It’s beginning to look a lot like….too soon?

You are about to take a closer look into the Happenings of the Coach House. A look into the programming, how interests of the children are followed, and just how creativity can go a long way when it comes to learning.

Number and Letter Recognition:

Letter recognition – is a fundamental part of learning how to read. Letter recognition is the ability to name letters, identify characteristics specific to said letter, and letter formation of all letters of the alphabet. It includes being able to differentiate between letters and their shapes.

Number recognition – is learning to identify and name numbers. One of the most common skills that must be taught is basic math. It includes the core skills – like number recognition that must be instilled from a very young age. Number recognition can be split up into smaller classes and concepts of skills – such as: identifying the right count of objects, and matching the correct numbers with the count of objects.

Both of these skills can be found in the above photos – you see children matching the lower case letter with the upper case, you see children outlining the number with stickers or blocks, as they are placing these blocks they are also able to count, and name the colour of the blocks to enhance the learning experience. When they were asked how tall they are, they were to look at what they were using to measure with (in this case, they were using links) and they were to make a guess of how many links tall they are – this activity is loaded with learning experiences – problem solving, math, counting, name recognition, colour recognition, height, comparisons, matching, chart work, and what is not pictured: taking turns, listening, and the engagement. A picture says a thousands words, but this is proof it can also show a thousand learning experiences in one shot.

Matching/Sorting using body parts:

Sorting objects, matching items, shapes or colours and then pictures helps build visual perception and thinking skills. Children can generally sort colours before they can identify the name of the colours. Learning to categorize and classify helps memory skills. In the photos above the children matched and sorted body parts – they are able to see the picture, recognize the letters, and match the picture to where it belongs.

In the photos below, the children sorted fruits and vegetables, and chose what items to paste on to the plate. Along with sorting and matching, they are working their fine motor skills when pasting.

Open ended art/loose parts:

Open-ended art allows children to express themselves through their art. This supports their understanding of their emotions, and provides a tool for self-regulation. Open-ended art also allows them to use language related to their work, and allows them to explore and use their imagination.

Loose parts – when a child interacts with loose parts, like Lego, they enter a world of “what if” that promotes the type of thinking that leads to problem solving and theoretical reasoning. Loose parts enhance children’s ability to think imaginatively and see solutions, and they bring a sense of adventure and excitement to children’s play.

Threading – with beads:

The benefits of threading with beads for children – improves fine motor skills. Threading beads can help to strengthen the small muscles in children’s hands as they grasp different sized beads. They will use various hand movements, depending on the size of the bead. These movements, and skills help children when learning to draw, write, do up buttons, tie shoelaces, open lunch boxes and more. When placing the beads, the children will also be working on their hand-eye coordination and concentration skills.

These photos show only a glimpse into the children’s learning experiences, but they capture what skills are being mastered, and what challenges are being worked on. They show focus, concentration, hard work and engagement. A photo really does say a thousand words…

That’s a wrap on the happenings in the Coach House this week.

Before we leave for the weekend – we have a special post from one of our Sheridan Students, Ms. Scali, who has been doing her placement in the Toddler Two classroom. Here she shares one of her learning experiences with the Toddler Two classroom –

My name is Karina Scali I am in my final Field placement at the Chartwell house. I am in my last year of studying Early Childhood Education at the Trafalgar Campus here in Oakville. I will be graduating from school in August!  I recently did a musical activity with your children. I brought in home made musical shakers and I gave one to each child in the toddler 2 room. We played music and the children moved and danced to the beat as the music was playing. According to how does learning happen Ontario’s pedagogy for the early years it states that the 4 foundations of learning are “Belonging, Well Being, Engagement and belonging. The children were engaged when I was doing the activity because they were shaking the shakers and moving to the rhythm of the songs that we were playing. The activity supports the children’s wellbeing because it was done in a calm environment and the children were smiling and they were able to express themselves in a positive way. I feel that music and movement should be a part of the children’s lives every day. Music is calming for children it helps them remember things like math concepts and music is a language that everyone can understand. Music helps the body and mid work together. It also helps them with their language and literacy skills. Music supports the child’s full development. When the children are moving to the music, they are developing their gross and fine motor skills.  It also improves their spatial and temporal skills. Music can also have a positive impact on their self-esteem. Music can also inspire children and other people as well.

We hope to see everyone back at the house on Monday – stay healthy!

The Chartwell House.

‘Twas the week before Halloween…

And all through the House, creatures were stirring, I am sure there was even a mouse.

Halloween may be a week away, but we are feeling the spirits! (Spirits…like ghosts? Get it. Spooky humour!)

