Jump into the three parts of the guide most families use first.
This theme is about belonging and identity. It anchors something personal and lasting — the child's own name, their feelings, and what makes them uniquely themselves.
Start with the child's own name because it is the most meaningful entry point into print.
Concrete objects and simple routines keep early maths playful and visible.
This theme builds an emotional and sensory foundation — identity in the context of your learning relationship together.
This theme asks you to slow down and look carefully at who this child is. If it doesn't feel like enough is happening, it is. The foundation being laid during this theme — routine, belonging, curiosity — is the structure everything else grows from. The most important outcome of this theme is that the child wants to come back to learning tomorrow. Your job in this theme is to set up experiences, demonstrate first, and follow your child's lead. That is not spoon-feeding — it is how children learn safety, sequence, and confidence.
Every activity this week connects to the child's own identity — their name unlocks literacy, their senses anchor science, and counting personal facts makes maths feel like self-discovery.
Ask your child to spot the first letter of their name on three different things before bedtime — a book spine, a food packet, a sign. Notice how quickly the letter starts appearing everywhere.
If the My Name Walk cannot go outside, do it indoors — food packets, book spines, and clothing labels are full of the letters you need. The finds will be different, but the name-hunting is the same.
If your child is asking you to write their name on things — bags, drawings, lunch boxes — that possessive instinct is exactly where identity work takes root.
Naming and visualising emotions underpins everything: the feelings chart becomes a daily anchor while sorting and reading extend the same vocabulary into maths and stories.
Notice and name emotions in a picture book; make different faces in the mirror together and guess what each feeling is.
Play Emotion Charades indoors. Take turns acting out feelings while the other person guesses. Use a mirror to check your expression.
If your child is starting to name feelings they notice in themselves or in characters from books, the emotional vocabulary work is landing. That matters more than letter-perfect output.
Home makes abstract concepts concrete — drawing a room map builds spatial thinking, identifying household shapes ties geometry to real life, and letter review uses familiar objects.
Go on a shapes hunt in your neighborhood or at the shops; spot letters A, B, or C on signs and packaging.
Sink or Float is a perfect rainy-day indoor activity — the bowl of water and your child's outdoor finds are all you need. Add a rainy-day challenge: predict what the rain itself would do to a paper boat.
If your child is beginning to count objects in small groups (even if they skip numbers or recount) rather than just reciting numbers by memory, they're building the thinking the whole maths year rests on.
This week celebrates how far the child has come: body tracing anchors identity in something physical and measurable, counting around the room makes maths part of the space itself, and the Theme Celebration closes this theme with joy before the next adventure begins.
Go on a nature walk and collect one interesting thing each — a leaf, a stone, a seed pod. Sort them by color, size, or shape at home.
If the outdoor walk is not possible, build the child's name in 3D using playdough, blocks, or pasta shapes on any flat surface.
If your child is asking 'what are we doing today?' with genuine anticipation — the identity work of this theme is already moving into the background where it belongs.
This month's hands-on activities, grouped by week. Open Instructions to run each one.
On Day 1 make a small stapled booklet — the My Name Book — with one page per letter of the child's name. Across the week the child fills one page per session, each page built around a single letter of their name. Letter A on its page in cloud dough, letter B on its page in paint or crayon, a find from the Name Walk glued beside the letter it starts with, a picture of someone they love whose name starts with that letter too. By Friday the booklet holds the child's whole name, letter by letter, as a personal first reader nobody else's family could write.
On the first session, fold three or four sheets of A4 in half and staple along the fold — this is the booklet. Count the letters in the child's name together and make sure the booklet has at least that many inside pages. The child writes their name (or copies it) on the cover. Mix the cloud dough in the tray and smooth the surface flat. One letter per session is the rhythm — if the name is long, two letters can share a day later in the week. The booklet lives on the table or a shelf the child can reach so they can flip through filled pages between sessions.
