Kiddy Science

The word "Science" terrifies some of us. Maybe we just haven't been exposed to science at a very young age the way we should have been. Science, simply put is nothing but a natural exploration where children discover themselves as well as the world around them. Our job as educators is to give them the opportunities to play and do things where they will naturally discover and learn. This discovery is the beginning of science. 

I was once with this little girl  who saw a ladybird. She watched it for a while and then asked, "How does it move? Does it have feet like us?" I suggested that she lift the insect gently and turn it upside down to find out if it did indeed have tiny feet. She refused to do so because she had been taught not to touch insects and the like. I did it for her, and our discussion moved forward. What impressed me was the fact that although she couldn't see the insect's feet, she had made a connection between walking and feet by extending her own experience of movement i.e. the use of feet to move. 

The point I'm trying to make is that children are curious by nature. We owe it to them to fuel their curiosity and then help them discover. We may not realize it but there are potentially hundreds of opportunities that come up every single day that can be used to draw children into a "scientific" situation. Let me give you just one example.

Kids love playing with dough. Flour is easily available in every home and can be used in the classroom too for a great "doughy" activity. Mix flour, salt and water to make the dough while the children watch. Add some amount of water to flour and salt mixture. Stir it, all the while talking to the "observers". Ask - "Is it too dry? Is it grainy? What can we do to make make the dough?" Someone will tell you that you need to add more water. Do so - maybe add more than required. Mix it again. Invite the children to touch the dough - they'll tell you it's sticky. Ask them to give you a solution to the problem. Someone will definitely ask you to add more flour. Do that.  

When all agree that the dough is of a perfect consistency (having touched it and made little balls), say its time to add colour to the dough. (Be sure to use food grade colour.) This will generate a great discussion with each one wanting a different colour. Ask them to come up with  a solution. Maybe the dough can be divided into parts and each part coloured separately. This is also a great opportunity to mix colours and see which new colour emerges. 

Through this seemingly simple activity, your kids have been through several scientific processes. Don't believe me? Why not? They've observed, made predictions, experimented, solved problems, compared and contrasted and discussed differences - that's a lot of Science even if they haven't been made aware of it! 

So, look sharp and make use of situations where you can develop the scientific bent in your child. For some fun Science experiments for kids, check out this link 

Till we meet again! 

Playpen Team

Play Blocks

Jan 10, 2012

Hi Folks!

All of us have bought play blocks for our kids sometime or the other - you know the kinds that they have spent hours building with. A parents we buy it as just another plaything for our child - not knowing the wealth of "constructive experiences" they bring. Think about it. 

When children play together building houses, bridges and every other structure you can imagine, they are working on different areas of child development all on their own i.e. physical, mental, social, emotional, communication, creativity, thinking skills.....etc. Academicians work hard to develop formal programmes to develop these in small children!! Give your kid a set of blocks and leave her in there with some friends...and it all happens naturally. 

If given a chance, children will exhibit the highest order of creativity. Unfortunately, we often thwart their thought process by feeding them all that we think they need to know. Give the same set of blocks to five different children, and you'll see what I mean when I say that creative thinking varies and manifests itself in the most wonderful ways in kids.

When a child shows you her creation with a flourish, there's a real sense of achievement there. She  is expressing her initiative, independence, and maybe if its a "joint venture" her cooperation with a playfellow in coming up with this marvel - if that isn't social development, I don't know what is!Applaud her effort.

Placing blocks one on top of another or at a angle to create something requires patience and delicacy of touch. This action strengthens the small muscles of her hands. She also shows an increasing level of hand-eye coordination, without which the blocks would keep toppling off. 

If playing with friends, listen quietly as your child shows an increasing command over her language and communication skills as she questions, explains, describes or even narrates right through the process of creating her masterpiece. 

Finally, look at the thinking skills you child is engaging in as she ponders over the size and shape of her creation. All the time she is thinking - how high can the structure go without falling over? how many blocks will it take? how do I balance it? how do I fit blocks of different shapes and sizes to come up with a coherent whole? That's a lot of thinking and problem solving happening inside your little one's head!

Yes! Blocks are a marvellous thing to gift your child. 

Playpen Team

PS: Pardon my use of "her" and "she" throughout my blogs with reference to a child. No offence to boys - I have a son of my own, who i love dearly.....but I'm just partial to girls!!

Read to Your Child

Hi Folks!

