Mini-Me Early Learning Centre

Did you know that digging in the dirt provides great "heavy work" to the muscles and joints? 🌿💦

This resistance helps to neurologically override the light touch sense of "messy fingers & hands" that can feel aversive to so many children. Overtime, providing more full-body sensory experiences (especially outdoors!) helps to create effective changes to the senses. Children start to tolerate new textures and play scenarios.

May you enjoy this harvest festival with your loved ones and have its warmth stay with you throughout the year. Happy Pongal!

REASONS TO GET OUR KIDS DRAWING MORE - MAYBE THEY'LL GET SMARTER?!

"The researchers hypothesize that's because drawing gives your brain so many different ways to engage with new material -- you have to figure out how to draw it by imagining it in detail in your mind, you experience the physical feeling of rendering that idea, and then, in the end, you look at a visual representation of it.

The bottom line is simple: Most of us are probably not using the best techniques to study. And drawing is the top of the heap when it comes to research-backed approaches. Not only will it help you get smarter fast, but drawing is also so simple and discreet that you can use it in almost any setting -- from a lecture hall to a meeting room."

When children don't know how to ask for what they need their asking comes in the form of behaviour. Angry outbursts can often be caused by being overstimulated, feeling unheard, a feeling of anxiety, or that their boundaries may have been invaded.

One way to help children express their needs is through providing opportunities to help children develop and refine their emotional intelligence. Developing emotional intelligence enables us to manage emotions effectively and avoid being derailed, for example, by a flash of anger.

A useful way to support your child's emotional develop is using a R.U.L.E.R acronym.

RECOGNISE
help children to recognise how they are feeling using cues from the body and how others may feel.

UNDERSTAND
Help children to understand the possible causes of these feelings.

LABEL
Help children to label their feelings and verbalise them. Developing a rich vocabulary allows us to pinpoint our emotions accurately, communicate effectively,

EXPRESS
Help children to understand that no feeling is bad and we must try and express them all appropriately and safely.

REGULATE
Help children to refine and explore coping strategies that can help them
maintain a comfortable feeling or shift an uncomfortable feeling