Prep'd Kids

One of the things that makes our program unique to other prep readiness classes is that we have small group sizes - 2 teacher to 8 children, allowing us to spend time with just a couple of children at a time.

Do you feel some hesitation about your child starting prep next year?

We offer small group learning sessions focused on literacy, numeracy, social and emotional development. These sessions are play and interest based, allowing us to instil a real love of learning.

We also support parents to prepare themselves for the craziness of prep!

Want to know more? Book a phone call with us (via the link in our bio) to find out more or come to one of our casual sessions before locking your child in for the term.

Our bookings are open for Term 4!

Join us for the whole term or casual classes to see if your child enjoys it and benefits from our small group learning.

Whenever I write about keeping children’s curiosity alive through more choices and more play, someone says something like ‘well I’m glad my doctor learnt how to follow instructions’. Or ‘Naomi would like to see a world where people choose how to drive and don’t bother about following the Highway Code’.

This is why an understanding of child development is so important in education. When adults learn a specific skill (like medicine or driving) they use mastery learning. This is the type of learning which enables us to become experts. Deliberate practice. Goal-oriented exercises which aren’t about the here and now. Intentionally practicing your French verbs so that you’ll be able to speak French when you go to France next year.

It is often quite narrow in scope - learning to be a doctor won’t qualify you to work as a lawyer. It enables us to develop specialist skills.

This isn’t how young children learn. Their brains are literally structured differently. They are discovery learners. This type of learning enables them to explore and find out about the world. It is wide in scope. When they learn a language, there is no deliberate practice of verbs going on. They watch, they listen, and they give it a go.

To adults, it often looks frustratingly unfocused. That’s because discovery learning is about widening children’s experience of the world, not about becoming a specialist or an expert. They flit from thing to thing and lose interest fast. The results can be hard to measure.

The capacity for mastery learning starts to develop as children approach adolescence. It improves gradually over time. By age 17 or 18 they are approaching learning in a very different way. This takes longer for some of them - the brain changes of adolescence continue until at least the age of 25.

As adults, we tend to overvalue mastery learning and dismiss discovery learning as ‘just play’. We want to hurry children onto learning measurable knowledge and skills. We try to sit them in desks and give them worksheets to do, whilst they often fight us to be allowed to run around and pretend to be superheroes instead.

Discovery learning lays the foundations for everything that is to come. It is a special and unique time of life. Following instructions and colouring in the lines can come later, but once you are grown, you can never go back and learn like a 6-year-old (or an 8 or 10-year-old) again.

Humans are pure discovery learners for a short and intense period of our lives. We have our whole adult lives to specialise, but you’ll never again have quite the same drive to play.

(For more about discovery learning, I recommend Professor Alison Gopnik’s book The Gardener and the Carpenter)

Hi and welcome to our page!

We are Fernanda and Marizahn (mostly known as Mari). We are the mother daughter duo behind Prep’d Kids.

We are both Kindergarten teachers and mothers. We love working with little people and making learning fun!! We believe children should be empowered to be independent and thrive when we view them as capable individuals.

Get in touch with us to find out more about us and our programs.

🌟 At Prep’d Kids, we believe that fostering a love of learning from a young age sets the stage for a lifetime of curiosity and growth!

📚💖 Our prep readiness program is designed to empower children with the joy of discovery, making learning fun and engaging every step of the way. Watch as they develop a passion for knowledge that lasts a lifetime! 🚀✨

We have found a local venue to host us and our bookings are open for Term 3!

For this term only, casual bookings are welcome. Our sessions will run on Wednesdays from 9am to 11am. Anyone 3 years to 5 years is welcome to attend.

Morning tea provided.

Book using the link in our bio to secure your spot!

Our booking link is LIVE and we have a bunch of other contact options available for those who want to connect.

Link in bio.