KIDS INPERTH
The
Born & Bred in WA
,
FEBRUARY 2013
Parents Paper
www.kidsinperth.com
Great reading • Great competitions • Free ever y month
Pre-school programs stimulate more brainpower
Back to school with a clear view
By Victoria Carlton, Director, International Centre for Excellence he International Centre for Excellence (ICE) provides an intensive, enjoyable learning program for young children from 2-5 years and achieves excellent results.
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Attending children are given help to develop each of their 8 intelligences within a rich, multisensory program. They are helped to develop specific talents such as art and music and also learn the beginning concepts for literacy and numeracy skills. The centre is extraordinarily well equipped with books, learning games and learning manipulative equipment from all over the world, to ensure maximum learning for all children. The ICE teachers are specially trained to teach in creative, engaging ways to maximise progress and ensure that every child reaches their full potential. “Our aim is to help these children develop both creative and academic skills,” says Victoria Carlton, author and Director of educational Programs at ICE. “We believe that early preparation of young minds will promote flexible thinking, imagination, creativity and basic literacy and numeracy skills.” The children learn the unique actions and sounds in the world acclaimed JOLLY PHONICS program and therefore start to blend sounds in an
PRICELESS
effortless way to make simple words. Children on this program are generally over 12 months ahead with reading and spelling skills. Early literacy research has shown that young children who are taught with a synthetic phonics program achieve at high levels when they commence formal schooling. The children are all helped to learn and consolidate beginning maths concepts so they’ll be at a high stage of readiness for formal maths programs when they commence school. Children are introduced to well researched, engaging and exciting maths equipment such as Cuisenaire and Numicon. Victoria Carlton is convinced of the importance of early maths learning. “It’s vital that children see and touch the maths equipment to really understand the important beginning maths concepts,” she says. “Maths is a “building block” subject and we must ensure that every concept is thoroughly taught. We need to realise that young children are very curious, capable and flexible and we need to foster their interests and give them a head start - this is what our ICE programs are about!” Call ICE on 9271 4200, email iceinfo@iinet.net.au or visit www.ice-au.com
ith your children heading off to school for another year, their eye health should become top priority. Since 80% of students’ learning is visual, eyes are the most crucial asset when in the classroom.
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Good vision plays an important role in a child’s development, as it can affect school performance, coordination skills and sports. Yet many parents and students simply don’t think about poor vision being a significant barrier to learning. Simple tasks such as reading the whiteboard, a text book or long hours spent staring at a computer screen, make studying harder when headaches, squinting or blurry words come into the equation. This can result in students having to work harder to keep up with their classmates and, in some cases, causes them to become distracted in class due to their lack of ability to be involved. “Unfortunately children are not very good at assessing their own vision, which is why such a large number of problems go undetected,” says Grant fisher, National Eyecare Director at OPSM. “Parents should take their children to have their eyes screened from the age of three years, and undergo regular testing every two years subsequently. Proactive eye exams allow problems to be
detected and addressed before they hamper performance at school.” Key indicators to identifying whether your child may need an eye test: • Losing their place or using their finger to maintain their place while reading, leaving out or confusing small words, or making reversals while reading and writing. • Holding reading material closer than normal or avoiding close work altogether. • Squinting when trying to view distant objects and reading the black board. • Rubbing eyes and/or getting headaches. • Turning or tilting the head to use one eye only. When was the last time you had your family’s eyes tested? Medicare covers an eye test every two years and in some instances more frequently. Topping the list as the quickest and most painless exam of the year, a simple eye test will guarantee students more success during the academic year than any trip to the stationary store or uniform shop. Visit an OPSM store or www.OPSM.com to find out more information and to book an eye test for your family today.
Early learning means a good start. Your local Goodstart Early Learning centre offers a safe, stimulating, and nurturing environment with friendly professionals who are qualified in early learning practices. For vacancy enquiries:
1800 222 543 visit goodstart.org.au At Goodstart, children are at the heart of everything we do. As a not-for-profit organisation, we are committed to investing our profits on improved early learning resources, facilities and staff training.
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