Although the temperatures seem to be dropping a little too fast, Fall is still in the air, and we are still all about it. Painting with a paint brush has been done, painting with broccoli? Now, that’s fresh thinking.

We have kept our extra curricular programs at a distance with no visitors allowed indoors, but HAPPY PATTY made an appearance outdoors to bring a little music fun to the house! Shake! Shake! Shake!

The oldest of the house also brought the fun with crazy hair day…

Yes, that is Cookie Monster!

There’s a whole lot of play that happens in the house, but there’s some hard work too – and it’s shown here in letter form. There is a lot of learning in these photos from letter recognition, to colours, to counting, to hand-eye, fine motor, sorting, and to grouping. Did you catch all that?

We worked hard, played harder, and now it’s the weekend. Let’s pause the work, forward the fun and stay healthy!

The Chartwell House.

To All the Chartwell Educators:

I would like to say a special THANK YOU to all the Chartwell House staff for all that you do!

Your patience, passion, and care that you put into the house each day, provides a place that feels like a home away from home.

With all the ups and downs, the challenges and obstacles that have come our way, each child could continue to count on coming to the Chartwell House to see their teachers. The world may have changed outside of the house, but inside our educators continued to provide a learning environment that encourages curiosity and supports your child’s growth and development.

To all the educators of Chartwell – THANK YOU. We appreciate you!

I would also like to say THANK YOU to all of the families of Chartwell. We would not be here without you, and so we want to say thank you for choosing Chartwell to be your home away from home.

THANK YOU

The Chartwell House.

70 days until Christmas

Oh, the weather outside has been delightful
But the thought of 15 below zero is frightful
And since we’ve got a few weeks of Fall to go
Please no snow! No snow! No snow!

It may have been a short week at the house, but it was packed full of action.

From apple picking, to Fall decor, to making apple pie we had everyone busy and so the four days flew by.

That’s all for the rhyming, I promise for now
Opps…I mean a few more lines, before I say chow
Here’s a sneek peek into the happenings of the week

Apple Art & Apple Picking….Because it’s Fall y’all!

Motor skills are skills that enable the movement and tasks we do every day.

Fine motor skills are those that require a high degree of control, focus and precision in the small muscles of the hand.

Gross motor skills use the large muscles in the body to allow for balance, coordination, reaction time, and physical strength so that we can do bigger movements.

Motor skills enable the movements children need for everyday tasks, from feeding themselves to moving from place to place.

Like moving from Friday and stepping into Saturday 🙂 I hope you have a FINE weekend, with no GROSS weather! (see what I did there?)

Have a wonderful weekend, and we will see you back next week.

The Chartwell House.

#thankful

It’s a time to stop and think what you are thankful for
Friends, family and all those who you adore
It’s time to bring out the turkey pants
To sit and watch the game, and give a few chants
It’s a time to come together
To enjoy the crisp Fall weather
To eat stuffing, potatoes and pie
Put your phone on standby
It’s Thanksgiving by and by!

We spent hours making the Turkey…

Worked hard finalizing the center pieces…

We count on seeing our friends and family…


And enjoying the extra long weekend to do so.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us, to all of you 🙂

The Chartwell House.



Every child matters. Kindness matters.

Autumn continues to be the inspiration in the classrooms…

And when life gives you leaves…you paint!

Up in the Toddler district, things were heating up this week when they learnt all about Fire Safety.

When a child starts to build and stack blocks forming a tower there’s lot more that happens before you start singing the classic from Pitbull, “Timber!” Through stacking and building, children will learn how to balance items to keep the tower upright, and while doing so they are practicing and developing their hand-eye coordination. When stacking the blocks one at a time the children are learning early numeracy skills – such as: size, height, comparison and order. And when it’s going down, and we all yell TIMBER it encourages children to try try again!

The skills mastered this week: hand-eye, fine motor, letter, number & colour recognition.

The oldest of the House found the balance between work and play! Taking on the scale, they explored the math concepts: weight and size.

We’ve worked all week, so now let’s find the balance ourselves and PLAY!

The Chartwell House.

Goodbye Summer. Hello Autumn.

It’s that time of year again, when pumpkin spice is everywhere, the air turns crisp, and the leaves start changing colours. Get your pumpkins, Mums, and sweaters – it’s Fall y’all!

A new school year, means it’s back to the basics: each classroom is taking on their numbers, letters, shapes and colours – singing the ABCs, counting 1, 2, 3, naming the colours of the rainbow, it is all shaping up! The topics in each classroom may be similar, but the curriculum and how numbers, letters, shapes and colours are presented different when it comes to age, developmental levels, and interests.

Short and sweet this week – we will be back Monday morning, when we welcome Happy Patty back for Music and Fun outside!

The Chartwell House.