Polkadots Newsletter ~ Volume 1
What is a Podule?
The question is on everyone’s lips. Polkadots Podules are a new and innovative approach to teaching and learning for pre-schoolers and their parents. All of the music, books activities and activity materials, based around a specific curriculum area, are in one place, ready to use at your convenience. Podules can be bought in a downloadable or hard copy format.
You often want to have meaningful and educational interactions with your children but the ideas aren’t coming to you, or you don’t have the time to organize everything! Polkadots has done a lot of the preparation for you by assembling learning resources on a specific topic, in the one place (a Podule), so that precious time with your pre-schooler can be more interactive, more fun and more educational, giving them a real head start on their formal education.
At first glance, there is so much material available in a Podule that some might shy away from it with the thought of “too much to take in!” What parents using the materials have found, and is our intention, that you can use small amounts like songs or just the storybook when convenient or use the entire lesson plan for really comprehensive learning. It’s as relaxed or as intensive as you want it to be . . . or as your child demands. You might be surprised at how they respond to a complete lesson with your full attention and at what they talk to you about afterwards as you continue to play songs and build on activities. Repetition lends to retention and children actually will say and do extraordinary things . . . when they are given extraordinary things to do.
Watch our PODule Promo video at www.polkadots.co.nz then follow the link and instructions and you will be up and running in no time!
You can also click on the Tell a Friend button and let your friends know there is a great free Podule they can get!
Polkadots Newsletter ~ Volume 1
Start a Pod!
You and your child or children, can form your own learning Pod and use Podules to help them learn in a familiar environment! You can also form a Pod with several friends who have children of similar ages so parents and children are learning alongside friends and peers.
A Polkadots Learning Pod is created when a small group, with between three and six children attending, meets together on a regular basis. The idea is that children maximize their learning when they are in a small group, in a familiar place and with familiar people. Some of our Pods meet on a weekly basis to learn together and give their children interaction with their peers. Some meet every couple of days. They then use the Podule materials on their own at home during the rest of the week. However often you choose to meet as a Pod is flexible but it means you have support from others who have the same vision for their children, you can share the teaching and activities and you and your child get to learn with friends and peers.
Polkadots Newsletter ~ Volume 1
Want a FREE Podule?
Hold a Polkadots Forum with Friends and Family. Get a group together for a demonstration on using Podules and we will give you, as the group coordinator, a FREE download of a Podule of your choice (worth over $100). Each person attending will also receive a FREE Polkadots CD.
Polkadots Podules are a very innovative approach to teaching pre-school children so, we want to do all we can to educate and assist families into understanding how they can best utilize this new product in their own homes and also within a Pod. There is no formal structure involved but a Polkadots coordinator can visit your home and help to organize your group and give an introduction to using the Podule materials, so you can begin making every moment a teaching moment with your child.
Call Pamela, on 0800 66 33 11, to ask about hosting a Polkadots Forum.
Polkadots Newsletter ~ Volume 1
Adventure Idea: Letter Hunt
Discover letters all around you as you set your own letter hunt with your child in the car, in the supermarket, at the park . . .
On an A4 piece of paper, draw up a 4×4 table. In each box write a different letter of the alphabet in lower case. Take this board with you when you go for a walk, to the supermarket, in the car and explain to your child that they are going on a “Letter Hunt”. Every time they spot one of the letters on their board they can either cross it off, or draw the letter again next to it so they can practice their writing.
You can change the game each time you go out by changing the focus of the “Hunt”. You may choose to do upper case letters one day, animals, numbers, or shapes. Ask your child what they would like to hunt for. The possibilities are endless!!!
