https://www.thecuriosityapproach.com/events

Curiosity Approach Network Avon & Somerset, Portishead (2026)

08/06/2023

•✏️• S•T•A•R•T•I•N•G• •S•C•H•O•O•L •✏️•

I have kept this post saved - it’s one I often remember and go to at this time of year, especially as our little are about to start their transition to school!

It was written by the wonderful Stephanie Bennett, co.founder of The Curiosity Approach a few years ago!

I cannot emphasise enough how important PLAY is ... they will learn all the necessary skills required in order for them to learn how to write. Play will teach far more skills than any worksheet will ever provide✏️

As our friends at The Curiosity Approach have explained;

“REMEMBER – your child is unique & an individual, they will LEARN to write when everything is just JUST RIGHT!

Physically ready
Mentally ready
Emotionally ready

These all need to connect together otherwise your child has no true understanding of WHY they are holding a pencil, to form letters. (Letters, what are these???)

None of it will make SENSE to a child, until all the pieces slot perfectly into place & they can understand WHAT they are doing (cognitive development) and WHY?

-Stephanie Bennett. Co Founder of The Curiosity Approach-

So we urge you, if you want to know the best way to help prepare your child for school! It’s quite simple, just enjoy playing!

06/06/2023

•✏️• S•T•A•R•T•I•N•G• •S•C•H•O•O•L•✏️•

Before we begin looking at and talking about ‘should I be teaching my child to write before they start school?’ .... take a look at the x-ray!

Look at the differences between a typical younger child’s hand (left) and a typical older child's hand (right).

I have parents, and I’m sure you do too asking regularly why their preschool aged child isn’t able to write yet and this x-ray image holds the answer!

Their hands (and brains) are still developing and are not fully formed they are still growing and developing! 🧠

So what could you do to support this? ⁉️

PLAY, play is essential for children, they are not at the age and stage of development where they should be made to sit down and learn! They simply must have an abundance of play.

Children need to strengthen their muscles, from their shoulders, to the elbows, to the wrists. Play will also support the development of concentration, focus and determination. ❤️

So you may now ask, what type of activities can you provide at home? There are tonnes and all of them are easy to resource;
•Playdough
•Cutting
•Gluing
•Outdoor Play
•Digging in dirt
•Sensory Experiences such as gloop And baking
•Encouraging dressing self
•Large scale mark making
•Throwing balls and introducing catch

All of these things help their hands develop. When they are physically ready to write, they will! No need to rush our children to write, they will show you when they are ready!⁉️

I’m the mean time just let them play, for it is the highest form of research!

05/06/2023

🍎•S•T•A•R•T•I•N•G• •S•C•H•O•O•L•🍎

September may seem like a long time away, but for children who are starting school this year, the excitement and anticipation of their next big step in life has already begun ❤️

With this in mind, have you considered what “school readiness” actually means? Have you ever introduced authentic school related resources to dramatic play?

You may ask, but why would we do this?

The key benefits of role play for children is that is encourages them and supports them to;

•act out scenarios and also to make sense of situations they come across in real life.
• develop their awareness of their surroundings, as well as themselves and others around them
•develop their communication skills and forms their use of language
•gives them the chance to explore, experiment and even investigate
•encourages collaboration with others
•sparks creativity and imagination

What a great way to introduce our littles to their
next big transition in the most natural way ❤️

04/06/2023

•🌱• S•U•N•D•A•Y• 🌱•

It pretty obvious really … children learn from growing things 🌱

People of all ages can enjoy gardening, but children in particular will have lots of fun and gain special benefits 🥕

Gardening is educational and develops new skills including:
•Responsibility– from caring for plants
•Understanding– as they learn about cause and effect (for example, plants die without water, weeds compete with plants)
•Self-confidence – from achieving their goals and enjoying the food they have grown
•Love of nature – a chance to learn about the outdoor environment in a safe and pleasant place
•Reasoning and discovery – learning about the science of plants, animals, weather, the environment, nutrition and simple construction
•Physical activity – doing something fun and productive
•Cooperation– including shared play activity and teamwork
•Creativity– finding new and exciting ways to grow food
•Nutrition – learning about where fresh food comes from.

Please do just take a moment to share in the delight of this little one tending to her garden, observing what is happening and what can be seen … simply beautiful 🌱

📸 Laura Mary Bailey

03/06/2023

•☀️•🌸• S•A•T•U•R•D•A•Y •🌸•☀️•

“𝒜 𝑔𝒶𝓇𝒹𝑒𝓃 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽𝑒𝓇. 𝐼𝓉 𝓉𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽𝑒𝓈 𝓅𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝑒𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝓌𝒶𝓉𝒸𝒽𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈; 𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽𝑒𝓈 𝒾𝓃𝒹𝓊𝓈𝓉𝓇𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝒾𝒻𝓉; 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽𝑒𝓈 𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝓈𝓉.”

