Parenting with boundaries is crucial for helping children develop social competence, which is the ability to interact effectively and...

Have you ever watched your child throw toys across the room or carefully line up stones in a row and wondered why they do it? These behaviors are more than just play—they are essential ways children learn about the world around them. These repeated patterns of play are called schemas and understanding them can open up new ways to support your child’s natural curiosity and development. What Are Schemas? Schemas are recurring patterns in children’s play that help them make sen

“Play is the work of childhood.”  Jean Piaget Structured Play & Unstructured Play - What's the difference & is one better than the other?...

Words we use with our children are important because they shape their thoughts and the physical structure of their brains. Words convey...

“If you want your children to be brilliant, read them fairy stories. If you want them to be even more brilliant, read even more fairy stories” Albert Einstein Storytelling has long been a passion within Magic Garden. This article presents some practical tips that parents can use to make storytelling and bedtime routines at home rich and memorable. From an early age children demonstrate interest and enthusiasm for stories. It is a feature that is common across all cultures an

Setting boundaries with loving guidance helps your child navigate the complex world of social competence, increases their sense of belonging and helps them to make friends and participate in group activities. Two & three year old's are often testing boundaries while they are finding increasing levels of independence. Parenting Styles - which one are you? Let's start by thinking about parenting styles. Which parenting style do you use? Authoritarian parenting, which "is do t

Neurodiversity is a term used to describe a range of natural variations in the human brain. As a concept it acknowledges we all learn and...

Parents often ask us how we teach children to read and write. This story shows a snapshot of the building blocks for learning to read and write that came together for a single child (an ex-pupil) in our Over Two room. Magic Garden teachers are highly skilled at observing children's interests, and providing a variety of materials and provocations to extend and grow children's early literacy skills. Play-based learning at its best offers highly intentional and fun opportunitie

Early Literacy (speech, language, reading, writing and story telling) starts with increasing your child's fine motor control and building strong hand muscles. Young children learn early literacy skills much the same way they acquire language skills. All developmental areas work together in a meaningful, relationship-oriented way within a sensory rich environment. Fine motor control needed for writing, involves developing hands and fingers that can work effectively together t

As children learn to make sense of their world and develop working theories they develop an understanding of themselves in social contexts. Development of social and emotional competence begins in infancy and is essential for children’s everyday well-being as well as for engagement and learning in Magic Garden. Emotional and social competence reflects the child’s capacity to integrate behavioural, cognitive and affective skills with emotional expression, social problem solv