Grandma’s Place Blog

After successfully being rated at the Exceeding level for quality of service and education programs in 2017, we are delighted to build on this quality and extend into higher level learning opportunities in 2017. We have three new initiatives this year – our very anticipated Artist in Residence program, which epitomises the pinnacle of quality in contemporary early learning in Australia, introduction of learning Japanese language for Kindergarten children, extended by our ve ..read more

Many of the world’s countries with top education performance levels are ensuring that their society’s children have access to Kindergarten for the two years prior to school, not just the one year as is currently the case in Australia. Kindergarten programs provide children with opportunities to develop their skills, capabilities, talents and interests. Kindergarten also helps children learn how to get along with others, be collaborative problem solvers, be creative, as well as  ..read more

At the recent Australian Council of Educational Leaders (ACEL) Early Childhood conference, a visiting professor from Oxford University shared some of his research from Britain that followed children from birth to 16 years of age. It overwhelming showed that children who hear lots of oral language from people around them and have books read to them each day do much better at primary and secondary school. He said that poor literacy at school level had its roots in the early childhood year ..read more

Congratulations to our families on choosing not only the highest rated long day care but also the highest rated Kindergarten program in the Sarina area. We have worked hard to achieve this recognition from the Queensland Department of Education and ACECQA and are delighted to share this exciting news with you. The Exceeding rating is especially tough for long day care services to achieve, in that the rating given for the service is the lowest individual rating observed (i.e. if you hav ..read more

Recently, CHOICE™, Australia’s leading consumer advocacy group, looked at packaged snack foods that are aimed at babies, and there are some interesting things to be aware of as a parent to negotiate the minefield that is packaged food. Below is the article that was posted, and that CHOICE™ have kindly given permission to us to reproduce to share with our families and families in our region. If you would like more information, head over to www.choice.com.au (http://www.cho ..read more

According to a recent article in the Australian Financial Review, one of the world’s most senior women in the fast growing cyber security industry says kindergarten children should be the focus of government attempts to boost the number of tech-savy workers because many students – especially girls – have already given up on maths and science. The article states that instead of waiting until high school to teach algebra to a shrinking number of boys and girls, teaching a ..read more

We are excited to launch to the new website for Grandma’s Place. 2016 brings new ways for our centre to connect and share stories with our families no matter where you are. Our website has been had a complete makeover creating a more user friendly, information based, interactive space. Over the past seven years Grandma’s Place has been changing, evolving to give your child the best possible start to life while in care. In 2016 we decided it was time to revamp our websi ..read more

Bedtime. Are you struggling to get your kids to bed and have them stay there? With some preparation, a plan, and some good old consistency it is possible. The Basic Bedtime Method It all starts with what we call The Basic Bedtime method. There are two steps: 1. pick a bedtime and stick to it 2. create a bedtime routine 1. Time for Bed Step one is to pick a bedtime and stick to it. You absolutely must be consistent with the bedtime. Why? Because every time you alter ..read more

The first steps of learning to count start by using a sequence of counting words, starting from one. Once children become familiar with the sequence e.g. 1,2,3 they are able to then start identifying the number that comes before for after a number without having to start at one. Counting forwards and backwards is essential knowledge for early addition and subtraction, and strategies such as counting on and counting back. So what does our Kindy Curriculum say about learning to count ..read more

This is the question that many parents including yourself may have wondered when you hear what today’s Prep children are learning when they start formal schooling. At Grandma’s Place we are not just getting your child ready for Prep but ready to learn in an environment where play is the core of everyday learning opportunities. For example, children learn about numbers from everyday opportunities that mean something to them. Let’s look at counting forwards and backwards ..read more