We were gifted with a term of Nurturing Nannies classes, and I can honestly say that it was the most wonderful gift, and it blessed three of us: me, my daughter and my nanny… truly the gift that kept on giving 🙂
We decided that, for a few reasons, we were not quite ready to send our little last-born lamb to school just yet, and that meant she would be at home with me when I was home, but mostly with her other mommy; her Nanny, Fungai.
More about NN and their classes:
Nurturing Nannies offers a combined nanny and young child WEEKLY and DAILY play group. NN Durban holds classes all over Kwa-Zulu Natal, and invites Nannies and their respective Little Ones that they love on, to enjoy a 90minute class at least once a week. Every class is centred around a subject, whether that be learning about colour, body parts or transport. The class generally starts & ends with singing (all songs relate to the theme of the day), and is centred around learning about the subject theoretically, practicing their listening and encouraging the babies to follow instructions. There is always a practical session, which may be anything from the nannies swinging their Little Ones around, to blowing bubbles through a sponge.
How NN blessed Fungai, our nanny:
Fungai was a teacher back in Zimbabwe, and so she is not only wonderful with my children, but knows full-well about the importance of stimulation, learning and development, and is a real blessing to our family. She has, however, never taught children as young as Brooklyn before, and so enrolling her and Brooklyn into Nurturing Nannies (NN) Ballito classes was so great for her, and provided her with a toolkit for helping Brooklyn through the remainder of the school-at-home days of the week. In Fungai’s own words, the classes created a very strong bond between her and Brooklyn. They showed her how to teach Brooklyn at the pace she needs, how to create activities that Brooklyn can enjoy during the week, and how to keep pushing her to try new things that she sometimes may shy away from, and why it is important that she does/graps them. Fungai says the classes went as far as to better teach her how to feed Brooklyn, how to communicate with her, and some ways to teach her basic skills to help her grow and to keep her safe. The teacher reminds the nannies of things like the fact that being on their phones while looking after children may distract them, possibly resulting in the child hurting themselves while they are not being watched.
How it blessed me:
I would be lying if I said that I didn’t have a fair amount of that wretched old #momguilt for being a working mom-who-is-at-home-but-not-always-present because I cannot fit everything I need to do in a day into the few hours I have before pick-up, extra-murals, shopping, cooking, house-managing, admin, self-maintenance and more! Phew! That was a mouthful!
So yes, I have that guilt that rears its ugly head too often to count, for not being able to enjoy as much 1-1 time with my baby as I would like. Not being able to take her to weekly stimulation classes like I did with my boys 🙁 but unfortunately for this time we are hustling hard because that is what entrepreneurs need to do, and it is in the hopes that I will have more time with the kids in the future, and that comes at a cost. But I digress! The BLESSING for me was in knowing that my little poppet got the very best 90minutes of stimulation from a wonderfully enthusiastic and experienced teacher, socialising, and learning. The blessing was in the knowing that Brooklyn and Fungai were both being taught important and age-appropriate activities, that Fungai could follow through with Brooke in the rest of the week at home. The blessing of knowing that those 90minutes were solely dedicated to my little girl’s mind, body and soul, not only in the short-term, but with extended lesson ideas and activities printed out for Fungai to follow with her. The blessing was in hearing my little girl singing songs I hadn’t yet taught her, and knowing things about objects I hadn’t yet given her to discover. Absolutely priceless.
How NN blessed my baby girl:
Our little Brooke absolutely LOVES to learn. She is a little sponge and craves stimulation. Every NN class was an adventure for her, and they did things that neither I nor Fungai would have thought to do with her, like planting a lettuce when learning about “green”, and painting her feet red to make a little foot-shaped racing car, or playing with multi-coloured spaghetti! Being a third-born child Brooklyn doesn’t lack in social skills. She is almost always around people, and loves socialising. The problem is though, that she isn’t often around other little people her age. I don’t have many friends with kiddies Brooke’s age, and even with the few I do, between us we can’t seem to find much time for play dates, another #momguilt moment filtering in! NN has allowed Brooke the time to enjoy the company of other little ones on a weekly basis. A date set in stone, no matter what meetings may crop up for me, the ‘show’ goes on for Brooke and Fungai.
As you can see, I am an absolute believer in this wonderful business, and I am ever-grateful for the term that was gifted to us by Nicole, Kirsten and the Nurturing Nannies Durban team. We feel very blessed to have been given this gift that will keep giving for as long as Brooke’s beautiful little learning journey continues, because it was the ultimate stepping stone in her education, and one we hope to continue until she starts school.