On Day 1 write the first letter of the name in the cloud dough and trace it together, slowly, saying its name and sound. Then open the booklet to Page 1 and make that same letter on the page — a big crayon letter, a fingerprint letter, or a letter drawn over the dough impression. Add one thing the child says belongs to that letter — a drawing of someone or something whose name starts with it. Over the next three or four sessions return to the booklet and fill one page each time, one letter at a time. By Friday read the finished book cover to cover.
✓ Making the booklet, tracing the first letter in the cloud dough, and making that same letter on Page 1 is a complete first session. The book can grow tomorrow.
The child writes each letter themselves on its page (using the dough or a written model as a guide) and chooses what belongs beside it — a Name Walk find glued in, a drawing of a pet or family member, or a letter-sound word they think of independently. On the closing session, flip through every page and read the letters in order, then out of order, then as the whole name.
Each page holds the letter AND a one-line sentence — "A is for Alex and for apple" — written from memory or copied. On the back cover, the child writes the first letter of a family member's name and circles any letters that match their own. The finished booklet is read cover to cover aloud to a family member, sound by sound.
Switch the medium — trace the next letter in a flour tray, in wet sand, in shaving foam on a tray, or in soft food at the table. The booklet page can receive a print of whatever medium you used.
Add a Name Walk find to each page — the acorn for A, the leaf for L — so the booklet holds the walk's collection letter by letter.
At mealtimes, let the child trace the letter of the day into a soft food — yogurt, mashed potato, or sauce on a plate — before it goes into the booklet in crayon.
The world is full of writing surfaces — dirt, playground sand, condensation on a window — and finds that belong in the booklet.
A tray of dough or sand on the coffee table becomes a calm, absorbing writing practice that feeds the booklet.
If your child's name is spelled or written differently in your heritage language, add that version on the back cover or on its own page inside. Two scripts, one name — the booklet becomes a bilingual first reader.
Retrieve the objects your child gathered on their Name Walk — the stone, leaf, acorn, or seed pod each letter of their name led them to find. Place a bowl of water on the kitchen table and test every single one. A leaf may float while a stone the same size sinks. These are things your child already named and claimed on your walk together; finding out something new about them deepens that story. If the Name Walk collection is not at hand, gather 8–10 objects right now — some from the yard, some from inside — with the child choosing every one.
Set the collected objects beside the bowl and name each one together before any go in the water. Ask what each object is made of and what the child thinks will happen. Mark predictions on the recording strip before testing begins.
Hold up each object and ask — sink or float? The child points to a side of the recording strip and you mark it. They drop the object in and watch. Did it match the prediction? Work through all objects together.
✓ One prediction made, tested, and watched with full attention — a complete science moment with the child's own found objects.
The child makes each prediction independently, marks the recording strip themselves (drawing the object or writing its name), then tests it. When all objects have been tested — how many predictions were right? Which result was the most surprising?
After recording all results, sort the float group and the sink group by what they are made of — soft things (leaves, feathers, bark) and hard things (stones, seeds, shells). Does a pattern emerge? Does anything break the rule? The child explains in their own words why they think that object does what it does.
Test one object from inside the house — a crayon, a marble, a wooden block — and compare it to the outdoor finds.
Find one more outdoor object to predict and test; see if prediction accuracy improves with practice.
Sink or float thinking appears in cooking, in the bath, and at the pool — point it out whenever it comes up naturally.
The bath is a permanent science lab — buoyancy and flow are right there every evening.
The kitchen holds dozens of sink-or-float moments waiting to be noticed.
Name each object in your heritage language before testing it — the words for natural things (stone, leaf, seed) vary beautifully between languages.
On Day 1 make a small stapled booklet — the All About Me Numbers book — with the child's name on the cover. Across the week the child fills one page per session, each page holding one personal number from a different "number home" in their life — their body, their room, their kitchen, the people who love them. By Friday the book holds four or five numeric facts that together make a numerical self-portrait nobody else's family could write.
