Entries by Mark

, , , , , ,

The Benefits of Teaching Children to Grow Food

The Benefits of Teaching Children to Grow Food

Keeping children busy, entertained and learning is essential, including during the lock-down, whether or not they’re attending nursery or pre-school. It can be amazing fun too, if activities are carefully chosen. One really cool activity to tick all the boxes is to encourage children to grow food at home. Growing vegetables and herbs is a great place to start — and it’s relatively easy. One of the best things about the activity is that children don’t need a seed or seedling to get started. Essentially they can grow produce for free by ‘re-growing‘ offcuts from shop-bought vegetables and herbs. The resulting food could save the family money as well as teaching the children a huge amount, on many different levels.

“Why try to explain miracles to your kids when you can just have them plant a garden.” (Robert Brault)

Children love growing vegetables and herbs

Home-grown herbs and vegetables make great saladsIt may surprise some to learn that you can buy some vegetables and herbs just once and never have to buy them again. The secret is knowing which, and how to re-grow them. It turns out that it’s pretty easy, so we encourage parents to help youngsters get started. Once they see growing shoots or roots and, later, vegetables or herbs that the family can actually eat, they’ll be so pleased that they made this little miracle possible. What’s more, it will have taught them something about where food comes from, how to grow it sustainably and how to look after the living plants. If you’re really lucky, it may even encourage them to take things a step further and get involved in food preparation and cooking later on. It’s amazing, actually, where such a simple, fun, activity can lead!

“In every gardener is a child who loves to play in the dirt. In every child is a gardener ready to grow.” (LeAura Alderson)

No garden? No problem!

Container planting is great when outdoor space is limitedIt’s possible, and indeed fairly easy, to grow your own produce even without a garden. So long as you look after your plants and give them water, soil and light as a bare minimum, they will grow. If you don’t have a garden, perhaps you have a small courtyard or patio where you can grow in containers. If you don’t have any outside areas at all, you can grow in flower pots and other containers on window sills, balconies, under skylights and so on. This makes growing produce possible almost anywhere, including in urban London in high-rise flats. After all, it’s in a plant’s nature to want to grow.

Vegetables & herbs kids can grow for free

Once you and your children have tried this, you may totally re-think how you deal with vegetable and herb ‘waste’. We hope so. The secret to re-growing free herbs and vegetables is to

/by
, , , , , , , ,

The Importance of Parental Involvement in Education

The importance of parental involvement in education

It has long been accepted that the involvement of parents in a child’s education and development is incredibly important, with many benefits for the child. It’s even more beneficial when involvement begins in the child’s early years. Helping children right from nursery means that they’re more likely to get their education foundations set up well. For example, a good foundation in reading and writing will help improve just about every other topic of learning going forwards. That’s why, at Little Cedars Nursery in Streatham, we encourage parents to involve themselves in their children’s learning, right from the start.

Parental involvement in education is shown to lead to a more rounded education and better grades overall. An improved comprehension of topics in turn leads to improved outcomes for the children involved. For example, the pupil may end up with a wider choice when it comes to choosing a university. It’s the same for their career path too, like a domino effect, increasing chances of a more successful career. The importance of parental involvement in a child’s education can therefore not be overstated.

“Parental effort is consistently associated with higher levels of achievement, and the magnitude of the effect of parental effort is substantial.” (Conway & Houtenville study, 2008)

“Students with […] parents operating in supportive roles are 52% more likely to enjoy school and get straight A’s than students whose parents are disengaged with what’s going on at school. This is especially the case during the earliest years of schooling, […] when students with active parents are almost twice as likely to succeed.” (Pinantoan, 2013)

Benefits of Parental involvement in education

The benefits of parental involvement in education include:

/by
, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nursery places for Key Workers in SW16 & SW17

Childcare for key workers in Streatham & Tooting

Key workers in Streatham & Tooting:
We can help you with childcare.

Following on from our Coronavirus Update, we’re reaching out to ‘key workers’ in the Streatham & Tooting areas. If you require childcare during the COVID-19 lock-down, we can help.

“If you need childcare in the London SW16 or SW17 area of London and are what the Government are categorising as a ‘Key Worker’, we can help with nursery places for your children.”

What is a Key Worker?

Loosely speaking a key worker, as defined by the Government, is anyone whose work is “critical to the COVID-19 response”. It also includes people working in one of the “critical sectors”. These are categories that they see as essential to keep the UK safe and the economy and infrastructure functioning. Where children of key workers cannot safely be cared for at home, they will be “prioritised for education provision”. That means eligibility for childcare at nurseries and pre-schools like Little Cedars Day Nursery and Beechcroft Day Nursery.

  • NHS staff and those working in health and social care, we can help you with nursery places for your children.
  • Teachers, childcare workers and education professionals, we can offer your child a nursery place.
  • Emergency services, MoD staff, armed forces critical to the response to the coronavirus pandemic and prison/probation staff, we can offer childcare for your children.
  • Workers in national or local government essential to the COVID-19 response: we have a place in our nursery for your children.
  • Transport and delivery workers may also be eligible for childcare in our London nurseries.
  • If you work in banking/finance, IT, postal services, delivery, utilities like oil, gas, electricity and water: we can also help with a nursery place for your child.

The list of eligible key worker categories is thankfully large, so those were just a few examples. To check whether you’re eligible for a childcare during the lock-down, check the full list of eligible key workers. Then get in touch with us (see below).

A Nursery/Pre-school for children of key workers in London SW16/SW17

We’ll temporarily operate from Tooting Bec during the lock-down. As we mentioned in our last post, Little Cedars Day Nursery (Streatham) has temporarily joined forces with our sister nursery Beechcroft Day Nursery. This is very close by (just a 7 minute drive) at 83 Beechcroft Road, London SW17 7BN (Tooting Bec).

