Free guides for parents

What is inside the guides

Both guides come out of the same place our classrooms do: 37 years of watching what actually helps young children, rather than what sounds impressive. They are free, there is no catch, and you do not need a child at Shaws to use them.

The Age by Age Life Skills Guide

A plain list of what children can realistically manage at two, three, four, five and six: dressing, eating, tidying, toileting, packing their own bag, asking for help. Parents tell us the value is less in the list itself than in the reassurance of seeing that their four-year-old is exactly where a four-year-old should be. Use it to decide what to hand over next rather than as a test to run.

The 20 Day Activity Guide

Twenty days of play ideas using things you already own: a cardboard box, a bowl of rice, some tape, a few pegs. Each one takes minutes to set up and is built around a real developmental purpose, such as fine motor strength, early counting, language or balance. It was written for a school holiday, and it works just as well for a wet Sunday.

How to get the most from them

Do not try to do everything. Pick one idea a week, do it properly, and let your child repeat it as many times as they want. Repetition is how young children build skill, and the second and tenth attempts teach more than the first. If something falls flat, leave it and come back in a month.