On the first session, fold four or five sheets of A4 in half and staple along the fold — this is the booklet. The child writes "My Numbers" (or their name) on the cover. Together, brainstorm three or four "number homes" to visit across the week — Me, My Body, My Room, My Kitchen, Who I Love. One page per number home; the child chooses which comes first. The book lives on the table or a shelf the child can reach so they can return to it between sessions.
Fill the first page together on Day 1 — the Me page. The headline number is the child's age; add one or two smaller counts beside it (people at home, pets, siblings). The child draws what is being counted; you or they write the numeral. Over the next three or four sessions return to the booklet and fill one page each time — a different number home on each page. By Friday the book holds four or five pages, read aloud from the cover.
✓ Making the booklet, filling the Me page with one personal number, and drawing what it counts is a complete first session. The book can grow tomorrow.
The child chooses the next number home each session and says what they want to count before you begin. They count by touching each thing, write the numeral themselves, and draw what was counted. On the closing session, flip through every page and find the biggest and smallest numbers — is the biggest the count of something they love? Or something small they did not expect to beat it?
Each page holds the number AND a one-line "I notice" sentence — "I have more books than stuffed animals," or "Our kitchen has the same number of chairs as people at home." On the closing page, the child invents a number riddle from one of their pages ("I have four of something — guess what") and reads it to a family member for guessing. The finished booklet is read cover to cover aloud.
Make a number home page for a family member — what would their Me page, their room page, their loved-ones page say?
Add a final page counting something the child cannot see all at once — heartbeats in a minute, steps from the front door to the car, days until a visit they are looking forward to.
Numbers about the family appear everywhere — birthday cards, shopping lists, house numbers, the clock. Point them out whenever they appear and ask if they belong on a booklet page.
Every outing is potential page material — steps to the car, houses on the street, birds at the park, fruits at the market.
A flip through the finished booklet at the end of the week turns counting into a story about who the child is.
Count and say each personal number in your heritage language — "I am this many years old" often sounds and feels completely different in another tongue. Write both numerals on the page if they differ — the book becomes a bilingual counting record.
Make a small handmade book from real moments of the past few days — each page names a feeling the child actually had, shows their face making that expression, and holds a quick sketch of the moment that caused it. The list of feelings comes from the child, not a template.
Before folding paper, take a "feelings walk" together through the past few days. Parent and child recall specific real moments — the wobble at drop-off, the laugh at dinner, the quiet at bedtime — and name the feeling each one produced. The child's list becomes the booklet's topics. Then fold 4 sheets and staple into an 8-page booklet labelled "My Feelings Book" and the child's name, reserving one page per feeling.
Work through two feelings together, using two remembered moments as the anchor. For each one, look in the mirror to find the face, draw it on the page, and add a quick sketch of the moment underneath. Parent writes a one-line caption the child dictates ("I felt this when the rain started").
✓ One finished feelings page — face drawn, moment sketched, feeling named — is a complete activity.
The child draws each mirror face independently, sketches the moment below it, and dictates or copies a one-line caption. Aim to cover every feeling they named on the feelings walk — however many that was.
The child completes all pages independently (invented spelling fine), then adds a last page for a feeling that didn't have a word when it happened. Parent and child name it together and add it to the book.
Add a new page whenever a strong feeling comes up in the rest of the week — sketch the moment while it is still fresh.
Make a feelings page for a favorite book character — what feelings do they have?
Leave the book somewhere accessible so the child can add to it independently when a moment happens.
A short end-of-day recall gives the Feelings Book fresh material — the day's real moments become the next page.
Picture books give children safe distance to explore big emotions — and sometimes a better word for a feeling of their own.
Name each feeling in your heritage language as you add it — sometimes a feeling from a first language names something that has no word in English, and that gets its own page.
Your child is the Table Setter. Before a meal, they carry, count, and lay each place. A small daily role that makes them feel needed — and teaches counting and spatial thinking without a worksheet.
Count how many people are eating. Lay the materials within the child's reach. Show the placemat layout once, then step back.
