Posts in category: Child Development

Life doesn’t always wait for the start of the school year — and neither should your child’s education. Whether it’s a family move, a change in routine, or simply the right moment for your child’s learning journey to begin, mid-year preschool admissions can be the perfect way to give them a head start.

At Little Millennium, we believe every child should begin learning when they are ready — not just when the calendar says so. If you’re considering mid-year enrollment, here’s why it could be one of the best decisions you make this year.

1. Why Mid-Year Admissions Make Sense

Some parents worry that joining preschool mid-year means their child might “miss out.” In reality, the opposite is often true. This can be the moment your child gets a more personalised, less overwhelming start.

It’s worth considering if:

• You’ve recently relocated
• Your child is showing readiness for group learning right now
• You want a school with a nurturing and structured learning environment

2. Easier Integration in Smaller Groups

Unlike the busy rush at the start of the academic year, mid-year admissions often mean smaller class sizes. Your child will join a group already familiar with routines, making it easier for them to feel included without pressure.

Why this helps:

• More one-on-one teacher attention
• Peer buddies who guide them through daily routines
• A calmer classroom environment, perfect for shy or hesitant children

3. No Missed Developmental Milestones

Early childhood is a period of rapid brain development. Waiting months for the next session could mean missing key moments to build language, social, and problem-solving skills.

At Little Millennium, mid-year joiners benefit from:

• Catch-up learning plans to quickly align with ongoing lessons
• Interactive, play-based activities to boost confidence
• Regular parent updates to track progress

4. Helping Your Child Adjust Smoothly

Joining an established classroom can feel intimidating — for both children and parents. But with our experienced teachers and warm environment, the adjustment becomes exciting instead of stressful.

Parent tips for a happy start:

• Talk positively about school to build excitement
• Visit the preschool together before the first day
• Keep drop-off and pick-up times consistent
• Celebrate small wins like making a new friend or completing an activity

5. The Little Millennium Difference

We treat mid-year admissions as an opportunity, not an afterthought. From flexible joining dates to personalised learning approaches, we make sure your child feels right at home from day one.

Our promise to families:

• Caring, approachable teachers
• A safe, joyful learning space
• A curriculum that supports every aspect of growth

6. Curriculum Highlights – Our Seven Petal Approach

Every child learns differently, and our award-winning curriculum is designed to nurture all-round development:

• Language Development – Listening, speaking, and vocabulary building
• Cognitive Development – Early problem-solving and logical thinking
• Creative Development – Art, music, and imaginative play
• Socio-Emotional Development – Empathy, cooperation, and confidence
• Physical Development – Strength, balance, and coordination
• Personal Awareness – Independence and self-care skills
• Individual Potential – Discovering and encouraging unique talents

Final Word for Parents 

If your child is ready to explore, learn, and make friends, there’s no reason to wait for “next year.”

Mid-year admissions at Little Millennium open the door to learning, confidence, and joyful memories — starting now.

Contact your nearest Little Millennium centre to book a visit and see how the first day of school becomes the start of something amazing.

Much as we may want to shield our children from topics like war and terrorism, the fact is that children will end up hearing about it from social media, Television, School assemblies and peer talk.

So if your child ends up asking you a question about Ukraine or the war between Russia and Ukraine, the best strategy is to answer as honestly as possible.

Ignoring such questions or brushing them under the carpet does more harm.

Responding to their queries with reverts like, “You are just a child / you are too young to talk about war / We will talk about it when you are grown-up”, does more harm than good.

HOW TO TALK ABOUT WAR TO YOUR PRESCHOOLER?

