A strong core comes before handwriting
Kirstin from The Parent Infant Program explains different ways to do tummy time
Floor play is a chance for babies to explore movement, as well as practice different positions for tummy time, reaching and sitting. The team adapt the session to what your baby needs on the day
Parent Infant Program was set up in 1997 and is run by two early years specialists with clinical backgrounds, Kirstin and Saffron
I wanted to understand why families may want to consider a psychomotor development class (and what even is that)
I asked what their experience is in working with babies. “People think children are small adults, and they’re not. They’re so much more complex… so much happens, if you imagine developmentally, from birth, even in those first 100 days.”
I asked what a parent gets here that they cannot get elsewhere. “Time. One-to-one time… meeting the baby where they are on that day and giving them plenty of opportunity to practise.” And: “It’s a safe space, so getting just those questions off your chest rather than going to Google and getting… more confused.”
“You need a strong core before you can have anything else… before you can sit at a tabletop, do your handwriting and play with your peers.”
I asked what actually happens when a baby has other ideas. “We have lesson plans, but equally we can be very flexible with that… a baby turns up and that’s not where they’re at, and we want to meet them where they’re at, and so plan goes out the window. But because we’ve got that professional background, we’re able to completely adapt the session.”
What do you wish parents knew before the first class? “We don’t expect babies to come to class and perform. It’s about parents gaining those skills as well as babies gaining those skills.”
Ask a teacher to explain what an activity is for and to show variations to try at home, using safe props that are easily available
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