Carry the napkins to each seat. One napkin, one seat. Count together as you go.
✓ One napkin at each seat counts as a complete contribution.
Set one full place: plate, cup, fork. Check by looking: 'Does everyone have a plate?'
Set the whole table independently. Notice what's missing and problem-solve: 'We have four people — how many spoons do we need?'
Name each step in your heritage language as your child completes it — turning a routine into living vocabulary.
Clap the syllables in the child's name, then explore syllables in other familiar words. Works in the car, at the table, or walking between rooms — no setup needed, and it tends to become the game they ask for on the way to the shops.
Sit together in Morning Circle or at the table. Clear away distractions — this is a listening and movement game.
Clap the syllables in the child's name together. Say it slowly and clap on each part. Count the claps.
✓ Clapping through the child's own name once is a complete and joyful session.
Clap names of family members and pets. Sort words into short names (1 clap) and long names (3+ claps).
Introduce the word 'syllable'. Clap compound words like 'sun-flow-er' and blend the parts back into one word.
Try the syllable clap using the heritage-language version of the same name — does it have the same number of beats, or does the name change shape?
Take turns clapping each other's names and counting together.
Mix paint to find the colors of your own face — hair, eyes, and skin. Primary colors on a tray are the starting point; the real work is looking in the mirror, mixing, comparing, and asking "is that close enough?" This is not abstract color theory — it is color as personal discovery. Every child needs a different combination to find their own colors, and the portrait made from personally mixed paint is one worth keeping.
Set the mirror where the child can see their own face while painting. Pour small amounts of red, yellow, blue, and white into separate sections of the tray. Invite them to look carefully at their hair first — what color do you see? Which paints do we need to start with?
Look at the child's hair in the mirror together. Name the color and choose which paints to start with. Mix a small amount and compare to the mirror — close enough? Paint a patch on paper. Then try the eye color. Two matched colors is a complete session.
✓ One successful mix that is recognizably close to a real color on their own face — a complete and personal session.
The child mixes independently for hair and eyes. Then, together, explore a skin tone — start with yellow, red, and white and adjust. They paint a simple portrait using their three personally mixed colors and compare to the mirror.
The child mixes hair, eyes, and skin independently. They paint a complete self-portrait using only personally mixed colors. On the back, they record a simple recipe for each mix. They then try mixing one more color for a detail — lip color, a freckle, an eyelash.
Mix a color to match something else in the room — a cushion, a leaf, or a piece of fruit.
Write a color recipe on the back of the portrait — which paints went into each mix.
Look at portrait illustrations in picture books and notice how different artists painted different faces.
Illustrated portraits show how different artists approach skin tones and features.
Noticing mixed colors in the natural world connects to what was explored at the tray.
Name each color in your heritage language as it appears — and notice which language has richer words for the shades you are mixing.
Your child is the Body Mapper. Lie flat on a big sheet of paper while you trace, then measure, count, and decorate. The outline is a snapshot of who they are right now — date it and tuck it into the portfolio where it can be revisited any time.
Unroll paper on the floor. Invite the child to lie down flat with arms slightly out. Trace the outline. Date the corner and keep the tracing in the portfolio.
Trace the outline and decorate it freely — add hair, clothes, and a face. Count body parts together: two hands, ten fingers, one nose.
✓ A completed outline — even if not fully decorated — is a wonderful record of this theme.
Cut a length of string to match the child's height. Compare to a parent's height. Measure hands and feet with non-standard units.
Record height in centimeters. Estimate and check: 'How many of your own feet tall are you?' Save the measurement with the tracing so it is easy to find again.
Name each body part in your heritage language as you trace it — head, shoulder, elbow — and notice which words feel familiar from everyday family life.
One child lies flat while the other traces their full outline. Swap roles. Compare: whose arms are longest? Who is tallest? Whose hands are bigger?
Six steps, in order, every time. A ten-minute skill you will rely on for years. Named and respected, not nagged.