• If your child asks you a question about war, to begin with, try to probe the child about what he/ she knows about it already.
• You may explain war as – a situation where two countries are fighting for their land.
• Instead of focusing on geopolitics, try to bring the focus on how children in Ukraine are suffering and we need to develop empathy.
• Do not terrorise your child about war. Instead, talk briefly about the situation on the ground. Talk about the consequences of war, instead. How some people will go hungry, thirsty, and without a school in case of a war. Avoid gory details about the war. Age-appropriate talk is crucial.
• You may use an actual map or a globe to explain the crisis to the child.
• Avoid watching disturbing visuals of war on television and WhatsApp, in front of your child.
• Assure them that they are safe though children in Ukraine are in pain.
• Talk about how people around the world are trying to help the Ukrainian children caught in the war. Some are sending food and medicines and some are teaching them Online.
• Your child may feel anxious and stressed. They may have heard about Indian students stranded in Ukraine. Talk about how the government is trying its best to bring them home safely.
• Make your child feel heard and understood. Validation is very important for Preschoolers.
• You may have an opinion on the war, but do not impose your views on the child. You don’t want your child to build stereotypes, do you?
• Should we encourage children to pray for those affected? Yes, we definitely should.
• War is the outcome of situations that we are not able to solve amicably. You may round up your talk with your child by probing them on situations where they sort out differences through dialogue. It could be at school or the playground. Who gets to take the swing first? Who gets to take a ride first?
• Use it as an opportunity to talk about kindness and co-operation building, within family and friends.
• Your child may sum up the talk with a tricky statement like – “So the adults failed to find a solution to the problem ?”
• In such a case, it is ok to admit that we all make mistakes, at times. Sad, but true.

This question has plagued me for ages – Why do we wait for a science teacher and a Science period to teach children rudimentary science facts?

To be honest, this attitude has been daunting me ever since I realized as a young adult that I wasn’t made up of the mettle that ‘Science teachers’ are made up of.

Nor was I fortunate enough to be mentored by a senior who could lead me to see the science inherent while teaching a language class.

So I concurred that as a result, the children I teach or have taught so far have probably also not imbibed a spirit of scientific enquiry through me.

What a colossal loss!

If the word ‘science’ were to be broken up into a layman’s term, it simply means a systematic and logical observation or study of certain phenomena, which is based on research and experimentation.

Not a tall order at all!

For long, we have demarcated academics into subjects, like stand-alone Geography, EVS, Maths, Language, Third Language and so on.

While a detailed and focused study of a subject with the aid of a subject matter expert (Subject teacher) is essential, we need to break down the strict boundaries that exist in the school curricula. There is science behind maths and language behind the science.

So what I learnt through my experiment years as a young teacher was that all we need to do is, to bring in this ‘science searching’ attitude into the child’s everyday learning.

Right into the rhymes, stories, history, maths, music and all subjects in fact.

We have been talking about a multi-disciplinary approach for long and the NEP 2020 has now penned it in black and white and that is a great step forward, no doubt.

But we don’t need to wait for the NCF (National Curriculum Framework), Staff meetings and Management meets to bring this attitude to life.

We need to begin right away, bringing out the science in a fun and interesting manner in every concept that we deal with.

Here are some simple strategies and conversations that we can initiate with our children during every Teaching – Learning opportunity:

⦁ When we sing the rhyme – It is Summer, It is summer, Oh so hot, the Educator can steer the conversation to, ‘Why are Summers hot and Winters cold?

Initiate a conversation saying -The Earth is like a ball that revolves around the Sun, so some parts of the Earth will always be facing the Sun and some will be away.
So the part facing the Sun gets a lot of heat energy.

And of course, the teacher can carry the conversation further as she deems fit!

Point in case – Why think that it is too early to talk about Science to young children?

⦁ While singing Wheels of the Bus go round and round, the Educator can steer the conversation to ‘Why are wheels of a Bus round in shape?’

Initiate a conversation saying -The wheels are round to make the bus go faster and roll smoothly. A tyre with edges will make the ride slower and bumpy.

And of course, the teacher can carry the conversation further as she deems fit.

Point in case – Scientific inquiry can also be initiated through rhymes.

⦁ While talking of Seasons, the educator can steer the conversation to, ‘Why do clothes dry faster on a windy Day?’

Begin a simple conversation as to how the wind helps the water vapour move along fast along with moving air, so they dry faster.  

And of course, the teacher can carry the conversation further as she deems fit.

Point in case – There is no fixed class or level at which we should begin a talk around condensation/evaporation.

⦁ While talking of Family setups, the educator can steer the conversation to, ‘Why does Grandma forget where she keeps her glasses?’

Begin a simple conversation as to how with age certain muscle functions slow down and the brain also needs exercise to keep fit. So children must play puzzle games, memory games etc with their grandparents to keep them healthy.

