Charmaine van Wyk Occupational Therapy

01/08/2025

𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬!

We’re delighted to announce that we will be introducing a 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 to the Whippets Pre-Prep at WHPS!

If your little one was born in 2023, this is the perfect opportunity to give them a nurturing and happy start to their learning journey. Our Grade 0000 programme is specially designed for 2–3-year-olds, with a focus on play-based learning, emotional development, and early social skills — all in a warm, caring environment.

What we offer:
✔️ A safe, stimulating space for curious young minds
✔️ Fully qualified, experienced, loving teaching staff
✔️ Breakfast and holiday club for busy families
✔️ A strong foundation for lifelong learning

𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧!

Visit our website to apply or contact us to learn more: www.whpsschool.com

We can’t wait to welcome your family into ours.

26/06/2025

𝐖𝐇𝐏𝐒 - 𝐌𝐮𝐦𝐬 & 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞
Join us for a fun-filled sensory play date at the Whippets Pre-Prep. Especially designed for expecting mums, mums of babies and toddlers aged 9 months to 2 years.

Come and experience our nurturing environement, meet and engage with other mums, and have fun with your little one.

We look forward to meeting you - book your spot ASAP as space is limited.

𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐒𝐕𝐏
- Click here: https://forms.gle/d8H2YSPU9AJqJzrS8
- Type this into your browser: https://forms.gle/d8H2YSPU9AJqJzrS8
- Click on the link in our bio
- Visit our website: www.whpsschool.com

23/02/2024

🤍🤍🤍

30/07/2023

A mom and her children.⁣
⁣
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵.⁣
⁣
It’s to be carried for not only nine months but a lifetime.⁣
⁣
𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦.⁣
⁣
Even when they can’t be pulled into her arms,⁣
and fill their entire big kid bed,⁣
they’re tucked safely beneath the covers of her heart.⁣
⁣
And a mom carries a little piece of them with her forever.⁣
Because that’s what happens when you love someone with wild abandon.⁣
⁣
And they feel that love enough to hug their mom for no reason,⁣
to say I love you just because⁣
and trust her with their secrets and fears.⁣
⁣
And a mom learns to love things her child loves.⁣
She fights gender stereotypes.⁣
She advocates.⁣
She learns to accept things about them that she never accepted in herself.⁣
⁣
𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳.⁣
⁣
They argue,⁣
and don’t like each other at times,⁣
but they’d do anything to make each other happy.⁣
⁣
And that kind of unconditional love⁣
only happens between a mother and her children.⁣
⁣
𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵.

✍️:
📸:

19/07/2023

17/07/2023

I get it, I get all of it.

The screams, the tears, the tantrums.
Your bottom lip drops and your eyes brim with emotions.

Then the sun will peak through and the smiles will come for Daddy and I’ll be left here in the storm puddles.

I’m tired, I’m torn. But I get it now.

I’m that place for you.

When you have a scary dream and you call “Mummy’ because my hugs and the sound of my voice breathes confidence into you.

The one that always has its lights on with the open sign hanging in the window.

Yes, you can air your laundry here and forget to wipe your feet on the door mat.
I’m that place where you can scatter your feelings over the floor and I won’t sweep them under the rug.

I know at times you try to hold it all together.

You can unravel here.

And I won’t judge you, I’ll open my arms to you.

Please fall into them, when you’re ready.

You’ve come from a place where your only expectation was to just be.
Suspended in warmth and safety.
Your heartbeat at one with mine.

Out here it’s different, not everyone will look at you how I do.
Expectations will be thrown at you unfairly and at such a young age.
Not everyone will encourage you to take your time.
But I promise, I will.

When you lock eyes on me in the crowd of chaos, you see familiarity, security, love.
I am your safe place for you to feel.
The one whose shoulder fits your head just right.

Love is unconditional here, the key will always fit and I don’t keep receipts.

You’re not at your worst, you’re at your limit.
And my love for you is limitless.
I am your home.
Always know, you're safe here with me.

