Why BabySteps
Playgroups, founded in the 1980s, were created with a clear purpose: to monitor developmental milestones, educate parents on the vital role of play in their child’s growth, and assess a child’s readiness to engage with the world while keeping fun and playfulness at the heart of the experience.
Over the years, children’s learning needs have shifted, and recently, BabySteps has noticed an intriguing twist: a shift in typical behaviours and developmental milestones, with children showing a wider diversity and challenges in growth, learning patterns, and emotional regulation.
As dedicated contributors to early childhood education, BabySteps is stepping up, bringing our expertise and commitment to embrace these changes with enthusiasm and support every child’s growth.
The BabySteps Programme embraces a humanistic and psychoeducational framework that nurtures both children and parents alike. At its core is a philosophy of balance, striving for harmony in both body and mind. This approach not only nurtures growth but also empowers families to thrive together, adapting to new realities with resilience and care.
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Balance in the body: Maintaining physiological balance is crucial for overall health and well-being, particularly during early childhood development. An overly active lifestyle can push children toward burnout or injury, while a sedentary one may stall development and invite health challenges. At BabySteps, we strive for harmony in the body by guiding children to meet physical developmental milestones in a balanced way. Recognising the body as an integrated whole, we focus on addressing asymmetry as a cornerstone for your child’s optimal growth.
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Balance in the mind: Mental balance is just as key as physical health, particularly in early childhood. An overly driven state can spark hyperactivity and stress, while a lack of drive might slip into depression or lethargy. Like the body’s pursuit of homeostasis, the mind craves its own equilibrium. Yet, in today’s high-speed world, overstimulation often causes imbalance, paving the way for mental health struggles. At BabySteps, we offer the tools and nurturing environment your child needs to build self-efficacy, fostering a path to self-mastery.
Balancing body and mind starts young. Early exposure to stress, packed schedules, or rigid routines can harm both, setting the stage for lasting issues like chronic illness, anxiety, or developmental delays. Our approach counters this by promoting harmony from the outset, safeguarding your child’s well-being for the long haul.
Brain Dance
in the BabySteps Approach, BrainDance doesn’t quite follow "strict disciplinaries" in the traditional sense. It’s more about working with the natural physiological makeup of a child to support their growth. Developed by Anne Green Gilbert, BrainDance is a key piece of her Brain-Compatible Dance Education methodology. It’s built on the idea that movement can prime the brain for learning by tapping into eight fundamental developmental patterns (like breath, tactile, and core-distal)
that babies naturally move through in their first year. These patterns aren’t rigid rules but a structured yet flexible framework designed to wire the brain and body for optimal development.
Creative Movement
in BabySteps Approach is an elaborated approach evolved from Laban Movement Analysis, Bartenieff Fundamentals and BrainDance, where various elements of movement, creativity, somatic awareness, and parent-child interaction are combined to enhance the learning experience and interpersonal attunement. This approach integrates the principles of the use of space from Rudolph Van Laban; the body and mind connection developed by Irmgard Bartenieff and the creativity emergent approach emphasised by Anne Green Gilbert, with creative storytelling, dramatic play, kinesphere, left and right integration, spatial awareness, expressiveness, imagination and creativity scaffolded by observational approach in the theory of the Laban theory.
Storytelling
in the BabySteps approach draws on the theory of therapeutic storytelling, where the healing power of life narratives helps children uncover meaning and purpose in their lives. This bottom-up strategy builds skills for setting boundaries by nurturing resilience, perseverance, interaction, respect, and imagination. These qualities enhance frustration tolerance and foster intra-personal and interpersonal empathy.
Kids need this therapeutic outlet because early childhood is a critical time for emotional and social development. Storytelling provides a safe way to process experiences, express feelings, and make sense of their world, especially when faced with stress or overstimulation. It empowers them to develop self-awareness and coping skills, laying a foundation for mental balance and healthy relationships.
Music
in the BabySteps Approach music plays a vital role, carefully designed to support a range of developmental and therapeutic goals. It acts as a cornerstone for speech development, cultural enrichment, and therapeutic support. Music stimulates the brain perfectly, encouraging the creation of new neural pathways while reinforcing existing ones. Its inclusion draws on extensive research showing that listening to, learning,
and playing music serves as a form of “pleasure technology,” enhancing cognitive growth and emotional well-being in an engaging, joyful way.
Art
in the BabySteps Approach offers children a unique platform to set their own goals and take charge of their creative process. These “creative accidents” reveal their personal trajectories and preferences. Through diverse art forms and mediums, kids transform thoughts, feelings, and observations into tangible works, cultivating aesthetic appreciation and an awareness of the beauty around them. This process thrives in an undisturbed, nonjudgmental, and permissive environment, which sets boundaries while fostering attention span, impulse control, and body-mind integration. Art empowers self-expression, intrinsic motivation, and creativity, equipping children to find solutions, overcome obstacles, and tackle problems with confidence.