/by
, , , , , , , , , ,

Coronavirus & Little Cedars Day Nursery — Temporary Measures

Coronavirus update for Little Cedars Day Nursery

Little Cedars Day Nursery would like you bring parents and carers up to date in regard to the affect that Coronavirus and COVID-19 is having on the nursery in Streatham. Firstly, we’re pleased to confirm that we don’t have any instances of staff or families having been infected. However, we do need to follow Government guidelines. Regrettably, these affect all education settings, so will impact on some families who attend our nursery/pre-school.

Partial closure of the nursery (from Friday 20 March)

As many may have seen in the news, the Government has asked all nurseries to partially close from Friday 20th March 2020. This is part of the community defence against the spread of the virus. It’s especially important for London-based nurseries and pre-schools to do all they can to play their part in the fight against this pandemic. Little Cedars is no exception, so here is what is happening from today (20 March 2020) …

Temporary relocation

During these emergency measures, Little Cedars will temporarily relocate, joining forces with our sister nursery, Beechcroft Day Nursery. This is very close by at 83 Beechcroft Road, London SW17 7BN. As you can see on the map, this is just 1.6 miles, a 7 minute drive or a 16 minute bus journey away. Once the emergency measures and virus have passed, things will go back to normal and we’ll be back at Aldrington Road. Hopefully, that’ll be in no time at all if we all take extra measures to beat this outbreak together. We’ll keep you posted of any changes here and on our social media.

Temporary relocation of Little Cedars durig COVID-19 outbreak

Exceptions to the closure

Nurseries, including Little Cedars, will essentially close to much of the general public. However, as directed by the Government, they will remain open for vulnerable children and children of key workers. In brief, the ‘key workers’ include

/by
, , , , , , , ,

A Rough Guide to Free Childcare Funding in England

A rough guide to free childcare funding in England

The rules surrounding free childcare funding in the UK can be confusing. You may have heard of the Government schemes for ’30 hours of free childcare’, or ’15 hours free funding’. However, different age groups each have their own separate rules surrounding eligibility. In view of the complexities involved, we have put together a rough guide for early years age groups, to help clarify things. This should be useful for those looking for nursery and pre-school places for 2 to 4 year olds in particular. We’ll take each age group in turn:

Free childcare funding for 2 year olds

You may be eligible for up to 15 hours of free childcare funding for 2 year olds if you live in England and …

  • are receiving Income Support;
  • receive the guaranteed element of Pension Credit;
  • are receiving Income-based Job Seekers Allowance;
  • receive Income-related Employment & Support Allowance;
  • are receiving Universal Credit and your annual household income is no more than £15,400 after tax, excluding benefits;
  • receive Tax Credits and your annual household income is no more than £16,190 before tax;
  • are receiving the Working Tax Credit “4 week run-on” (payments you receive when your eligibility for Working Tax Credit ceases).

You may also be eligible if your 2 year old:

  • is subject to an Education, Health & Care plan;
  • has a statement of special educational needs;
  • is no longer in care following a special guardianship order, an adoption order or a child arrangements order;
  • receives a Disability Living Allowance;
  • is cared for by a local authority.

Separate rules apply for those who are non-EEA citizens who also cannot claim benefits.

15 hours free childcare for 3 & 4 year olds

For English nationals, 3 and 4 year old children are entitled to 15 hours of free childcare per week, for 38 weeks per year. That equates to 570 hours per year but it can only be used in conjunction with an approved childcare provider like Little Cedars Day Nursery in Streatham. 3 and 4 year olds are eligible for this until they start school in reception year, or reach compulsory schooling age if that’s later. Eligibility does not depend on income or the parents’/guardians’ work situation. Parents can start benefiting from the funding from the 1st of January, the 1st of April or the 1st of September after their child’s third birthday. Ask your local nursery, pre-school or council for more details.

30 hours free childcare funding

In addition to the above, 3 and 4 year olds may be eligible for an additional 15 hours of free childcare, taking the total to 30 hours a week, if certain criteria are met …

/by
, , , , ,

Follow Little Cedars on Social Media

Little Cedars Day Nursery on social media

Connect with the nursery on social mediaPlease follow Little Cedars Day Nursery on social media. Social media is a great way to see what’s going on and to catch up on news, events and day-to-day happenings at the nursery. It’s also a great way to stay informed about anything anything interesting going on in Streatham that may be relevant to parents and children. Our nursery and pre-school is now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google My Business, so you can connect with us if you are on any of these platforms. So, it’s now simple to keep your finger on the pulse! Simply connect with us today at one or more of the following …

Follow Little Cedars:

Facebook: Little Cedars’ Facebook ID is @LittleCedarsDayNursery and you’ll find our Facebook profile here.

Twitter: Our Twitter ID is @Little_Cedars and you can find our Twitter profile here.

Instagram: The nursery’s Instagram ID is @LittleCedarsNursery and you can find our Instagram profile here.

Pinterest: Our Pinterest profile is available here.

Google My Business: View our Google My Business entry here (in the boxed area). Hey — please consider leaving us a 5 Star review if you’re happy with the nursery and have a Google account.

Google maps: You can also see a ‘map’ version of our Google My Business profile here. You can also get directions to the nursery, from your exact location, here.

Do come back and visit this post again as we are sure to add other profiles in the future. For example, we may add our YouTube channel in due course.

Please recommend us with a 5 star review

If you’re happy with the childcare services at Little Cedars Day Nursery, please consider leaving us a 5 star review. Positive reviews and recommendations really help us here at the nursery. It’s a great way to spread the word if you think your child has benefited from our service. You can leave a nice review on both Facebook and Google My Business if you have an account on either platform. Thank you so much if you’re able to

/by