The Latest Research in Early Childcare Practises

The Latest Research in Early Childcare Practises The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) developed Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework. This is the curriculum framework for children from birth to six years in Ireland. At Crawford Childcare as a leading childcare provider we follow the Aistear curriculum. Within this there is a strong emphasis on play as it is during play that the child learns about the world around them. Childcare providers have an important role in play. They provide support, prepare the environment as well as providing the materials and opportunities necessary for the child. They will also know when to intervene and when to stand back. It is…

The Latest in Crawford

The Latest in Crawford The babies have been exploring their musical sides recently. A music station was made by our team which included drums, home made shakers, pots, pans and spoons. The music consisting of our babies’ voices and clatters have even been heard in our car park at times. The toddlers have been doing lots of activities around the alphabet and colours. It has been especially fun to mix colours. One of our toddlers was really excited to find that she could make a “Barney” colour by mixing red and blue paint. After this discovery she then painted her arms up to her elbow because she wanted to…

Into the New Year at Crawford Childcare

Into the New Year at Crawford Childcare With Christmas well and truly over we find ourselves well into the New Year. Most of our mums and dads are back to work and so are our little learners at Crawford Childcare. The babies have been learning about farm animals. Staff and babies have been heard quacking, mooing and bleating to tunes like Old MacDonald. Activities have included farm story time, farm jigsaws, small world play and the making of animal masks. The babies and staff have also been jumping around to music to dance off the Christmas chocolate eaten over the holidays. Helicopters seem to have been a popular Santa gift this year.…

New Year’s Resolutions at Crawford Childcare

New Year’s Resolutions at Crawford Childcare With the start of a New Year upon us it is a good time to reflect on the past year and things we would like to improve upon for 2014. New Year’s resolutions are a way of setting ourselves goals and help to motivate us to improve our lives. At Crawford Childcare we like to involve our pre schoolers in this too. We sit down with the children and talk about their accomplishments and goals made over the time they have spent with us. We look back at photographs and learning stories to help us remember some of these. It is a time for us…

How To Know Your Child Is Happy In Their Montessori

How To Know Your Child Is Happy In Their Montessori September saw the beginning of a new a term at Crawford Childcare. This was an exciting time for both children and parents with mixed emotions involved. For some parents this was the start of their children’s school life. For some children it may have been the first time they were separated from their parents for a significant length of time. Now we are a little over three months into this new term and all children have settled very well and are enjoying their time at Crawford Childcare. These early years are very important. As a parent it is natural to wonder if they are enjoying…

Working With Cylinders in Crawford Childcare

Working With Cylinders in Crawford Childcare In this week’s blog we are shifting our focus to a piece of Montessori equipment – knobless cylinders. We hope this will help give you an insight to the use of this equipment which is part of our sensory range of Montessori materials. Knobless cylinders are a set of four colours. Each colour is kept in a colour coded box containing 10 cylinders. These correspond to the cylinder blocks 1 to 4, which is another set from our range of sensorial material. The cylinders are handled with the pincer grip and the control of error is visual. The cylinders are used to learn about grading…

Halloween preparations are underway at Crawford Childcare

Halloween preparations are underway at Crawford Childcare There have been some spooky additions to the crèche this week. Windows have been painted with giggling ghouls, wizened witches, plump pumpkins and barmy bats. Boney our resident skeleton is camped out in reception along with his friend Winnie the Witch. Press her hand to hear her spell and cackle. The hallways have been decorated for the build up to Halloween and the babies have been busy making pumpkin masks. Beware -arrivals and collections are taking a little longer than usual as children are stopping, looking, pointing and talking about all they see! In the Montessori room the children have been learning about zoo animals.…

A Cosmic Education in Crawford Childcare

A Cosmic Education in Crawford Childcare In a Montessori environment a cosmic education is how a child learns their place in relation to the world around them. The children in Crawford Childcare’s Montessori are introduced to this on their birthdays. Recently Kevin turned 3 years of age and got to experience the birthday walk. Another child held a representation of the sun while Kevin walked around the sun 3 times whilst holding the sandpaper globe. Each circle represents the earth’s yearly orbit around the sun. The child begins to understand how they are connected to the wider cosmos – the planets, sun and solar system. Other learning in the Montessori this…

Top Tips for starting Montessori

Top Tips for starting Montessori It’s that time of year again when thoughts turn to school. The shops are awash with uniforms, bags, lunchboxes and back to school offers. For those of you with a child due to start with us in Montessori for the first time we wanted to give you a few helpful hints to ease the transition from home to Montessori. Every year thousands of children start pre-school or montessori. Many children find starting in the Montessori exciting and have little trouble with the changes that it brings, while others can find this time stressful. It’s a time of great excitement and new beginnings for the child…