Stand beside the child at the sink. If possible, print or draw a simple six-step picture card to display at sink height: wet, soap, scrub, rinse, shake, dry.
Do each step together while naming it aloud. Wet, soap, scrub (count to ten), rinse, shake, dry.
✓ Completing the wet-soap-scrub-rinse sequence is enough for the first session.
The child leads while you narrate. Count to ten during scrubbing. Check: are the backs of the hands clean too?
The child completes the full routine independently without prompts. They check their own hands before declaring done.
Name each step in your heritage language as your child completes it — turning a routine into living vocabulary.
Your child is the Book Keeper — they open from the spine, turn pages gently, and return each book to its shelf. A ten-minute skill that protects the family library and teaches that some things are cared for, not just used.
Sit with a small pile of books. Show how to open a book from the spine, turn pages gently, and close it without folding corners.
Demonstrate gentle page-turning with the child watching. Let them practice on one book. Together, return each book spine-out to the shelf.
✓ Returning three books to the shelf without bending pages is a complete session.
The child returns all books to the shelf independently, spines facing out and titles visible. Notice if any are upside down and self-correct.
The child takes responsibility for one book repair: tape a loose page, straighten a bent cover. Discuss why books deserve care.
Name each step in your heritage language as your child completes it — turning a routine into living vocabulary.
They write their name, draw a self-portrait, and decorate a card that lives at their place at the table all month. A tangible reminder — this is my spot, and I belong here.
Write the child's name in large light pencil letters across the center of the card. Lay out the decorating materials. Say — this will live at your spot all month.
Trace over the pencil letters together, then decorate the borders freely with favorite colors and shapes.
✓ A name traced or written and a single decoration — this is a completed, meaningful identity artefact.
Write the name independently (copying from a model), add a self-portrait, and decorate all four borders.
Write name from memory, add: a favorite thing, a feeling word, and a small picture of something important. Describe it to a family member.
If your child's name is spelled or written differently in your heritage language, add that version to the placemat — two scripts, one name.
Walk outside and find one thing — a natural object, a sign, or anything in the current environment — for each letter of the child's name. E is for elm leaf. L is for ladybird. A is for acorn. The walk uses Who We Are's outdoor abundance and makes the child's own name the engine of a literacy investigation. Every name is a different walk.
Write the child's name in large clear letters on a strip of paper before heading out. Take it along. Tell the child — we are going on a hunt. We need to find one thing from outside for every letter of your name.
Walk together holding the name strip. For each letter you say the name and sound — the first letter is E, it makes an 'eh' sound, let's find something that starts with that sound. Collect or point to each find together. Celebrate every match loudly.
✓ Finding two or three letters of the name outdoors with a name for each find is a complete literacy walk for this theme.
The child leads the search for each letter, saying the name and sound independently. They choose what to collect or point to. On returning, they draw each find next to its letter on the name strip.
The child finds all letters of their name, collects or photographs each outdoor find, and creates a finished illustrated name key — each letter with its matching find drawn beside it. For any difficult letter they problem-solve independently — what thing in this season could possibly start with X?
As you walk, name what you find in your heritage language too — a stone, a leaf, a gate — so each letter of the name gets two words.
A ten-minute routine — hang the bag on the hook, place shoes on the mat, put the coat away. Teach it now and save yourself hundreds of reminders later in the year.
Point out the hook, the shoe mat, and where the bag lives. Name each place: Bag hook. Shoe spot. That is yours.
Model the full sequence: hang bag, place shoes, put coat away. Then do it together, narrating each step.
✓ Hanging up the bag independently is a real achievement at this point in the year.
The child completes the sequence while you narrate. Bag first, then shoes, then coat. Check each step together.
The child arrives and completes the full routine independently without prompts.
Name each step in your heritage language as your child completes it — turning a routine into living vocabulary.
Parent names a specific real moment from the past few days — the child sits at the mirror and shows what their face looked like in that moment. Then they swap roles. The session is an embodied recall that feeds directly into the Feelings Book being built this same week.
