Tania Ramos Childminding

19/08/2025

One of the most common myths in early childhood is that babies and toddlers need to be around other children to “socialize.”

In reality, the first years are about building secure, responsive relationships with primary caregivers. This is when the architecture of the brain is forming at an incredible pace, with over one million new neural connections being made every second. These connections are shaped by consistent, nurturing interactions.

Every cuddle, every shared smile, every time you respond to their needs, you strengthen the neural pathways for trust, empathy, communication, and cooperation. These are the building blocks that make future friendships and group interactions possible.

Social skills at this stage are not learned on the playground or in a group of same-age peers. They are formed through the back-and-forth exchanges, eye contact, and emotional attunement between a child and their caregiver. Peer play will naturally come later, once the child feels secure and confident in themselves. Solitary and parallel play in infancy and toddlerhood are not only normal but essential for healthy development.

We’ve unpacked this in Part 2 of our Summer of Play series, Stages and Schemas: https://www.weskoolhouse.com/product-page/summer-of-play-series-part-2-patterns-of-play-understanding-stages-and-sche

06/08/2025

What if we stopped seeing misbehaviour as defiance — and started seeing it as a child struggling to meet a need?

Every child wants to do well.
Every child wants to feel connected, capable, and loved.

When their behaviour is off-track, it’s not because they’re choosing to be “bad” — it’s because something inside is out of balance.

They’re not trying to make our lives harder.
They’re trying to make sense of their own.

When we hold that truth at the centre,
we shift from blame to curiosity,
from punishment to guidance,
from frustration to compassion.

Because behind every difficult moment is a child who needs help — not judgment.

And when we meet them with that belief,
we don’t just change their behaviour…

We change the story they tell themselves about who they are. ❤️

Quote Credit: ❣️

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06/08/2025

Places available on Tuesdays and Fridays from September.

13/05/2025

03/04/2025

04/02/2025

People Literacy is the Number One Literacy
We pick our People Literacy skills up from those around us, we download what the others do, and this is a completely sub-conscious achievement. Brilliant as it is as a learning method, it does mean that we need to be in the company of people who have accomplished the complex skills of getting on with others, especially where there are conflicts of interest. That person is not going to be your average two year old.

Actually, most of us adults aren't too crash-hot at dealing with conflicts of interest in a mature and peaceful way either, so where can the child download peaceful conflict resolution from? Maybe it is we, the adults, who need to do some remedial learning on Non Violent Communication.

There is Non Violent Communication workshop coming up in Auckland, June 20-21st, facilitated by my friend Filipa Hope. To register or for information: filipahope@gmail.com

01/11/2024

SPACES NOW
AVAILABLE
Monday, Tuesday and Thursday

31/10/2024

I try and share this every year when the days start getting shorter. The same child is standing in the same place in both images, but the difference is that in the top half they are wearing a brightly coloured jacket.

It’s not even that dark in either image either, and so it’s a brilliant message for both pedestrians and their parents / carers and motorists about not only making yourself as visible as possible, but also about being extra vigilant.

24/10/2024

“Our children are children for such a small season of life. Let their laughter ring out, their imaginations soar, their feet stomp in puddles, their hands clap for joy. Too soon they will grow up and out of their youthful exuberance and zest and settle into the life and routine of adulthood”
— L.R. Knost

🎨~ Autumn's Window, Loré Pemberton

29/06/2024

“A four-year-old will be a four-year-old only once. Concentrate on meeting his present needs. Don't foist future academics on him. If he's allowed to truly play now — spontaneous play with room for running, leaping, ka-powing, crying, dancing, painting, spilling and creative problem-solving, then he will be ready for academics later. When children gain social and emotional skills and confidence in the preschool years, academic learning naturally follows."

—Heather Shumake (author and advocate for play based learning)

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17/01/2024

Just love this!

He’s the kid who never listens the first time.

Or the second.

Or even the tenth.

You can pick him up out of the line up in the school hallways.

He’s the one who doesn’t walk in an orderly fashion. He runs or spins or stops in his tracks if something catches his eye.

He has a hard time keeping his hands to himself.

His handwriting and spelling don’t betray his intelligence...you might be fooled into thinking it’s all a struggle if you’re not paying attention.

He’s the one making all the noises with his mouth, only stopping when his siblings finally yell at him.

His heart sometimes breaks a little because he’s not always sure why what he’s doing is so wrong.

His ideas come out in a jumble and you have to slow way down and look in his eyes to listen.

His ideas are just too big and too fast for his head it seems and so they come out in any old order.

But he needs you to hear him.

His energy cannot be contained by walls and he seems to take up so much more space than his size.

He tries every ounce of your patience if you’re trying to get somewhere.

You might send him to put on his boots and he’ll come back with a new LEGO creation.

Time has no meaning when a new plan strikes.

He can understand stories on a level well beyond his years and will floor you with his insights.

He is smart as a whip yet school isn’t always his jam. He’d rather talk about why Sally is giving away 24 of her apples instead of solving the story problems in math.

He loves fiercely and deeply and without reservation.

He will tuck a blanket around you if you look cold and will always share a bite of his cookie.

He can read your emotions on your face and will always know who is lonely on the playground.

He runs to open your car door and will insist on carrying your bag in the house for you.

He loves to climb into your lap and wants to hold your hand as he falls asleep.

His greatest joy is making you laugh from deep in your belly.

His body is eight but his soul is much older.

He is so many things...sometimes the world wants to label him with letters and words and numbers...and sometimes these help us understand him better.

But the letters and words and scores are not what he is. They cannot capture his essence.

There is no data taken anywhere on big hearts, but if there were this kid would be the shining star.

Like all our kids he is just himself. The sum of gifts and struggles all bound together with love.

And my hope for him, and all kids really, is that we can see these clearly. We can look beyond the definitions and categories to what’s shining in their eyes and hiding behind their smiles.

And we can love them just the way they are.

Amy❤️

20/12/2023