HAPPINESS . . .

Happiness is not something you can give your child directly. It is a result of the abilities, characteristics and values that he or she develops. Helping your child to develop all these abilities and characteristics is what The Learning Monster is designed to do.

RESPECTING OTHERS . . .

Respect includes being polite, obedient and having good manners. It also includes kindness, respect for life and property, all of the values that are learnt by example. So, always reward your child when she says "please" or "thankyou" and always use "please and thankyou" yourself.

SELF CONTROL . . .

Self-control at the age of six or below is mostly to do with controlling temper and knowing how to ration a favourite food, like chocolate. Self-control also links to the desirable characteristics of self-reliance.

COURAGE & HONESTY. . .

Courage means doing what is right, even though it is difficult. Honesty is telling the truth and owning up to mistakes. Look for ways to reinforce examples of telling the truth and reward these generously.

SELF RELIANT. . .

Your child will live in a world of even faster change and complexity than we have ever experienced. A world where much knowledge and skills will be self taught through new media. The qualities your child will need most will be willingness and confidence to learn deeply throughout life.

CO-OPERATIVE & LOVING. . .

It is vital throughout the growing up process that childrem receive tons of positive encouragement. It's impossible to spoil a young child with too much love. That's the most vital ingredient of all: the knowledge that you are loved by the person you love most.

PERSISTANT & POSITIVE . . .

To stamp out put downs, try inventing a favourite family word, such as 'zap'.
When anyone, including you, puts down someone else, encourage everyone to 'zap' it. It's fun, but it draws attention to negative ways of speaking.

BRAIN CAPACITY. . .

Your child is born with the world's most complex organ - the brain! The average child is born with about 100 billion brain cells, each capable of making 20,000 connections, yet the average adult only uses 10% of its capacity!

FIVE ACUTE SENSES. . .

Your child learns by what he sees, hears, touches, tastes and smells. Ensure you stimulate all five senses, as this lays out the foundations for learning in later life.
Making learning multi-sensory increases the chances of remembering by 20%.

EIGHT FULL INTELLIGENCES. . .

Your child has 8 forms of intelligence that all need to develop in order to have truly rounded abilities, these are:
• Naturalist • Linguistic • Visual Spatial • Musical • Bodily/Physical • Logical/Mathematical • Intra-personal [Reflective] • Inter-personal [Social Skills]

CONFIDENCE & SELF ESTEEM. . .

Henry Ford put it neatly, "if you think you can or think you can't, your'e probably right". A child's self image determines success at learning or indeed anything else. Self-esteem is a key element in self development and learning, especially in the first years of life.

PHYSICAL SKILLS & HEALTH. . .

'Myelin' the wizard shares his name with the sheath that covers the brains pathways, a bit like insulation on electrical wire. When fully coated with myelin the brain cells can operate twelve times faster, good diet is the key to helping the body provide the right chemicals for these processes to happen.

LOVE & SECURITY. . .

You could do all the activities that The Learning Monster can possibly offer, but unless all the effort is based on a secure foundation, all will be in vein.
The most essential foundation of all is love and we hope that this message will shine through in every activity you do!

FUN. . .

"Learning is the greatest game in life and the most fun, all children are born believing this, until we convince them that learning is hardwork and unpleasant".
Glen Dorman: Institute of Human Potential

Play is one of the most effective ways to learn!