There's nothing more delightful than curling up with your child to read together. If you are willing to spend some time reading to your child everyday, you're sure to get them hooked to a lifelong habit. They'll never sleep without picking up the book on their bedside table and reading a few lines every night. In fact, the more they see you read, the more likely it is that thy'll pick up a book themselves when the opportunity presents itself. 

There are a million books out there that will enthrall your kid. Let her pick what she wants you both to read together. Children take comfort in repetition, so you might end up reading the same book night after night - that's fine. Maybe it's the character that fascinates your child, maybe its the sequence of events that's exciting or maybe it's just the sheer joy of looking at the illustrations that go with the story. 

So, even though your child may be only 2 or 3 years old, how do you make the most of your reading sessions? There's lots you can do to develop your child's language and communication skills through reading. Discuss the characters in a story - ask you child who her favourite is. Get her to talk about what is special in this character. If you were to add one more character to the story, who might that be? How would it change the story? If you were to give the story another ending to the story, what might that be? 

If you are reading a new story, stop at intervals and get your child to make predictions. Ask: What do you think will happen next? Based on their previous experiences, children definitely come up with something - it stimulates their thinking. 

Slowly, you could introduce your child to parts of a book - use words like Title, Author, Illustrator etc. soon these words will become a part of your child's vocabulary. Every time you pick up a new book, read out the title. Even if your child can't read yet, she will recognize the picture on the cover and associate it with the title. Read out the author's name. Tell your child that this is the person who has written the book. Ask: Would you like to write books when you grow up? 

In this day and age, if you're able to get your child to love books, you're doing her a great favour because no digital experience can match the joy of unwinding with a book at the end of a long day at work!

Happy reading!

Playpen Team

Early Childhood Experiences

Early childhood experiences play a critical role in achieving developmental milestones in a child. As I mentioned in my earlier blog, the richer the experiences, the better the growth - physical as well as mental.

At home, or in the case of those associated with child learning, a lot of thought must be given to setting up the learning environment with "Discovery/Science" in mind, in addition to the basics of language learning and numeracy. Activities must be planned in which children can discover for themselves and learn. By way of illustration, a Discovery Activity on Sounds could have a "Sound Corner" with a variety of objects like tins, drums, sticks, spoons, plates and other things that can be used to produce sounds. If you ask a child to make a sound using these objects, he will be happy to bang the spoon on the table or beat the drums. It's we adults who have a problem with noise!!!

Get children to experiment with making sounds in different ways - get them to jingle keys, press buttons on a keyboard, put  a coin in a tin jar and shake it. Let them explore loud and soft sounds. Then, get your child to think. Ask questions such as - Can you find anything to put in the tin that will produce a soft sound? Do you think rubbing sandpaper on a rock will produce a sound?

There's no end to what we can do to get our child to satisfy his curiosity by exploring.

More in next!

Playpen Team

Opening your own Preschool VS Going the Franchise Route

Hi folks.

The idea of opening a preschool might seem hassle free and low on investment. Not true. Having small children in your care is a HUGE responsibility even if they are with you for only a couple of hours every day. When deciding to take the plunge, you will be faced with a long list of issues that need to be addressed and planned for. This list will include (but is not restricted to) some of the following:

1. Selection of appropriate location and building for the school

2. Ordering child friendly furniture and teaching learning material

3. Planning and writing the curriculum

4. Preparing material that will be used for school promotion

5. Creating systems to facilitate school operations including logistics and administration

6. Arranging for transport

7. Staff selection and training

8. Writing Policies and Procedures etc...

The list is long, and as mentioned earlier, not restricted to just the points above. This is just the beginning. 

Pressure points? For me at No. 1, 2 and 3....it's the Curriculum. Why? Simply because the curriculum is the heart and soul of your enterprise. You could put in all the money in the world to do up your preschool to look like something out of a fairy tale, but if your students are not engaged in a manner that leads to structured learning, the purpose of your enterprise is lost.

These are some the challenges you will face when designing and executing a curriculum:

1.Unless you are an experienced Early Childhood Education trained person, chances are that you'll falter when it comes to designing the curriculum. Unlike popular belief that Early Childhood Education is just a downward extension of formal schooling, nothing could be further from the truth. The areas of development in preschool are very different from that in later stages. 

2. It is expensive and time consuming to develop.

3. Ensuring that content delivery is of the quality you desire is not easy and training must be ongoing.

So, even if you get this done, there are all the other things on the list that you need to arrange all by yourself. In this respect, it is easier to opt  for a franchise because somebody has already done all your home work for you. They have spent time and money tying up every last thing that you will need to set up and run your school. 

