Playgroup adventures - What my child learnt at playgroup

I have been attending playgroup with JJ then DD for the past 4 years. It has been a weekly routine that all of us look forward to. Playgroup has benefited JJ and DD so much that I wanted to share our experience with you.

A playgroup is a gathering of children (usually 0 to 5 years old) and their parents or caregivers. The group meets on a regular basis either in someone's home or a common space like a park, library, or community center. Playgroup provides a safe place for the children to explore and play together.

When JJ was 6 months old, her Godmother introduced us to a playgroup. Since I didn’t have much help with childcare as a stay at home mother, I brought DD along to playgroup since he was 3 months old. This playgroup is housed at the same venue as a Montessori kindergarten. I learnt so much about Montessori and early childhood development from playing with the children here. Being at playgroup was as much a learning experience for me as it was for them.

Each playgroup session begins with free play and is followed by circle time and then snack time. Circle time is when the children and parents gather together and do some activities together. Circle time activities include group storytelling, singing with actions and music and movement.

When I first joined playgroup, I often wondered how playgroup would be different from playing at home, especially for a young infant. I noticed that at 6 months till almost 3 years, JJ and later DD didn’t play with the other children. If you have seen enough infants and toddlers play, you would realize, as I did, that many of them just play by themselves rather than with each other. It isn’t until 2 or 3 years old when they begin to play with each other. But I realized later on that my children enjoyed the company of the other children even though they didn’t play in collaboration with others. There was the added fun and festivity when having other children around them.

My own research led me to realize that learning, especially at this young age is not immediately visible. It requires quiet observation over a period of time to notice any learning progress in young children. There is so much adults can learn about observation from young children. Infants, toddlers and young children are the best observers. We think that they are just sitting there but in fact their brain is stimulated by what they see, hear and touch.

While the children are playing, they are also watching the adults and older toddlers. Abstract social interactions such as asking for something politely, taking turns, following routines and rules, greeting others, table manners and many more are modeled by adults and older children at playgroup. A young toddler quickly follows what is modeled.

Older toddlers learn to be mindful of younger infants as they interact with them. JJ learnt how to make funny faces to cheer a baby, to take extra care when playing with babies, giving way to infants younger than her, to wash her hands before touching a little baby and so much more. I was able to introduce her to the idea of me carrying a baby and paying attention to another child. I think it helped make the transition from being the only child to big sister much easier. Now, it’s DD’s turn to be the older child at playgroup.

JJ and DD also developed communication skills such as how to negotiate, deal with conflict, make friends and stand up to bullies. It made it much easier for them to socialize, adapt to new surroundings and people. For JJ it made it so much easier for her when she started kindergarten. By then, school was a familiar concept and not a culture shock.

From my parenting experience, it does indeed take a village to raise a child. Playgroup became our village community since we did not live with our extended family. Looking back on JJ and DD’s experience at playgroup, I realized that learning was so much more than ABCs and 123s. Playgroup helped to set a strong foundation for building their emotional intelligence and communication skills.