EDUCATION PRE-SCHOOL
A touch of class
Pre-school groups ease a child into nursery school and get lonely mothers out of the house. London mother of two, Sara McDonnell, assesses the options in the capital
recommendation of a friend, I would have been joining classes with friends and children entering the same nursery school and our first day at nursery school might have been easier.” In London, the range of classes is
Music classes are a popular choice, keeping children occupied, stimulated and entertained
B
irth to nursery school with a child can be a lonely time for some mothers and one of the best ways to counteract this
is to join a pre-school activity group. Collectives of pushy parents, they are not – just people trying to find their feet in their new role as well as giving their child a chance to socialise with other children. Providing a place for young children
to interact together is an important aspect of pre-school classes and groups. They help prevent their first day at nursery school being a baptism of fire. “Toddler groups prepare children for nursery school and you can tell the more confident children on day one,” comments one mother of four. “They are not the ones screaming their heads off while the mother leaves in floods of tears.” London is full of toddler and pre-
school groups and they can vary from somewhere where mothers have a coffee and meet other mums while their children let off steam to something more structured. It’s worth finding out which toddler groups are local to the school at which your child’s name is down for. “I wish I had done my homework better,” comments First Eleven editor Annabel Heseltine. “Had I gone to a Notting Hill Gate branch where I lived rather than trawling to Chelsea on the
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vast; from sport to music and art to martial arts and maths. If your children are very active and potentially sporty, Teddy Tennis, Little Kickers and swimming classes such as those provided by Swimming Nature provide an opportunity to exercise, let off steam and get a head start in a vital skill. Music and movement classes are also
popular activities. Classes often bring nursery rhymes and songs to life by re-enacting them as well as encouraging a bit of percussion improvisation. Some, like Colourstrings, also incorporate the world-famous, child-centred Kodály concept into their teaching methods. If not personally recommended by a
friend, it is worth trialing a class before signing up to a term’s worth of lessons so you can assess whether your child is likely to enjoy it. Also, many classes are franchises and the success of a class in one region may not be replicated in another with a different person running it. After switching classes upon moving
FIND OUT MORE
Arts, crafts and cookery
Art Barn
http://artbarnclasses.com Cookie crumbles
www.cookiecrumbles.net
Music and movement
Caterpillar Music
www.caterpillarmusic.com
Colourstrings Music School
www.colourstringsmusicschool.co.uk
Chelsea Ballet School
www.chelseaballet.com
Gymboree
www.gymboree-uk.com
to a new area, my swimming pool-loving friend didn’t realise that her son’s new class was conducted without parents present in the pool, which caused a few tears at the poolside. There are always some parents who
send their children to classes to help them ‘get ahead’. The Kumon website admits to having students as young as two years of age apparently benefitting from its mathematical study approach. Baby signing classes are also hugely popular with parents attracted by the promise of aiding their child’s language skills. However, recent research by Professor Karen Pine at the University of Hertfordshire suggests that while signing can help some children from disadvantaged backgrounds, the majority of mothers who take their babies to baby-sign classes – well educated and from higher-income households – may be overcompensating. Others argue that any activity which
encourages stimulation and interaction can never be a bad thing, which probably applies to most of the groups mentioned above. What matters most is whether your little one enjoys it and you can see a benefit, even if it’s simply the opportunity to drink a cup of tea while it’s still hot. %
Yogabugs
www.yogabugs.com Tumble Tots
www.tumbletots.com
Numeracy, literacy and languages
Kumon
www.kumon.co.uk La Jolie Ronde
www.lajolieronde.co.uk
Talking Tots
www.talkingtots.info
Sport
Teddy Tennis
www.teddytennis.com Swimming Nature
www.swimmingnature.com
Little Kickers
www.littlekickers.co.uk
SUMMER 2010 FIRST ELEVEN 29
PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO, YARINCA
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