6 – 7 – Diary of a First Child

We’ve been working through the year 2 English curriculum recently, as a sort of a guide for things for Ameli to learn, her being very keen to learn it all. I have to admit that looking at the curriculum I’m shocked and mildly appalled at what 7-year-olds are expected to learn! But as long as Ameli enjoys it, we’ll keep going.

We’ve been reading Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter – a short story that doesn’t take very long, but is filled with all the examples of things the kids are learning in Year 2. Graphemes, apostrophes, suffixes – well, if you have a child who’s been through this curriculum, you’ll know!*

Year 2 English With Peter Rabbit

“Word Has It!” Game Review

Home / 6 - 7 / “Word Has It!” Game Review

June 27, 2017June 27, 2017 by Luschka

Another game review today as I’ve been really slack in getting these games online, even though we’ve been playing them for weeks! Today’s game is super for anyone who loves word building games – the game is Word Has It! by University Games, and it’s best suited to those who can actually read.

The idea of Word Has It is to build the longest word you can within the given time limit, the given starting letter and the given category. So to start, you choose a category card – say ‘something that grows’ – then you spin the spinner and get a letter – say “F” – then hit the timer and you have a few seconds to come up with a word, find the letters and stack them to create a word. The winner is the person who has the longest word in the given time. "Word Has It!" Game Review Read more: “Word Has It!” Game Review

26 Free Dr Seuss Book Readings And Movies

Home / 2 - 3 years / 26 Free Dr Seuss Book Readings And Movies

March 2, 2017 by Luschka

Happy Dr.Seuss Birthday! I know this makes me sound old, because I never asked this as a kid, but where’s this year going! I just packed away the Christmas decorations, and here we are into the 3rd month of the year already. The 3rd month does start with a bang though, with World Book Day and Dr Seuss birthday on the 2nd of March.

If you don’t have the fantastic collection of Dr Seuss books there are a good selection of the short movies available online that you can watch in a pinch:Read more: 26 Free Dr Seuss Book Readings And Movies

DIY Craft Kit Gift With Twinkl

Home / 5-6 years / DIY Craft Kit Gift With Twinkl

February 21, 2017 by Luschka

You know those days when you wake up in the morning and mentally go through your day, only to suddenly remember the birthday party you’re meant to be at in two hours, so you stumble bleary-eyed over to the gift cupboard and realise that you now only have gifts left for babies, blessingways and older kids, so you log in to your online banking really hoping your client has paid you, but alas, she hasn’t… so you have less than two hours to come up with a present. What do you do? I’ve mentioned before what I do – I go to Twinkl, so that’s precisely what I did today. DIY Craft Kit Gift With Twinkl

My First Story Writing Book {Book Review}

Home / 5-6 years / My First Story Writing Book {Book Review}

February 1, 2017February 2, 2017 by Luschka

If you’ve been inspired by National Storytelling Week or you’re simply hoping to encourage your little storyteller to grow in the craft, there are a number of books on the market that offer just that. We recently bought My First Story Writing Book from Usborne books to work through during the week and we loved it so much, I wanted to share it with you.

Road Safety Awareness Game & Resources

Home / 4-5 / Road Safety Awareness Game & Resources

November 18, 2016November 18, 2016 by Luschka

Next week is Road Safety Awareness week and like all responsible parents (Ahem!) it’s a topic of learning that I take very seriously. I realised recently that while my children know to look right and left and right again before crossing the road, or to wait for the green man before crossing, we’ve never really done any serious ‘learning’ around traffic signs. I think there’s a value to learning through doing with mama, of course, but I don’t suppose it’s ever too early to learn about road safety.

But where do you start?

5 Websites To Keep Older Kids Busy While You Home Ed Younger Siblings

Home / 4-5 / 5 Websites To Keep Older Kids Busy While You Home Ed Younger Siblings

October 26, 2016October 25, 2016 by Luschka

One of the first questions people ask me about home education or homeschooling my children is how I manage to ‘teach’ children of different ages and at different levels at the same time. I’m going to share with you 5 websites that I use to keep my 7 year old busy while I’m doing structured learning d Before my youngest was of school age, it was easy – she’ll happily potter about on her own, colour, play with her small world toys and so on, so being able to spend 40 minutes ‘teaching’ her sister was easy.

Now that she’s also ‘of school age’ and there’s a ‘requirement’ to ‘educate’ her, I focus more on doing some structured activities. At the moment we’re learning the alphabet, which involves a lot of colouring, sticking, gluing, so not really high intensity, but still good for her to have some undivided attention.

To facilitate this, we use one of five websites that Ameli can self-manage her time while I focus on her sister. These are the websites and programs we use most:Read more: 5 Websites To Keep Older Kids Busy While You Home Ed Younger Siblings

Tree Detectives’ Handbook For Tree Identification

Home / 4-5 / Tree Detectives’ Handbook For Tree Identification

October 5, 2016October 5, 2016 by Luschka

Over the summer we bought a wonderful little book called the Tree Detectives’ Handbook with which the children are able to identify common British trees by their leaves, fruit and flowers.

Each two-page set has a species of trees, and each set contains vital statistics for the tree in question, including height, location, and fruiting and flowering times. The book contains fifty trees and common shrubs found in the UK including identification tips and detailed illustrations for every tree. There are also interactive boxes where little explorers can record their sightings. Tree Detectives' Handbook For Tree Identification

Learning About Feelings And Emotions

Home / 4-5 / Learning About Feelings And Emotions

October 3, 2016September 29, 2016 by Luschka

Our first ‘theme’ for the new academic year – such as it is for those of us who learn at home – has been Feelings and Emotions, borne from a few things happening in our family, and a number of occasions where Ameli (6) has said that she can’t explain her feelings, and general outburst of anger from Aviya (4).

I’m never entirely sure how much of what we discus is ‘sinking in’ with the girls, so it’s always rewarding in the days and weeks that follow an activity to see the children refer back to it, or change behaviour based on it. While this theme wasn’t particularly academically approached, more with arts and crafts and fun activities, it was still influential, with both girls coming out of it with a greater ability to ‘use your words’ rather than just shouting.

I chose a range of activities for this week, including foods, crafts, games and activities:

Food

We had two food based activities this week. The first was simple pancakes with fruity faces. You can use any recipe you prefer, and add fruit like blueberries for eyes, bananas or strawberries for a nose and clementines for smiley or sad faces.
Read more: Learning About Feelings And Emotions