Home Learning
Sherwood Green values the importance of supporting families in their children’s learning journey. We offer plenty of help and advice on ways you can support your family at home.
Click on the links below to explore helpful resources and tips designed for each stage of development:
Supporting Your Baby’s Development
From Birth to One Year
Children need to be healthy and safe to thrive and learn. Here's how you can support your baby during this crucial first year:
Keeping Your Baby Healthy
- Healthy Parents Matter: Your baby needs parents who look after themselves, staying as healthy as possible to meet their many needs.
- Building Attachments: Forming strong bonds with special people, especially parents or carers, is essential for your baby’s healthy development.
- Meeting Basic Needs: Provide healthy food, keep your baby warm, dry, and clean to help them thrive.
- Vaccinations: Ensure your baby receives their recommended vaccinations to protect them from childhood illnesses.
- Individual Growth: Every baby is unique and develops at their own pace. Avoid comparing your baby’s progress to others.
Keeping Your Baby Safe
- Parental Responsibility: Safety starts with you but involves everyone who interacts with your baby.
- Trusted Care: Only leave your baby with someone you trust completely and who understands their needs.
- Safe Environment: Create a safe home and community by removing physical dangers and fostering an emotionally supportive atmosphere.
- Clean Air Matters: Avoid exposing your baby to cigarettes, alcohol fumes, or any harmful substances.
- Careful Handling: Babies are fragile and depend on adults to prevent accidents.
Helping Your Baby Learn
- Talk from the Start: Speak to your baby even before they’re born and continue after. This stimulates their brain and encourages learning.
- Show and Tell: Introduce your baby to objects in the home, naming and explaining their uses.
- Stimulate Their Senses: Encourage sensory experiences through touch, sight, smell, and sound.
- Play and Read Together: Play games, sing rhymes, explore safe objects, and introduce books to your baby.
- Be Their First Teacher: Include your baby in everyday activities to foster learning naturally.
By focusing on health, safety, and learning, you’re giving your baby the best possible start in life!
1 – 2 Years: Supporting Your Toddler's Growth
From One to Two Years
As babies grow into toddlers, they become more active, independent, and curious. Here's how to support their health, safety, and learning during this exciting stage:
Keeping Young Toddlers Healthy
- Health Checks and Vaccinations: At 12 months, toddlers usually have a health check, and their vaccinations continue to protect them.
- Healthy Eating: Toddlers may show readiness for soft finger foods. A healthy, balanced diet is vital for their growth.
- Increased Activity: As toddlers become mobile, the physical demands on carers increase. Parents should maintain their own health and well-being to keep up with their active child.
- Understanding Emotions: Toddlers start recognizing themselves as independent individuals with strong feelings. Tantrums are common and should be met with calm and consistent responses.
- Security in Relationships: While toddlers begin noticing other children, they still rely on their special people for comfort and security.
Keeping Young Toddlers Safe
- Safety Is Our Responsibility: Toddlers cannot keep themselves safe, so it’s up to adults to create a safe environment.
- Be Mindful of Balance: As toddlers start walking, their heavy heads and developing coordination can cause tumbles.
- Safe Home Environment: Remove dangers such as wires, curtain cords, and hot appliances like kettles and irons.
- Secure Outdoor Spaces: Check yards or gardens for hazards, including shallow pools of water, and ensure boundaries are secure to prevent toddlers from wandering into unsafe areas.
Helping Young Toddlers Learn
- Encourage Physical Activity: Running, climbing, and jumping are great for brain development.
- Keep Talking: Conversations with your toddler boost their intellectual growth and vocabulary.
- Explore Books Together: Reading stories and looking at books helps toddlers learn about the world and prepares them for future reading.
- Creative Play: Provide crayons and paints to improve coordination and prepare for activities like writing.
- Imaginative Play: Join your toddler in make-believe play to foster creativity and problem-solving skills.
By supporting their health, safety, and curiosity, you’re helping your toddler build the foundations for a happy and healthy future!
2 – 3 Years: Supporting Your Toddler's Growing Independence
From Two to Three Years
As toddlers grow, they begin to explore their independence. Here’s how to support their health, safety, and learning during this stage:
Keeping Two-Year-Olds Healthy
- Toilet Training: Many children become toilet trained during this year, but every child is different. Avoid rushing the process.
- Healthy Eating Habits: Introduce a varied and balanced diet. Good eating habits start at home.
- Flu Protection: From age two, toddlers can receive the nasal spray flu vaccine to protect against the flu virus.
- Managing Tantrums: Tantrums may still happen but often decrease with consistent routines and boundaries.
- Encouraging Activity: Support your child’s physical development by providing opportunities for active play.
Keeping Two-Year-Olds Safe
- Understanding Danger: Toddlers still can’t assess danger, so adults must ensure their safety.
- Teach Key Words: Help your child understand words like "NO" and "STOP" to avoid immediate dangers.
- Learning Personal Details: Start teaching your child their full name, and later, their address.
- Safe Skills: Teach skills that promote safety when you aren’t immediately present.
- Taking Safe Risks: Allow your child to explore safe challenges, helping them learn decision-making skills.
Helping Two-Year-Olds Learn
- Conversations Are Key: Keep talking and explaining things to your child—they learn a lot from you.
- Music and Rhymes: Sing songs, recite rhymes, and play music to develop rhythm and language skills.
- Books and Creativity: Read stories, ask questions, dramatize them, and encourage drawing and painting to support learning.
- Fostering Independence: Encourage your child to try things on their own, even if it takes longer at first.
- Learning Through Play: Provide time and opportunities for play and family activities, helping your child explore the world in their own way.
By guiding and supporting your toddler, you can help them thrive as they grow into their independence!
3 – 4 Years: Supporting Your Child’s Transition into Early Childhood
From Three to Four Years
As toddlers grow into early childhood, they develop independence, social skills, and a curiosity about the world. Here's how to support their health, safety, and learning during this stage:
Keeping Three-Year-Olds Healthy
- Routine Vaccinations: Ensure your child receives their vaccinations at 3 years and 4 months to protect them from serious diseases.
- Model Good Habits: Children learn quickly by watching adults. Demonstrate healthy and positive behaviors.
- Outdoor Play: Spending time outdoors supports both physical health and learning.
- Self-Care Skills: Teach children to care for themselves physically, socially, and emotionally by encouraging them to talk about their feelings.
- Body Awareness: Children start noticing similarities and differences in themselves and others. Support these discoveries with sensitivity and positivity.
Keeping Three-Year-Olds Safe
- Dependence on Adults: While children are gaining independence, they still rely on adults for safety.
- Building Skills: Help children feel secure by allowing them to practice skills in a safe environment.
- Road Safety: Teach the basics of road safety to reduce the risk of traffic accidents.
- Swimming Skills: Encourage your child to learn to swim to improve water safety.
- Travel Safety: Explain and practice safety measures for travel in all forms.
Helping Three-Year-Olds Learn
- Play is Essential: Play is still the main way children learn and is key to their well-being.
- Mark-Making: With better fine motor skills, children enjoy drawing and beginning to write.
- Social Skills and Empathy: Children start forming special friendships and understanding differences in others’ lives.
- Fostering Tolerance: Support your child in becoming compassionate and respectful of diversity.
- Language and Books: Foster a love of stories and conversations to prepare for reading and strengthen language skills.
- Explore the Local Environment: Use local outings as learning opportunities to connect your child to the world around them.
By supporting their growth, health, and curiosity, you are helping your child take big steps toward readiness for school and beyond!
Rhymes
Christmas Home Learning Pack
