MY LOCKDOWN LESSON SUCCESS
WHEN the pandemic struck last year, former teacher Francesca Calliva Reed wanted to keep her pre-school daughter engaged while the world was closing down.
Worried about how lockdown was affecting the speech and language of pre-school children, the mum-ofone began making learning folders for two-year-old daughter Azzurra last summer.
Intending the folders as a family project, she never thought that a year on she would have sold 7,000 across the globe, translated into five languages.
Customers for her Instagram business now include celebrities such as Towie stars Ferne McCann and Mario Falcone, as well as footballer’s wife Tanya Bardsley.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” said Francesca.
“We have celebrities who have ordered them. Some are A-list names, but have asked to be confidential. There’s a lot of interest from in Wales and outside.”
Francesca, who taught at Marshfield Primary and St Joseph’s RC Primary in Cardiff before having her daughter, said her idea for folders grew unexpectedly when she shared posts on social media.
After being asked to make folders for family and friends, , things g j just spiralled and she is about to take on her first paid staff.
Beginning with her English version for Azzurra, Francesca then created a Welsh-language nguage folder for her four-yearyearold nephew and was so inundated with ith requests she began an selling the Little ttle Learning Bears folders ders via Instagram.
Each of the 20-page page folders is aimed at a different age group so litittle children can proogress.
Francesca now w sells several hundred d most weeks to people le in Wales, the UK and d across the world from Europe to Dubai and America.
After demand for the folders in other languages soared, she translated an Italian version, whi l e he her GP husband Steffan Reed did the W Welsh language.
Translators were hired for French an and Spanish versions.
“During the initial lockdown I was tr trying to find ways to keep my then on one-year-old entertained,” said Fr Francesca.
“I started creating different learnin ing activities. At 12 months children ar are starting to learn all sorts of differen ent things, like colour sorting and nu numbers. When I’d done them I st started laminating them and put th them all into a folder.
“My daughter absolutely loved it an and wanted to get it out every day. Th The acceleration in her learning and la language was huge.
“Because I was a teacher, I picked to topics I know they teach in schools.”
The four-stage folders now include other subjects including numeracy, science and mental health and are aimed at children from 15 months to six years.
Francesca is worried that the speech and language of pre-schoolers has been affected by the isolation of lockdown, but believes they will pick it up if restrictions continue to ease.
“Pre-school children and other children have missed out on a lot of opportunities to develop speech,” she said.
“I think when it comes to speech and language, children have lost communication with other children. They have lost playing together and going out.
“Inevitably, there will have been a slight delay, but children are so adaptable, and people don’t need to worry.
“Now we are beginning to come out of lockdown, they will start picking up, and acceleration of speech and language and other things will happen.
“It’s really important for parents not to feel guilt and beat themselves up. What we have been through has been so difficult for everybody.”