Our youngest age group is probably our most active set of children; actively chaotic at times! These little ones have grand ideas and are fiercely independent. They are still gaining a sense of the world around them. Quite polar in their approach at times; either it’s all about them and they’re all about the “I can do it” or they’re needing every ounce of your attention.

For our youngest The Fern Club members, they might think that they’re perfectly independent but in reality they still need assistance with lots of their day to day activities. That’s often where the frustrations stem from; the push-pull of wanting independence but not yet being fully accomplished. At The Fern Club you’ll see we have a really gentle approach to our youngest. We use open questions and always teach to the positive. Our 2-4 year olds are impulsive by nature (don’t worry, it’s a natural part of their development) which means their attention span is relatively short and whilst they don’t mean to be disruptive often their actions are construed as so. We will give these wonderful little beings the time, space, patience and love they need to be able to be independent in a safe place. And what’s best about activities with The Fern Club, we do all the clear away. 

We love their energy and inquisitive nature, most of all we love how imaginative they are.

The Fern Club wants to harness that, the imagination and creativity of a young child. These incredible thinkers are in a prime time in their life with the most amount of brain cell connections, more than an adult. From 3 years onward, these connections are pruned as they’re not needed. We want to be able to give your little one the opportunity to build connections and solidify brain processes, setting them up for higher level thinking when they’re older.

During classes for 18 months to 7 year olds, you’ll get to experience a class full of skills, activities and learning opportunities. Each week will be a new theme to keep these little minds guessing. We will also rotate our equipment for children to master skills they’ve experienced before. It’s so important for children to repeat activities for a whole range of reasons (you can learn more about our philosophy on repetition here).

Still learning to use their fine motor skills, developing their social etiquette and beginning to be more aware of their surroundings, there’s just so much going on for our youngest age group. We’ll give plenty of options to keep those little fingers and bodies moving.

During classes for this age group, your teachers will encourage self motivated learning, letting the little ones take the lead and show you where they want to explore first. There’s no forced expectations of participation in any activity. Likewise, if your little one wants to spend 20 minutes on one activity, that’s really ok. Giving them the time and patience to really master a skill is a great confidence building activity. Just let your teacher know that they’ve not had chance to participate in all the stations and they’ll do their best to make sure it’s included at a later date.

At The Fern Club for our little ones, you’ll experience motor skill play, sensory activities, brain games and natural skills; there’s a carefully thought out curriculum behind it. Each skill and activity is of benefit to you and your little one in some way. Whether it be as simple as “play” or something more complex involving basic maths skills each are as beneficial as each other.

The most asked question for us is “how do I get my 18 month old to participate in the class?”

This all comes down to the way we teach and your engagement as the parent. Letting their little inquisitive natures explore, following their lead and taking a step back to see what takes their attention. As teachers we love encouraging them, using language which promotes their energy and directs the chaos all the while giving them opportunity to let loose and figure it out by themselves. A balancing act to put it simply; between your engagement as the parent and our teaching. One without the other and the chaos will follow