I believe in playful learning activities and learning through play.

Childhood should be fun. And, kids learn best through play. Why not capitalize on that?

I also believe in making it easy for parents and caregivers to help young children learn at home. I also believe that children can be properly educated and prepared for school through what they learn at home.

It can be stressful to try to figure out what our little ones need to know in order to prepare them for their futures. I’ve taken the guesswork out of that and designed meaningful playful learning activities to help children learn through play.

I believe in cross-curricular activities or “lessons” that cover many skills and subject areas.

Why not get the most you can out of one activity?

I believe in paying attention to children, their interests and skills, and letting this be a guiding factor in helping them learn through play and discovery-based activities.

We learn more when we’re interested in something. The same is true for our kids. And, it’s more fun for them, so they’re more likely to keep “working” (aka: playing).

Interested in learning more about “stuff” I mentioned here?

1. Here’s more on what makes an activity a “playful learning activity”: What is a Playful Learning Activity?
2. Interested in learning how to make the most of every day moments? Check out my post about Magnifying the Moment.

While a lot of this is based off of my experience as a classroom teacher, and trying to make sure my own children are well-rounded and well-educated, much of it also comes from what Finland is doing (their students outperform most other countries and have for years). If you’d like to read more about Finland’s education system, here are some great places to start:

http://www.npr.org/2014/03/08/287255411/what-the-u-s-can-learn-from-finland-where-school-starts-at-age-7

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful-49859555/

http://mobile.edweek.org/c.jsp?cid=25920011&item=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.edweek.org%2Fv1%2Fblogs%2F112%2F%3Fuuid%3D57226

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/early-educations-top-model-finland/article4212334/

http://curiousmindmagazine.com/goodbye-subjects-finland-taking-revolution-education-step/

http://plchelsinki.fi/new-pedagogical-material-keen-ears-learn-to-imagine-think-outside-the-box/

https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/158664/Manifesto_2015_PLC.pdf?sequence=1