According to the Nurturing Nannies website, here are some of the benefits of these classes for your Nanny and your child:
Benefits to Your Little One:
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Provides an interactive, creative learning environment
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Scaffolds their learning and development
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Babies and young children learn best from modeling other children
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Sessions provide age appropriate activities aimed to enhance their development – fine motor, gross motor, perceptual and sensory skills
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Provides an opportunity to develop skills towards meeting their early learning goals – early literacy, problem solving, numeracy, creative development, physical development, knowledge and understanding of the world and personal, social, and emotional well-being
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Potential for a smoother transition into a formal pre-school education
Benefits to Nanny:
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Provides guidance on what activities are best for your Little One’s stage of development
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To understand WHY we do certain activities and what aspects of your baby’s development they target
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To learn how to have FUN with your Little One
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Understanding safety in the home and what precautionary measures to take
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To develop a way of thinking that encourages creativity and ingenuity
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To gain confidence in their interaction with your Little One
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To be able to learn from others’ experiences and to share their own
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Provides a forum where questions can be asked in a friendly and open environment
You can WIN a term of NN classes for your little one and their nanny!
Visit my Instagram or Facebook page to enter 🙂
Terms & Conditions:
1. By entering the ShanFourie.coza & NN competition all participants agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.
2. This competition is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook (“FB”) or Instagram (“IG”). Any correspondence regarding this competition must be directed to ShanFourie/NN and not to FB or IG.
3. All information collected pursuant to the competition is collected by ShanFourie/NN and not by FB or IG. By submitting your information to ShanFourie/NN, you consent to ShanFourie/NN using your information in connection with the competition.
4. In order to be eligible to enter the competition, a participant:
4.1 must be at least 18 years old and residing in KZN, in the Republic of South Africa;
4.2 Comment on the post with the answer to the questions qualifies one extra entries.
5. All participants who meet the eligibility requirements set out above will automatically be entered into the competitions.
6. The following persons and entities are not eligible to participate in the competitions:
6.1 directors, members, partners, employees, agents of or consultants to ShanFourie/NN, its subsidiaries, divisions and/or associated companies or any other person who directly or indirectly controls or is controlled by ShanFourie/NN, and their spouses, life partners, immediate family members and business partners;
6.2 Directors, members, partners, employees, agents of or consultants to the advertising and promotion agencies of ShanFourie/NN and their spouses, life partners, immediate family members and business partners.
7. The competition commences on 1 April 2019 at 4:30pm and closes on 4 April 2019 at 9.00am.
8. Winners will be chosen accordingly:
8.1 One winner will be drawn by random selection from all eligible entries between 4 April 2019 and 6 April 2019 at 10am for the prize. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence in this regard will be entered into.
9. The prizes for the competition are as follows:
9.1 One Term of NN class for your nanny and your little one
9.2 Child must be aged between 3 months – 3 years
9.3 Child & Nanny would join one of the existing classes in KZN.
10. The prizes are not transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash or for any other item.
11. Notification and delivery of prizes:
11.1 The winner’s contact details will be obtained through correspondence over Facebook or Instagram messaging services.
11.2 ShanFourie/NN reserves the right to disqualify a winner if he/she does not respond to the comment on the Facebook post / Facebook message / Instagram post / Instagram message from ShanFourie/NN within 1 working day of being contacted indicating that he/she accepts the prize. In such event, ShanFourie/NN will be entitled to select another winner within 1 working day thereafter.
11.3 If a winner cannot accept a prize for any reason, that winner will forfeit his/her prize and another winner will be selected. In order to claim his/her prize, a winner must respond to the inbox message from ShanFourie/NN.
11.4 Post confirmation of the prize being awarded, plans will be made on delivery.
12. The winners’ names will be published on the official ShanFourie/NN Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/These3CallMeMommy/) and or Instagram post.
13. Unless the winner specifically states otherwise, the winner agrees to participate in all promotional activity and hereby consents to ShanFourie/NN using his/her name, images and/or voice in any promotional material for the purpose of promoting the competition. No compensation will be payable for such use. The winner will have the right to withdraw his/her consent for the use of his/her name, images and/or voice prior to the use thereof by ShanFourie/NN in any promotional activity.
14. By participating in the Competition, you agree, subject to applicable law, that neither ShanFourie/NN, IG, FB, the supplier/Sponsor nor any of their respective advertising agencies will be liable for any losses, damages, costs or claims in connection with the Competition or resulting from acceptance, possession, or use of any prize.
17. ShanFourie/NN reserves the right to terminate, suspend or amend the competition for reasons beyond its control. ShanFourie/NN and its service providers, including any telephone network providers, are not responsible for incorrect or inaccurate transcription of entry information, technical malfunction, lost or delayed data transmission, omission, interruption, deletion, line failure or malfunction of any telephone network, computer equipment or software, the inability to access any website or online services or for any other error.
