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Encourage children’s development and creativity Bunny’s School Age 1

Puppy’s School Age 1-2

Kitty’s School Age 2-3 KITTY’S SCHOOL • first edition • authors Simeon Marinković and Slavica Marković • illustrated by Evelina Daneva Rajninger • designed by Dušan Pavlić • editor Slavica Marković • proof reader Violeta Babić • prepress Nebojša Mitić • publisher Kreativni centar, Belgrade, 8 Gradištanska • phone/fax: +381 11 38 20 464, +381 11 38 20 483, +381 11 24 40 659 • www.kreativnicentar.rs • print Grafostil • copies 3,000 • year of print 2016 • copyright ©Креативни центар 2016

Hedgehog’s School Age 3-4

Bear’s School Age 4-5

Elephant’s School Age 5-6

Enc o

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KITTY’S SCHO OL

Age

2-3

Age

2-3

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K ITT Y ’S S CHO OL SIMEON MARINKOVIĆ SLAVICA MARKOVIĆ Illustrations Evelina Daneva Rajninger

Child’s development from the second to third year SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DEVELOPMENT

WHAT SHOULD THE ADULT DO

Speech development

During the first months of their third year, children use third person pronouns to refer to themselves ((It’s) Hanna’s. Give Hanna (that).) They know how to complete the last word in a verse and they also begin to understand and utilise prepositions: in, on, behind, under. By the middle of this stage, the child will extend their sentence length (Daddy give ball.) and use words to describe properties: big-small, now-later, yellow-blue-red-green. Furthermore, they can recite short songs and also understand questions such as: Who is flying?, Who is jumping?, Who is swimming?, Who is running?, Who is hiding?

Establish a solid communicative and emotional relationship with the child.

By the time they are three years old, your child will ask to have their favourite stories told, will recall their experiences and ask questions (Who? What? How?). This is when they start using pronouns (and the pronoun I). The number of words they are using increases up to 700, although this may vary greatly between individual children (from several dozen of words to several hundreds).

Cognitive development (critical thinking) In the first half of their third year, your child can seek and find objects that are not in their field of view, is able to differentiate between similar and different objects and is able to single out similar objects from a group (for example, all the cubes). Moreover, your child is discovering properties of objects found in their immediate surroundings: their colour, shape and size. By the middle of this developmental stage, your child can tell the difference between: one, another one, many, none; assort and differentiate between big and small; group objects of the same colour and size. By the end of the third year, they can repeat three numbers or a four-word sentence, pair four shapes: circle, square, triangle and rectangle. They can also tell which is the longest and shortest out of three objects. They are very curious and often ask questions such as: Who is that? What is this? They enjoy playing with constructive material and building blocks.

Develop speech by having it accompany other activities of your child. Encourage speech through the following games: • Naming games (naming objects we use and people we encounter) • Command games (bring me… find the… where is…) • Role play (mummy and baby, etc.) • Guessing games • Fill the gap games • Opposites games (hot-cold, big-small, etc.) • Flipping through and reading picture books together • Telling short stories • Singing short songs • Dramatization • Retelling past events together (What happened then? Who did that?) • Chanting and rhythmically repeating words, syllables and sounds • Repeating and modifying sentences (Bear has a pear. Bear eats a pear.) • Games which utilise the relations: in, on, behind, under, beside (The mouse is under the table.)

Cognitive development (critical thinking) Create an environment and encourage your child to: Recognise images of animals based on one of their parts (e.g. head). Assort objects according to their properties (e.g. shape). Comparison games: which object is smaller and which is bigger, is something the same or is it different; make-believe games; role play (teacher, shop assistant, doctor); “one for you and one for me” games, hide and seek. Performing commands: give me one, give me another one, give me two. Puzzles (put together two halves of an apple). Putting smaller toys into a bigger toy.

Fine motor skills

This is a stage when your child is still scribbling, but their lines begin to look more harmonious. The child uses fingers to hold the pencil and mimics drawing horizontal and vertical lines.

Show your child how to draw horizontal, vertical, circular and dotted lines and encourage them to do the same.

By the end of this stage, your child can cross a circle once shown how to do it, can mimic drawing a cross and use water colours to draw.

Encourage your child to draw and colour on various surfaces, using different materials and tools.

Familiarising with their surroundings At this stage, children like to help the adults with household chores. They often call out to adults to see what they are doing. They will join a group of children to play games (Ring a Ring o’ Roses, etc.) Sometimes they get into conflict with other children over adults’ attention or toys. They develop their gender identity (refer to themselves as a boy or a girl). They know their basic body parts and recognise themselves in the mirror. Your child is enthusiastic about nature and contact with animals and plants. They use polite words: please, thank you, sorry. Their games are often accompanied with talking. They make attempts to clean up their toys. They know their name, age, names of parents and closest relatives, their hometown.

Senses and perception In the first half of the third year, your child recognises the sensations coming from their body, is able to name certain characteristics and feelings of others based on their facial expressions and body movements. They can also express some of their own feelings using words. Your child is learning how to control their inner feelings and behaviour by adopting certain norms (can say no-no and know they are not supposed to touch something hot). By the end of the third year, you child is able to recognise fine details in a picture, themselves in a photograph, can find a certain book based on how it looks. At this stage, children enjoy listening to pleasant conversation of adults, nursery rhymes, songs and short stories. They take pleasure in playing with various materials and explore them. They can assemble a picture out of two to four elements.

Games in which you can use various objects to create print patterns – from potatoes, apples, leaves, blocks, etc.

Familiarising with their surroundings Encourage your child to be an active participant in family’s doings (tidying up the room, preparing food, etc.) Completing the task games. Reward your child when they achieve certain milestones and encourage their efforts to be independent. Cleaning and tidying up games. Show photographs of family members, talk about where they are and what they are doing. Games in front of the mirror; assisting games, helping and resolving conflict games. Encourage your child to play with other toddlers. Encourage your child to observe appearance and behaviour of animals, but also appearance and properties of plants when they are out in nature.

Senses and perception Communicate with your child using pleasant words, facial expressions, gestures and encourage them to try, feel and experience things independently. Enable your child to experience smells, shapes, colours and sounds in their natural surroundings. Ensure your child has a variety of objects, toys and plain materials they can touch and explore. Play games in which you are supposed to recognise emotions, discover and understand their underlying causes, talk about what it means to be angry, sad, scared, and how to act if we or someone else feels that way. Find out more about this subject in the following books from our editions: Heidi Murkoff, Sharon Mazel: What to Expect the Second Year Arlene Eisenberg, Heidi Murkoff, Sharon Mazel, Sandee E. Hathaway: What to Expect the Toddler Years Ivan Ivić et al: Razvojna mapa Mara Šain et al: Korak po korak 1 Mara Šain et al: Korak po korak 2 Mara Šain, Slavica Čarapić: Korak po korak 3 Mara Šain, Slavica Čarapić: Korak po korak 4 Chip Wood: Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4-14

Hello! I am Kitty. And what is your name?

4

What colour is Kitty? Point to Kitty’s tail. Point to Kitty’s ears. Where are Kitty’s eyes? Point to them.

Kitty loves sleeping with her doll.

Point to where Kitty is sleeping. Point to where her doll is sleeping. What did Kitty cover herself with? What colour is her blanket? What colour is her pillow? Who else is sleeping in this room? Point to it. What can you see through the roomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s window?

5

Kitty can dress herself.

6

Kitty put on a dress. She also put on trainers. Well done, Kitty! You can dress yourself! Kitty is sitting now. Who is standing next to her?