Sit together facing the mirror. Before you begin, parent thinks of two or three real moments from the past few days when the child showed a clear feeling — a wobble, a laugh, a frown at the end of a favorite book.
Name one moment — "Remember when the train left without us yesterday?" The child sits at the mirror and shows what their face did then. Parent names the feeling the face is showing. Swap roles — child names a moment, parent shows the face.
✓ If the child recalled and showed one real moment with a clear face, the session was a success.
After each face, the child names a word for the feeling and says one thing their face is doing ("My eyebrows went down"). Work through three or four real moments across the session.
The child chooses the best face from today's session and asks parent to help add it to a Feelings Book page (CLE
Name the feeling for each replayed moment in your heritage language as you make the face — some feelings have words in one language that simply do not exist in another.
Fold face washers and tea towels, corner to corner, smoothed and stacked. Precise, quiet, and reliably useful work that pays back every laundry day.
Lay one cloth flat on the table. Smooth out any wrinkles together before beginning.
Fold the cloth in half together, matching the corners. Smooth with hands. Fold in half again. Place in a neat pile.
✓ One cloth folded in half with corners roughly aligned is a complete success.
The child folds independently. Name what is happening: Corner to corner — edges touching.
The child folds all cloths, stacks them neatly, and puts them in their designated spot.
Name each step in your heritage language as your child completes it — turning a routine into living vocabulary.
Walk through three rooms of the home and count the same category of thing in each one — chairs, books, windows, cushions, or whatever the child picks. Make a tally for each room. Which room has the most? Which has the fewest? The home is a counting classroom and this week we belong to it.
Draw three columns on a sheet of paper and label each with a room name — Kitchen, Bedroom, Sitting Room, or whichever three rooms suit your home. Choose a category together. Windows is a good first choice — clearly defined and easy to spot.
Walk through each room together and count the chosen thing. You make the tally mark for each count. When all three rooms are done, look at the tallies together — which room has the most? Which has the fewest?
✓ Counting one category in two rooms and pointing to which has more is a complete tally session.
The child counts independently in each room and makes their own tally marks. When done, they point to which room has the most and which has the fewest — without recounting if possible.
The child counts two categories across three rooms — windows and chairs, for example — making two tallies per room. They compare across both categories and say which room is richest in each thing.
Count in your heritage language in at least one room — the number sequence often sounds different and that difference is worth noticing.
Your child is the Snack Chef — wash hands, get the plate, prepare the food, clean up. A complete start-to-finish sequence they own. Fifteen minutes today turns into every snack after school for the rest of the year.
Lay out all materials before beginning. Show the hand-washing step as the non-negotiable first action.
Prepare the snack together step by step. The child washes hands, you model the spreading, they copy on their own portion.
✓ Washing hands and placing food on a plate with minimal help is a full success.
The child prepares the snack with you nearby but not directing. Offer: What do you need to do next? if they pause.
The child prepares a snack for themselves AND for you, completing every step independently and cleaning up when finished.
Name each step in your heritage language as your child completes it — turning a routine into living vocabulary.
Explore the child's name through multiple modalities: write it, stamp it, build it with letter tiles, tap the syllables, and find its letters in the environment. By the end of this theme, they will spot their first letter on road signs from the back of the car without being asked.
Write the child's name large and clear. Say: This is the most important word you will ever learn to read. Let us explore every part of it.
Read the name together. Count the letters. Clap the syllables. Find the first letter somewhere in the room.
✓ The child recognizing their written name and pointing to the first letter is the foundation of everything.
The child builds their name with letter tiles, then writes it on paper. Count: how many vowels? How many consonants?
The child writes their name in five different ways: big, tiny, rainbow colors, backwards for fun, and in a sentence about themselves.
If your heritage language uses a different script, write your child's name in it alongside the other versions — a name in two scripts is twice as powerful.
