Looking back on 2014, planning for 2015
05 Jan, 2015
At this time of year we like to take some time as a team at Crawford Childcare to think about what we really enjoyed and found worthwhile in the year gone by to help us make plans for the upcoming year. We would love your input so please share in the comments or let any of our team know your thoughts. Time is whizzing by. Can you believe its 2015?? Let’s slow down for a moment and think about what we would like 2015 to mean for the children here in Crawford Childcare, Glanmire. We really want your input so please share!! To help focus…
Christmas is fast approaching and excitement is building up here in Crawford. We have a countdown started in all three rooms. In the baby room they have a Santa on the door with their countdown. In the toddler room we have chain links and we watch each day as the links get shorter as we take one of each day. The montessori’s have their Santa in the main hall that we are filling in each day with cotton wool to fill up Santa’s beard. Santa will be arriving in Crawford Childcare in Glanmire on Thursday 18th of December. The toddlers are all excited with…
Cathy and Ashley have been doing the “Healthy Ireland Smart Start Program” to help improve the health and well-being for the next generation. Oral health was one of the topics we talked about, so here’s what we learned: Children have 20 primary teeth, also known as their baby or milk teeth. These teeth start showing at around 6 months and these can be replaced by adult teeth from the age of 6 onwards. It is very important to teach your child good oral hygiene habits at a young age because this can lead to a lifelong healthy mouth. It is very important to start brushing…
At Crawford Childcare, Glanmire we all love to sing and dance. None of the teachers will be the next Mariah or Celine but we like to think we all have the X factor. The children seem to enjoy joining in or maybe they are really trying to show us how it is done! Whether it is “All the rain drops” or “Do you want to build a snowman” we will give it a go. Even those of us who are not quite walking yet are well able to boogey and wiggle those hips. Singing is a great way for the children to express themselves and…
Gender stereotypes often begin in the pre-school year. Supporting gender equality can really enhance education. Here in Crawford Childcare, Glanmire we provide various aspects of learning and different play opportunities to the children that support this. Harry loves playing in the kitchen and cooking up a storm and also making the teachers a lovely cup of tea with some buns he’s baked. Niamh loves playing with the cars on the garage while Rian and Abigail enjoying folding away the clothes which are part of our Montessori practical life section. Typically, as is everywhere here in Crawford Childcare, some gender differences do occur as it is…
Mornings are busy but a special part of the day at Crawford Childcare. It is lovely to see the children being dropped off by their parents, family members and carers. Most children will stroll in happy and excited to tell us their news. One morning recently Aoibheann came in wearing her Peppa Pig hat and scarf with Daddy who brought her to the creche in her pink welly boots. She was too busy to say Good Bye to her Daddy. Lucy arrived the same day standing still by the door for a few moments. The staff and friends gave her a big welcome. She gave…
Every week as your refuse is collected – spare a thought for all those discarded cardboard boxes. They can be useful! So, rather than just ignoring that big cardboard box I saw in the staffroom, I decided to give it a chance – a chance at a bright new future and a chance at being a star! The puppet stage was initially meant to be a “news window” where the children could sit down, draw back the curtains and talk about any news they had. This worked for a while but the children soon lost interest. It wasn’t until Maya commented “it looks like a…
We all had had a busy time last week dressing up for Halloween. It was great to see all the different costumes and the bright colours. All the children were delighted to show off their outfits to their friends. Dress up and role playing is an important part of child development in Crawford Childcare in Glanmire. It helps children develop all five areas of development such as their physical, cognitive, social, emotional and language. Dress up allows the children to dress up as their favourite superhero, princes and princesses, fairies or even every day workers such as doctors, nurses, firemen, or gardai. Dress up allows…
So Halloween is fast approaching and we all know what that means? Christmas is only around the corner –ha ha ! Only joking we love Halloween here at Crawford Childcare, Glanmire. Its such a nice time to introduce our children to the joys of dressing up be it scary, funny or nice. Though sometimes we may think Halloween is all about sweets and trick or treating there is actually a lot more to it. Halloween is the second most celebrated holiday. Pumpkins and the carving of them originated in Ireland. People believed that placing a candle in them would keep away ghosts and that carving…
This week's blog is all about the Montessori Method and how it is carried out within Crawford Childcare, Glanmire. To begin with, here is a little background on Dr Maria Montessori. Dr Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952), born at Chiraville, Italy was Italy’s first female doctor of medicine. Working with children at Rome’s Psychiatric Clinic, she noticed that they sought to learn about their environment through the use of their hands. This idea that the path to intellectual development is through the hands is a major theme in her method of education. Montessori education is a child centred method of education. This method allows…
