Maria offers a loving home-from-home environment which our two children who are now 4 and 6 years old have been lucky to have benefitted from since they were babies. They absolutely love going to Maria's and regularly ask to go for extra days. She is extremely caring, enthusiastic and passionate about what she does and this is really evident in the quality care our children receive. Maria works really hard to ensure she offers the children brilliant opportunities to learn and develop all whilst having lots and lots of fun. She checks in regularly with parents to establish the children's current likes and interests so she can tailor child-led activities to each child's level or need. She provides lots of fun games to help them learn numbers, letters, colours, shapes, reading and writing, along with weighing/measuring, cooking, creative and messy play etc the list is endless really. We are always amazed by how much they learn each day when they are at Maria's.

The children spend a lot of time outdoors learning about the world, this could be anything from a treasure hunt in the park, putting on wellies and jumping in muddy puddles, trips to the beach, or growing vegetables at her allotment. She regularly organises trips to places such as the vets, fire station, optician etc, along with attending local children's groups. She also works closely with a local elderly care home which the children visit weekly and they get to do all sorts of activities, games and singing alongside the residents who they have developed lovely relationships with.

All this means she has been a fundamental part of getting our children ready for school, working with them on anything from counting or identifying letters to being able to do up their buttons independently. Additionally tools like circle time help the children develop in confidence, speak in front of their peers and to be able to sit and take turns and listen to others. To help them transition to school she suggested we bring a book bag each week (during the year they were due to start school) in which she puts a different storybook and related activity sheet to work on at home. She also suggests activities to try at home in line with the children's current learning needs.

Maria communicates with parents via a learning journal, which she fills in daily so you always know what has happened during the day, including what they have eaten (always healthy and homemade), whether they have napped, used the toilet, their activities and any observations. The aspect that we also love is the regular photos we receive during the day documenting exactly what the children have been up to, which really helps to know that they are happy and having a wonderful time.

Maria is awesome and we really can't recommend her highly enough.

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