~𝒢𝑒𝓇𝓉𝓇𝓊𝒹𝑒 𝒥𝑒𝓀𝓎𝓁𝓁~

Happy Saturday Everyone

30/05/2023

•🐦‍⬛•🍃• T•U•E•S•D•A•Y •🍃•🐦‍⬛•

“𝒯𝓌𝑜 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝒸𝓀𝓎 𝒷𝒾𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝓈𝒾𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝓃 𝒶 𝓌𝒶𝓁𝓁
𝒪𝓃𝑒 𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒𝒹 𝒫𝑒𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒𝒹 𝒫𝒶𝓊𝓁
𝐹𝓁𝓎 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝒫𝑒𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝒻𝓁𝓎 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝒫𝒶𝓊𝓁
𝒞𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒫𝑒𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒫𝒶𝓊𝓁
𝒯𝓌𝑜 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝒸𝓀𝓎 𝒷𝒾𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝓈𝒾𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝓃 𝒶 𝓌𝒶𝓁𝓁
𝒪𝓃𝑒 𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒𝒹 𝒫𝑒𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒𝒹 𝒫𝒶𝓊𝓁
𝐹𝓁𝓎 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝒫𝑒𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝒻𝓁𝓎 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝒫𝒶𝓊𝓁
𝒞𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒫𝑒𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒫𝒶𝓊𝓁”

Remember our little bird watcher? Well here she is venturing in to the woods with her family to see who she can find perched in amongst the trees 🌳

Have a wonderful and adventure filled Tuesday 🌳🍃🐦‍⬛

📸 Laura Bailey

28/05/2023

•🐦‍⬛•F•O•L•L•O•W•I•N•G• the •C•H•I•L•D•🐦‍⬛•

Have you ever thought about why following the child’s lead is so important and crucial to their learning? 🧠

I have to admit I even do this when I am building a gift for a family members birthday!

This little selection of items shown is for a little soon to be two, who has a love for watching the birds outside, whether in her garden or when she is out and about! 🍃

By acknowledging, and building on, children's own interests we help children feel valued as an individual, someone who is an expert in their own life experiences.

It opens the door to new experiences, new information, new skills. It leads to new possibilities and helps the child to appreciate the power and joy of learning, of going into new territory. 🐦‍⬛

And this is where the fun starts! Watching them, observing them and learning with them too!

27/05/2023

💛•L•O•O•S•E• •P•A•R•T•S• at •H•O•M•E•💛

What glorious weather we are experiencing right now! And what better way is there to inspire and nurture young creative minds than heading outdoors? ☀️

You do not need fancy resources or an endless supply of loose parts … take a moment to look at this little one ….

Fully engaged in her own play led learning with a few pebbles and some sand! 💛

Loose parts are G R E A T … but why?

The loose parts play theory is based on the idea that when children are presented with a collection of objects, they have more opportunities for creativity and engagement as they rearrange, redesign and tinker with the parts, creating patterns and new objects as they go ☀️

Anyone can try this at home and seek delights in the learning opportunities that this brings to their little ones … so why not give it a try ?💛

Happy Bank Holiday Weekend ☀️

20/05/2023

•🐝• W•O•R•L•D• •B•E•E• •D•A•Y •🐝•

“𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝓊𝓂 𝑜𝒻 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓋𝑜𝒾𝒸𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑔𝒶𝓇𝒹𝑒𝓃”

-𝐸𝓁𝒾𝓏𝒶𝒷𝑒𝓉𝒽 𝐿𝒶𝓌𝓇𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒-

Today is World Bee Day and if you’re anything like me, you’re fascinated and in awe of these fluffy little creatures 💛

Every year I create provocations for my children to celebrate and understand the wonder that is the Bee … and from here I follow what the children want to learn about them 🐝

Provocations; So many of us tend to overthink what this actually means! I tend to think of this as an open-ended invitation to explore, discover and be creative🖤

If that didn't convince you, provocations spark interest, stimulate thoughts and ideas, and encourage questioning – all of which help children understand, learn and develop💛

I have included some pictures in this post of what’s been created over the years by children of varying ages within my settings to celebrate World Bee Day 🐝

18/05/2023

•☀️• T•H•U•R•S•D•A•Y •☀️•

When the sun shines we head outside to relax with a good book 💛

We all know of the risks around being outside in the sun! We talk about these often and are made aware of them too!☀️

But of course there are also benefits! But what are they;
•it helps the body to produce vitamin D
•it boosts the immune system
•it regulates their circadian rhythms! Or to put it simply it helps to regulate sleep patterns
•it reduces anxiety

Of course we also need to ensure that we keep our littles safe too … how do we do that?;
•wear tops that are made with a light fabric and that have long sleeves
•apply sunscreen
•wear a sun hat
•wear sunglasses
•stay in the shade when the uv rays are at their highest
•drink plenty of water

Overall, though, exposing children to sunlight as we head into summer will help your child’s body to function how it is naturally designed – which means happier, healthier children who are more likely to thrive 💛

📸 Laura Bailey

14/05/2023

•☀️• S•U•N•D•A•Y •☀️•

“𝒜 𝒮𝓊𝓃𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓈𝓅𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒷𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝒶 𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓀 𝑜𝒻 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓃𝓉”

~ 𝐵𝒶𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝒫𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓀 ~

13/05/2023

•🇬🇧•🥁• S•A•T•U•R•D•A•Y •🥁•🇬🇧•

Has your little one ever made their own musical instrument using their own imagination and resources they’ve found in the kitchen cupboard⁉️

Did you know that music helps us retain words and expressions much more effectively 🧠

The rhythm of the music, as well as the repetitive patterns within the song, help us memorize words. This is especially important for billingual children, they in particular, can benefit from singing songs in their second language 🎶

By using these open ended resources this little one was not only exploring and experimenting with language she was also using her imagination, creativity and problem-solving skills!🧠

By doing this play can be richer and more complex. This kind of play ensures learning and is fun! 🥁🎶

Curiosity Approach Network Avon & Somerset

08/06/2023

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