And of course, the teacher can carry the conversation further as she deems fit.

Point in case – Even the Socio-Emotional concepts can nurture scientific inquiry thereby leading to a better understanding of our value systems.

⦁ While talking about Food, the educator can steer the conversation around to, ‘Why does everyone love chocolate?’

Initiate a simple conversation as to how eating chocolates releases the feel-good hormones. But since it has high sugar content, we should eat other food and fruits that also release feel-good hormones like crispy apples, almonds & walnuts, cherry tomatoes or even a glass of milk!

And of course, the teacher can carry the conversation further as she deems fit.

Point in case – If children see the science behind habit formation, they are likely to develop better habits during Formative years.

⦁ While talking about Maths & money, the educator can steer the conversation around, ‘Why are coins mostly round in shape?

Initiate a simple conversation by saying that round shape coins are easier to mint and when they change hands from vendor to customer, the chance of injury is lesser as the round coin has no sharp edges.

And of course, the teacher can carry the conversation further as she deems fit.

Point in case – Aha! Maths & Science are so closely intertwined!

So I concluded long ago, that cultivating a scientific inquiry mindset requires everyone – parents, teachers and guardians, to get down to such conversations.

It is not rocket science at all.

And it is not the job of the Science Teacher alone!

Very often, educators struggle to get their class hooked on to Reading! And that’s when I say – Anticipation of joy is the key to all learning.
While introducing a reading task, be it a paragraph, a poem or a chapter, build up the anticipation. The reader (the child) must get excited to read further.
Why do children read? It is either to get entertained or to get more information/knowledge. So when the run-up to a Reading Class is like a trailer teaser, children get that urge to open up the text and find the answers.
SUGGESTIONS FOR INTRODUCING A READING TASK:
⦁ For starters, you could just rustle up an instant rhyme or a song before introducing the chapter or book that has to be read. If I am introducing a Reading task based on rhyming words /Animals/ Forest/Wildlife/animal habitats & food, I could just whip up a 6 liner introductory rhyme that goes like this :
A deer I found one day, my dear
Smelling the flowers in my garden, so near
I thought he was grazing on the dark green grass
When I went closer, I think I heard a laugh
I am just sniffing the grass, the deer said with a pout
What I love to chew, is the tender shoots that sprout.

⦁ Ask the reader to simply focus on the word patterns for 5 minutes. The text, spellings, grammar, punctuation etc. And then ask them to begin reading.
⦁ Ask the students to focus on the text & highlight 5 rhyming words. And then begin the reading task
⦁ Ask the children to focus on the text and draw 2 related images by the side of the text. And then begin the reading task
⦁ Ask the students to feel the picture that appears alongside the text, with their hands and eyes. Dwell on the picture for 2 minutes. And then begin to read.
It’s worth sharpening the axe before initiating the reading task. The results are fruitful and engaging.

In an era of tantalising screen animations and instant gratification, our children are losing out on the time tested and well-proven strategy called Re-Reading.

The task becomes even harder when you consider the fact that very few children are Reading these days, forget Re-Reading!

Well, that is another topic for another day. But the advantages of Re-Reading are humongous and have far-reaching positive Learning Outcomes.

Children love repetition or alliteration.

That is one reason why we have rhymes that go Twinkle Twinkle Little Star …Row Row Row your Boat ….Mary had a Little Lamb, Little Lamb…and many more.

Repetition offers a degree of safety to young learners.

They feel they are on safe and familiar grounds. Repetition gives them a familiarity and a sense of ownership and mastery over words.

They use these repeatedly getting familiar words to learn new vocabulary and thereby become better Readers.

