes.

Read to your baby when it is born

Your baby hears your voice during pregnancy. When baby is born, read to your baby and over time they will respond to your expression and enjoyment of reading.

Surround them with cloth books

As part of play and exploring, leave out a range of cloth books for baby to pick up and engage with. Curiosity will mean that they start turning the pages, hold them and interact with the pictures and how the book feels. You can encourage them to hold the book and turn the pages in order. Make it easy for them choose to look at a book independently and with you.

Start teaching your baby letter sounds using your mouth to make letter shapes and sounds

From 6 months, start teaching your baby letter sounds. Face-to-face learning - using your mouth to over emphasise the letter sounds and shapes. If you make it a routine, baby will start to copy you.

Make reading have meaning

Babies love cause and effect! Pull open a flap, slide and see, press a sound, follow a finger trail and more! Books for babies are designed for interaction with the pages. This helps with understanding that books, words and stories have meaning, things happen and there is great enjoyment to be had by engaging with them.

Around 17 months

Around 17 months, your baby will be able to put sounds together to make simple words, if you have been teaching them letter sounds as a baby. At this stage, introduce the written letters and start putting together 'consonant, vowel, consonant' (CVC) words - c a t, r a t, s a t.

Follow a phonics programme e.g. Jolly Phonics. There are lots! https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/choosing-a-phonics-teaching-programme/list-of-phonics-teaching-programmes

Start teaching letter sounds and letter names together

English words are spelt in letter sounds and letter names; learning phonic combinations is complex. So, if your baby can recognise both sound and name, spelling tricky words makes more sense later on. If you are following a phonic scheme, you will know your digraphs from your trigraphs and you will be proficient in phonic sounds.

Read to your toddler - each and every day at least three stories
When you read with your toddler, point to the words, letter sounds and letter names. Read slowly. Over emphasise everything. Show them the shape of your mouth and how the sounds come out. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Model reading at every opportunity.

Start a reading scheme around 17 months

Use small toddler size books that are easy to handle. Practice the routine of sitting and concentrating on reading the book. Even is the toddler is passively listening, keep reading and role model what happens. After a few sessions, they will understand what to do when you are reading (sit with you and look at the book).

If you have read regularly with your baby from 6 months old, they will already be able to sit looking at books independently.

Once you have their routine and full attention, point to the simple words on the page and read them. Encourage them to look, sound and read the words on the page. If they have been learning the letter sounds and names, put these together with written words. Using a reading scheme (first levels) will give you the opportunity to focus on the simple CVC words.

Mix up your stories

Read one reading scheme book per day, and two other stories (at least). Put the reading scheme books in a box where your toddler can reach them and take them out to read as part of their play.

Around 2.5 years old

If you have been teaching to a phonics programme and reading a scheme of books with your child, around 2.5 years old they will be reading CVC words, common words and a range of tricky words. They will be able to read simple words in the real world.

Label everything!

Put labels in lower case on everything - the television, fridge, doors, boxes, everyday objects. Label your entire house!

Use something and point to the label. Read the label before you use the object. Play 'find me' activities around the house.

Around 3 years of age, you could have a child who is confidently reading CVC words, common words and tricky words. Through reading the reading scheme, they could achieve 3 levels of progress during the year before starting school.

Make all of your play involve the written word alongside objects and actions.

Reading scheme

A child in Reception at 4-5 years old may achieve reading at Oxford Reading Tree Level 3 by the end of the year (National average). This is an average of 3 levels of progress in the year. A child who has achieved reading at level 3 before they enter Reception would be at a significant advantage in understanding the world and could reach level 6 by the time they end their year in Reception.

Reading scheme - progress

If your child has achieved level 3 before starting school and you continue reading with your child through Reception using the phonic scheme and a reading scheme, and may see above 3 levels of reading within the year, their Year 1 learning could be accelerated by 4 levels of progress. This significantly speeds up their understanding of the world. By the end of Year 1, they could be reading over 2 years ahead of their age.

What educationalists know

Hearing language, reading and writing are linked. The more you can hear and read, the more you can spell, the bigger the vocabulary you have and the more you can say, read and write independently.

The risks and commitment

Average progress is the norm. Accelerated progress means the child needs constant stimulation and more reading materials to keep pace with their ability. Reading materials need to be selected to meet the reading ability, but with age appropriate content. It takes an hour to read a 40 page chapter book (with discussion) at 5 years old. So, you need dedicated time each day to read with your child.

Other parents and children may judge you and your child because your child will be assessed as above average. Your child will know things that other children don't know.

Try it and see! Abi x

*We developed Baby Storytime sessions to support children to gain access to early reading skills.

Learning times tables

Wed, 25 May 2022 17:13:28 GMT

Learning times tables - where to begin.

One mum's perspective on accelerating times tables ability

The Standards and Testing Agency (DfE) require a multiplication test to be carried out by children in Year 4 (around 8 years old). It is not a diagnostic tool, so schools use it to support children who need it.

Children have 6 seconds to answer each question for multiplication to 12 x 12.

The test is 5 minutes long. There are 25 questions.

The test selections from 121 questions from the 2 to 12 times tables. The 1 times tables is not included.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/multiplication-tables-check

Maths has two sides - learning by repetition and learning by conceptualisation. Both go hand-in-hand.

Starting at 4 years old - learning by repetition

Count in 2s, 5s, 10s.

Daily times table routine

Every morning on the way to school - recall times tables facts. Start with 2s, 5s and 10s.

Every evening on the way home from school - recall times tables facts. Repeat the ones from the morning.

Resources

Buy a 100 square mat. Look at the number patterns - order the numbers. Use active learning games to recite number patterns (jump from 2 to 4 to 6 to 8 to 10).

Starting at 4 years old - learning by conceptualisation and real-world experience

Group everything - talk about groups of 2 for everyday objects (socks, shoes, knives and forks).

Talk about groups of more objects (triangles for groups of 3s, squares for groups of 4s etc).

Play shopping use money (coins and notes) to learn multiples of 2, 5 and 10. Choose food and toys to buy in multiples.

Numberblocks!

Watch children's programmes that demonstrate the concept of multiples - the 9 block being a multiple of 3 etc.

Focus on multiplication visualisations.

By 5.5 years old

Repetition of number facts of 2, 5, 10 times tables.

Introduce complex multiples - group multiples for common patterns

Focus on 3, 6, 9 and 12 times tables together.

Focus on 4, 8 and 12 times tables together.

Focus on 11 times tables.

By 6 years old

Speed and accuracy are important now.

Lots of written sums including missing number problems.

The theory is that if you've been learning your times tables for 4 years between the age of 4 to 8 years old, you will have good grasp of the concept and the repetition of patterns.

Try it and see!

*We developed STEAM sessions for toddlers to introduce multiplication concepts and numbers early.

Choosing a school

Tue, 24 May 2022 19:44:27 GMT

Navigating the school application process - choosing a school by academic performance

One mum's perspective on choosing a school by academic performance

Choosing a school takes a range of decisions, not just academic performance. So, you need to consider all aspects that are important to you in making your preferences. But, it is easy to choose a school based on academic performance.

Academic performance

You can visit the DfE website to review a database of school performance data. This shows outcomes for children based on maths, reading and writing. It measures the school against National and Local Authority averages.

You can see the past years results to compare over time and if any improvements.

https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/

Performance of specific groups of children

If you have chosen to accelerate your child's learning, then look carefully at the school's performance for the most able children.

Look through all of the data available and compare all the schools on your preferred list.

It is amazing what data is in the public domain now.

Abi x