Twenty minutes a day, and you always know what to teach next

First Steps

Motor skills and independence

Grasping, crawling, walking, dressing, holding a spoon and later a pencil. The physical groundwork that everything else is built on.

• 0 to 1 yearTummy time without the crying
• 1 to 2 yearsFrom crawling to the first steps
• 2 to 3 yearsThe spoon, the cup and the mess
• 3 to 4 yearsGetting dressed alone
• 4 to 5 yearsScissors, glue and the pencil grip
• 5 to 6 yearsBalance, aim and body confidence

The ABC Program

Letters, sounds and early writing

From recognising the shape of a letter to sounding out a first word and writing their own name.

• 0 to 1 yearSounds before letters
• 1 to 2 yearsNaming the world out loud
• 2 to 3 yearsThe first letter that matters: their own
• 3 to 4 yearsLetter shapes and letter sounds
• 4 to 5 yearsBlending sounds into a first word
• 5 to 6 yearsWriting their name and reading a sentence

Numbers and Logic

Counting, shapes and patterns

Number sense before arithmetic: quantity, comparison, sorting, sequences and the shapes that become geometry later.

• 0 to 1 yearOne, two, many: quantity before counting
• 1 to 2 yearsFilling, emptying and matching
• 2 to 3 yearsCounting things that are actually there
• 3 to 4 yearsSorting, patterns and first shapes
• 4 to 5 yearsMore, less and the number line
• 5 to 6 yearsAdding and taking away with objects

Emotions and Wellbeing

Naming feelings, calming down

Giving a child words for what they feel, and giving you a response that works better than raising your voice.

• 0 to 1 yearReading a baby's signals
• 1 to 2 yearsThe first frustrations
• 2 to 3 yearsGiving the feeling a name
• 3 to 4 yearsWhat to do in the middle of a tantrum
• 4 to 5 yearsWaiting, sharing and losing a game
• 5 to 6 yearsCalming down without an adult

Little Scientists

Questions, tests and nature

Floating and sinking, growing seeds, mixing colours, watching weather. Curiosity turned into a method.

• 0 to 1 yearCause and effect in the high chair
• 1 to 2 yearsWater, sand and pouring
• 2 to 3 yearsFloats or sinks
• 3 to 4 yearsGrowing something from a seed
• 4 to 5 yearsMixing colours and predicting the result
• 5 to 6 yearsAsking a question and testing it

The World Around Us

People, places and belonging

Family, neighbourhood, jobs, countries and the everyday rules of living alongside other people.

• 0 to 1 yearFaces, voices and belonging
• 1 to 2 yearsThe people who live in this house
• 2 to 3 yearsOur street and the shops in it
• 3 to 4 yearsJobs people do
• 4 to 5 yearsOther countries, other homes
• 5 to 6 yearsRules, fairness and why they exist

Visual Arts

Drawing, colour and making

Open-ended making with cheap materials, where the point is the process rather than something to hang on the fridge.

• 0 to 1 yearFirst marks with edible paint
• 1 to 2 yearsBig paper, big movements
• 2 to 3 yearsColour without a right answer
• 3 to 4 yearsBuilding with what is in the recycling
• 4 to 5 yearsDrawing what you actually see
• 5 to 6 yearsTelling a story in four pictures

Reading for Pleasure

Stories, vocabulary and listening

How to read aloud so a child listens, how to stretch a story into a conversation, and how vocabulary actually grows.

• 0 to 1 yearReading to a baby who chews the book
• 1 to 2 yearsPointing, naming and turning pages
• 2 to 3 yearsThe same book for the fortieth time
• 3 to 4 yearsAsking questions inside the story
• 4 to 5 yearsPredicting what happens next
• 5 to 6 yearsRetelling a story in their own words

Routines and Behaviour

Sleep, transitions and tantrums

The parts of the day that are not lessons: bedtime, leaving the house, sharing, and the hard half hour before dinner.

• 0 to 1 yearSleep that is good enough
• 1 to 2 yearsLeaving the house without a battle
• 2 to 3 yearsThe half hour before dinner
• 3 to 4 yearsScreens: how much and when
• 4 to 5 yearsChores a four-year-old can really do
• 5 to 6 yearsHomework habits before there is homework