Benefits of Re-Reading:

1. Re-Reading a text, rhyme or story makes it much clearer. The second time around Reading process gives the child a better focus and a sharper eye for detail.
2. Re-Reading leads to better pronunciation. Very often children tend to ‘eat’ the words they find difficult to pronounce. Re-reading the text containing those tricky words encourages them to decipher the new words and attempt to pronounce them better during the second read
3. Re-Reading gives a deeper understanding of the context of the text. When re-reading a story or a rhyme, children pay more attention to the characters, settings, costumes, vocabulary and the setting per se.
4. Re-Reading has a huge advantage for the teacher/ educator. The Teacher Educator is better able to assess the Desired Outcomes of a learning task. The child is more relaxed, deliberate and comfortable. The Teacher Educator can then provide Formative assessment Remarks in a more lucid manner
5. If the Rereading happens in a relaxed and stress-free environment, children can fall in love with Reading. Very often we see that children also have deadlines for their Reading tasks, in addition to facing peer scrutiny and teacher scrutiny while they read in class. Re-Reading at leisure can help in doing away with the ‘fear of reading’ syndrome.

Reading & Re-Reading can happen in a variety of settings:

1. The Teacher can read a poem, story or a text piece in class and have the children do chorus reading, which in simple words means to repeat the text after her. Chorus Reading is safe since it is group Reading. The fear of being pointed out is eliminated and the children can auto-correct themselves after hearing the others speak.
2. Paired Reading or Reading with a partner is also a great strategy to bring in reading fluency while nurturing collaborative skills. The Pairs or partners divide the text among themselves and read together as a team
3. Theatre Style Reading is a really fun strategy to make Reading more exciting and experiential. In this strategy, the text is divided among the Readers and they do away with the ‘He said’, ‘They said’, ‘Mr Rao said’ etc. The readers focus on the delivery of words, intonation, pause and effect.

So perhaps it would be wise, to sum up Re-Reading as a second encounter with characters, plot & settings.

Several interactions between the text and the Reader is always sure to lead to fluency, deeper understanding, play with word sand can very likely lead to a lifelong happy affair with letters, words and text!

There is a fine line that a parent sometimes ends up crossing during the parenting journey and moves over to what we call Helicopter Parenting.

Every parent is a concerned parent, a learner and forever over-anxious to give the best to his/ her child.

And in this passionate journey, many of us often end up crossing the line without intending to.

In our quest to be a 24/7, 21st-century parent, we end up believing that we must have the answer to every problem concerning our child.

And one such problem that we happily undertake to fulfil is –“I am Bored. What do I do?”

The minute the child brandishes this question, the parent turns into a salesman of sorts –selling every possible option to the child.

Such as, Eat this, play with this, watch this, read this, unscramble this, paint this and so on.

And this is how a child gets conditioned or habituated to instant gratification. The child  starts believing that is the duty of the parent to solve and resolve every issue the child’s faces.

Let us try to unscramble the Helicopter Parenting problem

• Every time the child says, I am Bored! 

          Try saying, ‘What do you mean by bored? What do you want to do?’

• Every time the child says, I have already read this story. I am bored!

         Try saying,  ‘Re-Read it. And show me your favourite character.’

• Every time the child says, I don’t want to play with the same toys. It is boring!

         Try saying, ‘Just think how can you make them look different?’

• Every time the child says, I don’t have friends to play with, I am bored!

        Try saying, ‘Just look around. It is not just boys and girls who can be your friends. That’s a hint, can you find 5 friends within the home?’

To start with, we may need to offer a few suggestions every time a child comes up with the complaint of being bored. Consider it as a teaser to a movie or like the first set of books or toys that you hand picked for your child. Similarly, you may want to handpick some thoughts and place them in your child’s mind to chew upon.

These suggestions could be:

• Try pasting some stars on your old toys to make them look new.
• Try drawing the story of the Olympic gold medalist with your colours.
• Here is the bread, here is the butter. Can you make me a special sandwich?
• Why don’t you try making a new label for wrapping your toys? The same one in which your toy came gift wrapped. You could do a better one!
• It’s a good idea to begin volunteer practise with your child, say once a week. You could begin by volunteering at an Animal shelter, a blind school or a senior citizen home. Children love to be of service!

Every once in awhile, it is good for children to spend some time with their selves. Children are always in a high energy zone, so a short break in trying to think, imagine and resolve an issue does wonders for their creative and critical thinking habits.

As the world and its people inch towards the Post Covid era, there are umpteen coping strategies that rise to the fore.

Huddle together, Less is more, develop an attitude of thankfulness, be flexible in your thoughts, inculcate lateral thinking and so on.

