How do you get 3-4 year olds to engage positively with electronics?
Children learn through play, through taking things apart, and putting them back together.
Our guided activities takes the little ones (& their parents) on a journey of discovery through the underlying elements of technology. This technology surrounds them but is largely inaccessible to them to learn about because most electronics & computing are not designed for children to engage with.
Our materials are carefully chosen to allow children as young as 3 and 4 years old to experience the delights of creating working mini-products -- of course with the support of the accompanying parent!
All of our devices are chunky, allowing little ones to manipulate them safely and with confidence.
In the process, they develop their dexterity with objects and improve their fine motor skills. This will serve them well throughout their years in school.
What approach is used to engage the children?
We use musical circle time to get the children feeling settled, confident, and receptive.
We use a guided discovery approach to allow them to put together and explore each technology topic.
We use a cooperative tidy-up routine so that they build confidence in deconstruction as well as construction, and build up responsibility to take care of their components.
What does a typical session look like for 3-4 year olds?
Each session starts in a circle with a welcome song that gets each child feeling special, being welcomed personally, and feeling comfortable in moving about.
We then start the discovery of the day. Each child is invited by name to come to top of the circle and take a named component, and they are told what to do with it. After 3-4 trips back and forth, the child has created something special (with their parents help!).
We then gather back in musical circle time, and incorporate what we have built in a themed song, or on occasion this is replaced with a special activity that allows them to further explore, experiment, or play with their creation.
Finally we engage the children in the tidy-up routine, where the children take apart what they have built, piece by piece, and return it to the top of the circle.
What involvement is expected of the child's parent/care-giver in these sessions?
Parents/care-givers are vital for the success of their child in these sessions.
Our activities are designed to create a child-carer team approach to discovering, learning, and playing together.
Our sessions facilitate the development of a growth mindset in children. Child learning is best when the play is child-led, with the carer providing encouragement, attention, and support but only after letting the child have a few goes. Trying, persevering, and eventually succeeding, are core aspects of a growth mindset.
Where do you run your Little Ones sessions?
We run the Encounters for Little Ones sessions out of 5 locations across Herts, Bucks, and North London, aiming to be within 20 minutes drive-time of the top 20 cities and towns in the area.
We choose locations that are warm, friendly, safe spaces, with convenient on-site parking, bright facilities, and which are embedded into local communities.
You can see all of our Locations here!
What are the timings for the Little Ones sessions?
Our Little Ones programmes run Term-Time after school for 40 minutes. For 3-4 year olds, we start our sessions at 3pm (nursery/pre-schools typically finish at 2.30pm). For 4-5 year olds, we start our sessions at 4pm (reception year typically finishes between 3 and 3.30pm).
We are also trialling Sunday morning sessions, from 9.20-10am, as parents have expressed interest in a Sunday morning activity.
Do you offer trial (taster) classes?
Yes! We offer up to three taster classes at the introductory per session rate, pay as you go. This allows parents to see how their child is responding to the sessions (all children are different!) before deciding to commit to the rest of the term.
Where can I learn more about MathSciTech?
You can learn more about what we do, and the background of our founder on the About Us page.
To speak to one of our programmes team, you can Register here and put in the request in the additional comments box.
We look forward to hearing from you again soon!
