Sprout & Soar

Another fun activity you can recreate at home 🔢🌈 All you need is a set of Uno cards, a pen, a muffin tray and cupcake liners. Number the liners to correspond with the cards, then flip a card and find the matching liner to remove from the tray – smiley faces for the wild cards!

It's building number recognition, matching and early maths confidence – all through a game they already love 🌱 Would you like more ideas for at-home activities? Let us know below!

The best school readiness support doesn't always look like structured learning – sometimes it's the little things you do at home that make the biggest difference 🌱

Here are 5 simple things you can do at home this week – no prep, no pressure...

1. Read together, even if it's just for 10 minutes: It doesn't have to be a picture book – anything they choose counts. The habit matters far more than the story.

2. Put words to what they're feeling: "That was tricky – you seem really frustrated." When we name emotions out loud, we're giving our children a tool they'll use every single day in the classroom (and in life!).

3. Let them do something hard: Whether they're zipping their own bag or pouring their own drink, resist jumping in. Those "I did it!" moments are building confidence.

4. Ask important questions at dinner: Instead of "How was your day?", try "What made you laugh today?" or "Did anything surprise you?". Conversation builds vocabulary and listening, which are two of the most important school-readiness skills.

5. Follow their lead in play: Get on the floor and let them direct the game. Child-led play builds imagination, self-expression and the ability to take turns – plus, it's way more fun!

Which one resonates most with you? Let us know in the comments 👇

You don't need flashcards or a formal lesson to help your child learn their letters 🔠🩷 Here are three simple things you can do at home:⁠
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1. Point to letters in the world around you: Street signs, cereal boxes, your child's name on their lunchbox – letters are everywhere once you start looking together!⁠
2. Make it physical: Trace letters in sand, form them with playdough, or write them with water on a textured surface. Little hands learn through touch just as much as sight.⁠
3. Start with the letters that matter most to them: Their own name is the best place to begin – it's meaningful, familiar, and they're far more motivated to learn it.⁠
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And remember: letter recognition doesn't happen in one sitting. It builds slowly, through small, consistent lessons – and you're their favourite teacher 🌱

Look at this little learner showing off his Casey the Caterpillar letters! 🐛

Casey the Caterpillar is a beautiful early literacy resource we use in our School Readiness classes – and our students absolutely love it. Instead of learning the alphabet as a list of symbols, children discover letter shapes through a magical story. The shapes, the direction and the formation all click into place in a way that actually makes sense to little minds 🌱

When learning feels like storytime, magic happens ✨ Term 2 is already underway at our Seven Hills classroom – but there's still time to join us! If you've been thinking about it, click here to secure your spot: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe3Ib7FflCaF6L1MLN0XAegAU8mckO4ipZGgsGtvVWGAeQMxQ/viewform?pli=1

No one is more ready for Monday than these kids 🏃💨 There's something about running (or in this case, skipping) into class that tells us everything we need to know – this is a place they actually want to be.

If your little one could use a space like this, we'd love to have them trial a class, totally free 🩵 Visit our website via the link in our bio: www.sproutandsoar.com.au

Something very special has been happening on Wednesdays 🧘🏻 Our School Readiness class has an extra hour, and our little learners absolutely love it!

Miss Dani () brings mindfulness and yoga into the classroom, helping us build skills like emotional regulation, body awareness, and moving through big feelings – skills that matter just as much for school readiness as letters and numbers.

The best part? They don't even realise they're learning it. They just know Wednesday is their favourite day 🩵 Classes run on Wednesdays from 9.30am to 12.30pm, and there's still time to join us for Term 2. Enrol right here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe3Ib7FflCaF6L1MLN0XAegAU8mckO4ipZGgsGtvVWGAeQMxQ/viewform?pli=1 🌱🥰