You will have the backing of a brand name that they will promote. In addition there is constant hand holding and support in all areas of operations including teacher training. Of course, you have to pay a fee and royalty to your Franchisor, but then don't we pay money to service providers on a day to day basis? Of course we do!  

Happy decision making!

Playpen Team

Developing Multiple Intelligences in Your Child

Hi Friends

"Intelligence" is a relative term. If you were to ask ten people what the word means to them, you'd get ten answers....at best loosely connected. For educators, there's a constant focus on this word as they strive to develop the "intellect" of the kids in their care.

In this respect i'm a huge fan of Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences. According to him, we are not born with a single general ability - rather our personalities are shaped by the various intelligences within us.

As educators and parents, it is our duty to give a child maximum opportunity to develop each of these intelligences - i.e. language, mathematical and logical ability, body movement control, sensitivity to other people's feelings, self-awareness, music and rhythm, experiencing the natural world, figuring out images and space. 

When with young children at home, it's a good idea to keep developing these even as they go about their routine work or play. For instance, you could ask your daughter to come and help out in the kitchen. She will love being there - it's a interesting place. Give her some dough to play with. You'll be amazed at the creativity she displays - and that's not all....she's working and strengthening the tiny muscles of her fingers. Get her to talk about what she's made....and watch the speech, language and vocabulary develop. 

Get her to count the number of plates that need to be set - ooh! that's kitchen math! Get her to drum a rhythm on the kitchen top using spoons while you dance to this rhythm. Who said learning was boring?? Get her to feel the skins of different vegetables and fruits. Which are rough? Which are smooth? How are they similar to and different from each other? Can she put them into categories other than "This is a fruit" "This is a vegetable"

Which is her favourite fruit? Would she share it with her brother? If she could combine two fruits to make a new one, which would it be? What would she name this new fruit? How would it look? taste? .... get your child to think and reason...explore and create!

There you go! Your very own application of Multiple Intelligences within the confines of your kitchen - and best of all...dinner's ready too!

Ciao for now! 

Playpen Team

How to Open Your Own Preschool

Hi Friends.

Do you hate your job? Feel you are stuck in the wrong place? Want to be your own boss? Do your own thing? Love being around kids? 

Pretty long list! But if the answer to these questions is an emphatic "Yes!" read on......

Ever thought of opening your own preschool? It's not as difficult as you might think it is. If you have a background in education as a teacher, administrator or if you have worked in an educational institution in some other capacity, that's an asset. Preschool industry trends indicate that the preschool education sector is the fastest growing service industry in the country, so it make good business sense to invest in this sector now. 

First things first - Plan! Plan! Plan! right down to the last detail and put it down on paper. If it's not written, it's not going to happen. Write your business plan down. Don't know how to do it? Read some sample business plan related to providing educational and day care services on this link http://www.bplans.com/day_care_services_and_childrens_products_business_plan_templates.php

Setting your budget is an important step in the execution phase. A few basic requirements that will vie for a place in your budgetary allocation are:

1. Lease/rental cost for school building

2. Furniture and play equipment

3. Creating a play school ambiance 

4. Staff salaries

5. Curriculum

6. Promotion/marketing expenses

7. Website designing and maintenance costs

This list is by no means exhaustive. Keep aside money for monthly operations until you have enough students to generate this amount and start making profit. 

That's it for now. More on this topic in next post. Till them, Dream BIG and live your dream.

Best Wishes, 

Playpen Team

How we can Help Children Learn and Develop

Hi Friends!

Teaching has been my passion for the past 25 years and it's been a privilege to be able to guide and shape the personalities of the tens of thousands of children I have taught. This is a great platform to share ideas and experiences, and I would like to share what I have learnt in my years of handling children - from the little pre-schoolers to adolescents. My experience and years of research has help me shape a curriculum for children of my preschool  - a curriculum that will not just help them learn the basics of literacy, but also challenge their minds and make them think in a creative manner.

My basic premise for structuring the curriculum is the fact that children start learning even before they are born and continue to learn even as they grow into adolescents and beyond. The other fact is that the first few years of a child's life are crucial to learning - in fact as much as 40-50% of a child's intellectual growth happens by age 4. That's quite an overwhelming fact, isn't it? Research also indicates that the more stimulation a child receives in this stage of growth, the better his or her intellectual development and ability to learn further is - the best part......if we are able to provide a stimulating environment, the economical or social background of the child doesn't matter - he or she will learn despite that!

Preschool teachers, young moms and child caretakers......watch this space for more!

Best Wishes,

the Playpen Team