Each strategy has its merit and rationale. So let’s raise a cheerful toast – to each their own. When it comes to children and Reopening of Schools, there is immense focus on covering up for lost time.

Educators and Caregivers are busy formulating strategies for helping kids cope up with learning loss with a fair amount of focus on paying attention to curriculum completion, annual assessments and so on.

Being an educator, I completely understand the value of a structured learning approach and am a strong believer of the same. At the same time, Covid and the resultant Lockdown have considerably re-shaped the pattern of my neuron connections. My neuron synapses have been screaming out loud to me that the children have learnt a whole lot in this year, which can perhaps be put down as out of syllabus.

What children have been through in the past year, has no parallel in world history, in child pedagogy and behavioural science.

Their neurons never went into lockdown. Rather, they have been busy assimilating the present day scenario and trying to make sense of it.

No child had heard of social distancing before. In fact the warm Indian culture had only taught them that, the more the merrier. Teachers and parents had always stressed on ‘sharing is caring’ and holidays were always meant to be spent with extended families, friends and travel.

So how did their young minds make sense of a topsy turvy world in lockdown with no flights, cars or buses running?

Why did they need to be suddenly masked up all the time?

When did doctors start giving a virtual check up on screen and when did birthdays turn into virtual celebrations?

I am very sure that each young mind would have found a peculiar logic to these equally peculiar situations. Did anyone really listen to their logic, their young rationale?

Did anyone listen to their version of history in the year 2020?

So dear friends when the schools re open, let us not be in a hurry to pick up the text books and complete the syllabus. There’s a lot more that needs to be done, along with it.

Let us allow large chunks of time in just listening to our children.

Listen to themListen to all the new rhymes, songs and stories they created in the year gone by. Make time to listen to their chatter about how they spent these months. Try to answer the million questions that will in all probability be raised to you. Listen to the stories of their families and friends and how they fared in the year gone by.
Make audio anecdotes and save it in your library. Year after year, children can listen and learn from it.

Read to themRead stories about pandemic heroes. Let the children listen to stories of hope, courage and valour. Let them see hope even in tragic stories of loss, relocation and illness due to the virus. Choose your stories well. Choose stories that are real yet not without hope. Feed the hope in them. Read stories that will help them make sense of the upside down world.

Dance with themLet the children express themselves freely. Have periods for performing arts liberally spread out through school the time table.
Some will perform, some will applaud. Yet all stand to gain

Let them drawGive them paper, colours and crayons to scribble, doodle, paint and draw, whatever they want to. Give them that window for expression. Yes, that’s right – help them express themselves using any medium. Some will speak, some will act, some will dance and some will draw.

Integrate laughter in your classes.Crack a lot of jokes. Release some feel good hormones. Begin the day with Laughter yoga. Dress up silly one day, just to tickle the stress out of the kids. Remember, it is extremely stressful even for kids to be without a routine. They may show outward calm but inwardly, every child craves for a routine.

Make them your partners in establishing safety protocols in your schools & classrooms.Do not brush the safety concerns under the carpet. Let your children know that these concerns are for real. Let them know that there are some rules which are non-negotiable and safety is one of them. Let them know that safety is a joint responsibility and not the job of the teacher / parent alone. Put up posters in the class that talk about safety, have children do role plays talking about safety. Let them talk about the new vaccine and how it will impact their society and school.

Have the courage of conviction to alter your curriculum planners. Make it inclusive of all that stands valid in the post pandemic world.Don’t worry too much about your students not matching up to your idea of where – they – should – be. Lets first get to know where – they – are at the moment. Savour that moment with them. Lets get comfortable with their persona at the moment. Once we know clearly where they are, the journey gets much easier.

Do not be in a hurry to write Progress Report Cards.Let us re-look at our rubrics, what are we assessing them on? It is quite possible that they would have learnt more of science than maths in the year gone by. They may know more about vaccines, about migrant workers, about immunity, about physical fitness, about making videos at home, about Zoom calls etc. These may be out-of-syllabus, but they have been new learnings for them nonetheless. Accept this new learning curve.

Remember, that our attitude as educators will set the pace for learning in the post Lockdown era.

And what children learn at school, they are very likely to emulate at home.

Tons of happiness and sunshine to all those who work so dearly with children.

More power to you!