Gather five objects from around the home with distinct textures, smells, or sounds and invite the child to arrange them on a tray. Your child chooses the objects, sets the tray, and leads the exploration. Twenty calm minutes that require nothing but household items and their attention.
Gather the objects together with the child. Say — we are going to arrange these beautifully and then explore each one using a different sense.
Lay objects out together. For each one, ask: which sense will you use to really know this? Touch it, smell it, listen to it. Name the feeling — rough, soft, scratchy, sweet.
✓ Handling one object carefully and naming the sense used — that is the full lesson.
The child arranges the tray independently, grouping by sense. Guide a blindfolded guessing game — can they identify an object by touch or smell alone?
The child creates their own senses tray using objects from around the home, labels each with a sense word (rough, smooth, fragrant), and presents it to a family member.
Describe each object in your heritage language — texture, smell, and sound words are often richer and more varied than any single language can hold.
Short, low-prep activities that reinforce what your child is learning this month. Slot them in between core experiences or use them on lighter days.
Drop one, two, or three counting bears onto a tray and ask the child how many — without counting. Then count together to check. Repeat with different small groups, then sort by color.
Together, draw or cut out pictures representing each part of the daily rhythm — morning sun (wake up), book (learning time), plate (lunch), pillow (rest), moon (bedtime). Arrange them on the wall at child height and point to where we are now throughout the day. The picture schedule makes the shape of the day visible and predictable.
Explore Letter C through tracing, songs, and spotting the letter in familiar words and objects.
Draw your family and write or dictate each person's name, building identity and early label writing.
Share the book together, discussing names, feelings, and what makes each person unique and special.
Revisit Letters A, B, and C — find them in books, point them out in the room, and practice writing each one.
Name and find circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles around the room or outside in the environment.
Draw your home or learning space and label rooms and objects to connect literacy with the immediate environment.
Use all five senses to explore an object, texture, or outdoor space and describe what you notice.
Move, clap, and dance to music to build body awareness, rhythm, and social-emotional regulation.
Final review of Letters A, B, and C — sorting, matching, and reading aloud from a simple alphabet book.
Take a slow walk and notice what catches your eye — collect a leaf, stone, or natural object to bring back and observe.
Mark the end of this theme with a small ritual — share one thing that felt good, one thing you made, one thing to try next.
Each experience offers three ways in: the core activity, a way to go further if your child is ready, and a next step to stretch. Follow the child's lead, not the calendar.
For full developmental benchmarks by age, see the Child Development & Learning Guide.
Skill arc focus this month:
Skill arc focus this month:
Everything here is household-friendly. The layout below makes substitutions easy to scan.
Items specific to this month — tick each as you gather it.
Specific to your skill position this month — gather these for the letter and maths work.
Reusable items used across multiple months — most families already have these. See the Year-Round Basics list.
Picture books chosen to enrich this month's theme — read one a week, or return to favourites as often as you like.
Display the child's name in large letters. Add a mirror at child height to anchor the identity theme at the start of each day.
Feature books that center children's feelings and inner worlds — In My Heart, Grumpy Monkey, and Chrysanthemum are naturals for the feelings vocabulary work in Week 2.
Finger paints, large paper, crayons, and glue stick keep the table ready. Add cloud dough (or a flour tray) for the My Name Book letter-of-the-day work, and a mirror propped up for self-portrait sessions.
Set up a bowl of water and the Name Walk collection (or child-chosen objects from home and yard) for Sink or Float. Add the mirror for portrait work.
Skill arc adjustments for your position:
What is your child fascinated by right now that isn't in this theme's plan? Identity, names, and feelings are this theme's anchors — but curiosity doesn't follow a schedule.
Match the session length to your day — everything else stays the same.
These are not learning activities — and that is the point.
This tracker is for your own quiet observation — not a report card. Mark what you notice. Three levels are available for each milestone: Exploring (just starting to engage), Growing (doing it with some support), and Flying (doing it confidently and independently). There is no wrong answer. Every child moves at their own pace.
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