|
The Basic Skills Agency developed Language and Play at the request of the Welsh Assembly Government. Aimed at parents of children in the 0–3 age group, it is a six week programme with a focus on making parents aware of the importance of talking to children, stories and rhymes, pre-writing skills and establishing the child at the centre of the family unit. It is different because parents and their babies and toddlers are learning together by playing together. They are learning to make connections between words, sounds, rhythm, and pre-school learning, language and literacy.
Helen Clifford is the coordinator for Language and Play (and Number and Play) across Cardiff. As she sees it ‘parents make a difference. Parents play many different roles, sometimes all at once. They forget that the way they fulfil these different roles affects the opportunities that their child has to learn. They forget that how they do things makes a difference’. Helen had noticed that some parents weren’t motivated to work with their children and wanted to do everything themselves, instead of with their children. ‘But now they are getting the idea of turn taking and of being involved with their children.’
All the activities are play-based and use everyday objects, so even those hard-to-reach parents are included. It is friendly, fun and full of practical ideas. The children and parents learn through doing things together. All the parents are equal. One mum explains why she likes the meetings: ‘it’s very good for my son, he has lots of energy and he’s meeting lots of other children, learning to socialise, he can run round and see and learn. It’s good for my baby too as he gets more of my attention here. The baby is watching everything that’s going on and is getting used to people.’
Language and Play is accompanied by another Basic Skills initiative, Number and Play (NAP), which works on the same theory that children learn best through playing and doing. Number and Play has been designed to give parents and carers ideas and suggestions for having fun with numbers. Number fun is so much more than just counting – it is part of everyday life. It’s about number, shape, space, size, order, position, measurement, weight, volume, time and money.
LAP and NAP are helping parents see how important they are to their children’s development and how they can give their children a better start in life. ‘We are showing parents that they are their children’s first teacher.’
For further information on the LAP and NAP services in Cardiff, contact Helen Clifford: hclifford@cardiff.gov.uk.
|
Printer friendly version
Email this page