……………………….
Words: Jess Urlichs ‘From One Mom to a Mother’ 📖 www.jessicaurlichs.com/shop
Art:

22/07/2022

“….two studies demonstrate that learning letters through printing creates the network of activation that is known to underlie reading in adults – even before children can read.”

Read this LDA article to find out more.

https://archive.ldaustralia.org/client/documents/Brain%20research%20shows%20why%20handwriting%20should%20be%20taught%20in%20the%20computer%20age%20-%20James,%20Berninger.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0b-W5gv5CyUfkmlxrVaRCieLi5_oJB5zizGYWejxCyT6TZxKxqokRiHNg

30/05/2022

JUST A MINUTE

He asks me to watch how fast he can run
How high he can jump, “did you see that mum?”
“Just a minute”, I say -
“I’m almost done”.

He asks me to listen while he hums a tune
Just a second, I say -
“I’ll be there soon”

He asks me to play, as I turn away,
I have things to do, and don’t have all day.
“Hold on a moment”, he hears me say.

He asks me to look at a picture he drew
I say I will soon, but I’ve things to do.

For his world is in colour, a work of art.
An invite he offers into his heart.
But there’s something unfinished.
Always something to start.

I will never be done
There will always be more
The dust will still settle
on some endless chore

And the running, the jumping,
the “mummy watch this”.
Will I remember it only as something I missed?
Too busy with crossing things off my list?

Let’s sit for a while, let’s take some time.
Pull me into your world,
Let me step out of mine.

He soars around, his arms are wings
And I finally learn that we need the same things.
In this season, and all that it brings.

A boy and his mother,
Just seeing each other.

………………………….
(Just reflections of me feeling like I have been less than present the past few weeks, trying to make more time in our ever busy schedules for my kids is a true goal of mine, even just to stop and take notice a little more ✨)

Poem available for print here: www.etsy.com/nz/listing/1228508064

Words: Jess Urlichs, Writer
Art: angelica.ch.r

23/03/2022

|I Opened a Book|
By Julia Donaldson

22/03/2022

The vestibular system is a sensory system that is essential to normal movement and equilibrium. In this video, I discuss the vestibular labyrinth---the prima...

24/02/2022

“Not listening is rarely an active choice to make the speaker upset. If a child is not listening, get curious about why. What is getting in between the verbal message and the child’s brain? Then adjust your proximity, tone, volume, simplify it, make it visual, but before all this, make sure the child feels comfortable and safe.”
~

CREDIT : https://www.facebook.com/Heidi-and-Me-Our-Neurodiversity-Journey-114543456599026/

Parenting On Your Own Path with Dr. Emily

💚💚

15/02/2022

My firstborn,

It was you that made me a mother.

It was you that stopped me in my tracks and paved new ones for me.

It was you that reduced me to the rubble of myself, and then built me back up stronger.

It was you that gave me so many reasons, but also reasons for criticising my body, for loving what it gave me, for being comfortable in my own skin.

It was you who first turned the nights into weeks and the years into days.

It was you that filled me with a type of gratitude I’d never known, each breath you took filled my lungs, each step you took was our journey together.

It was you that introduced me to so many firsts, to a different type of love, heart ache, and to me.

It was you that gave me a kind of confidence I never knew I had within, a whisper turned roar, an exercised patience, a worry that will live in my heart forever.

It was you who unearthed me, things tucked away, no longer buried, it was you who cracked me open.

It was you that showed me a different view of the world, decisions, memories, dreams, are all shaped with you.

It was you I held as I cried in the early months, deep in the trenches, lonely but in the best company. Tired but never more alive.
It was you that got me through.

You’re much older now.

But I’ll always remember us in the quiet of the weekdays, where we did nothing and everything.
Our chapter.

How it was you who made me a mother.

…………………………

Jess Urlichs, Writer
Words available on Etsy for print https://etsy.me/3LzMZsP