Teacher Karin

In Grade R, art is an integral part of the daily curriculum, not just a once-a-week activity. It is here that pre-writing skills are nurtured on a daily basis. Instead of using copied worksheets, the approach encourages creativity and cognitive development in young children. The focus is on skill-building without compromising creativity. For example, the box activity involves painting the new colour of the week, black, by crossing the midline, which enhances wrist action and fine motor skills, with additional practice provided through chalk drawing.

Bee class Making and Baking ....January 2026

Our fun Making and Baking activity.

Make and Bake 🍪

Today in Make and Bake, the learners had lots of fun constructing their own faces using different sweets and a cookie.

All the information that we taught them over the past two weeks about their bodies was practised and reinforced in a fun, hands-on way. The learners identified and placed facial features such as eyes, nose and mouth, while developing their creativity and fine motor skills.

A yummy and meaningful learning experience! 💛

We do children a disservice when we reduce early childhood to colors, numbers, shapes, and letters. These concepts will come, but when we fixate on them too early or too narrowly, we risk turning learning into pressure, rote drills, and forced lessons that dampen curiosity. Instead of opening children up to the joy of discovery, this approach can make learning feel like a performance or a checklist to get through.

What often gets overlooked are the skills that matter most for long-term cognition: problem-solving, persistence, self-regulation, creativity, language, and the ability to connect ideas across experiences. These are the foundations that make colors, numbers, shapes, and letters meaningful later on. When early childhood is reduced to surface-level academics, we rob children of the chance to build the deeper capacities that allow true learning to stick.

Early childhood is about so much more. It is about building the brain through play, strengthening the body through movement, wiring for empathy and regulation through relationships, and developing a love of learning that lasts far beyond preschool. When we allow concepts like numbers, letters, shapes, and colors to be discovered in meaningful, everyday contexts, children connect with them naturally and deeply.