Yeh its Popcat’s day! You are looking forward to seeing the other mums there and having a little catch up, whilst watching your little one have fun with Popcat and the class leader!
The snack and coffee at the end is just an added bonus!
In amidst all this fun there is actually some amazing brain development going on for your child as well. Their little constantly developing brain will be building new pathways and firing new connections all the time!
The classes have been devised to include so many learning opportunities
The structure – it is the same every week!
This enables your child to learn to predict what’s coming next, sequencing, learning the words that are connected to this. Children love repetition and it helps them feel secure. All of this helps with language development and reading readiness skills.
We sing known Nursery Rhymes
This means you can join in and share the experience withyour child. Learning to sing allows your child to practice learning to speak,hearing the different sounds in the words, making their voice go up and down with the tune, repeating the rhyming words. All of this being done in a fun and no pressure group environment. There is no right or wrong it’s all about just having a go!
We sing action songs
Children learn through imitation and here are many opportunities to copy going up, down and jigging it all around. They are also developing their gross motor – big body – skills and co- ordination. How do I get my body in that shape? All things we have to learn but are doing it in such a fun way!
We play instruments
Developing a love of playing instruments at an early age isso important. Here we are developing our fine motor – hand co-ordination-skills which are crucial for independence and writing readiness. We are counting as we strike our claves, learning that we say a number for each strike – otherwise known as 1 to 1 correspondence! We are learning the number names, how to beat in time, which takes a lot of thought and control. We are learning cause and effect – I shake this, it makes a noise!
We are with our friends
Developing social skills is another vital part of growingup. At Popcat’s everyone gets to hold something but learning we might not always be able to have that one particular bunny is important, it’s someone else’s turn this week. Having to finish with a toy is also a hard skill to learn, but we love helping our leaders to tidy away and put all those frogs back into the bag! Coming to sit on the mat for story time is teaching you little one how to sit comfortably next to other children and share their space, a very important skill for school!
Who’d have thought that your hour with Popcat is developing your child’s brain in so many amazing ways!!!