FOR FAMILIES THAT LOVE LEARNING TOGETHER
Wednesday, 6 February 2019
Friday, 1 February 2019
It's Snow Use....
We've been enjoying freezing temperatures and some long awaited snow here this week. It's been great for cosying up in the house in pyjamas with hot chocolate in between dashing out to measure the thickness of the ice and the depth of the snow.
We've watched the birds and observed their footprints in the garden as well as spotting the different size prints of all the neighbours' dogs as we walk up and down the street. I love these simple winter pleasures 😊
We've not had enough snow quite just yet for sledging, but my kids live in hope. I think I'll stay home and make sure the fire is lit and the kettle is on for when they get back 😉
There are so many ways to make good use of the snow. Freezing water-filled balloons is one Boykin wants to try again tonight and I'm thinking of hanging my towels out overnight to dry (or not) to find out whether or not it's true that frost softens them. I also want to try putting leaves and berries in water filled bowls to make ice hangings for my garden. I've seen them on pinterest and they look so pretty :)
I'd love to hear about your favourite snow activities. Please leave a comment below or drop me a line 🙋
There are Picture Book Explorers just perfect for this time of year and this kind of weather. You can have fun with the art activity in Greyfriars Bobby, or enjoy exploring frost with The Best Christmas Present in the World. Or take full advantage of the weather and explore snow in a very hands-on way with Picture Book Explorers ~ Black Dog.
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We've watched the birds and observed their footprints in the garden as well as spotting the different size prints of all the neighbours' dogs as we walk up and down the street. I love these simple winter pleasures 😊
We've not had enough snow quite just yet for sledging, but my kids live in hope. I think I'll stay home and make sure the fire is lit and the kettle is on for when they get back 😉
There are so many ways to make good use of the snow. Freezing water-filled balloons is one Boykin wants to try again tonight and I'm thinking of hanging my towels out overnight to dry (or not) to find out whether or not it's true that frost softens them. I also want to try putting leaves and berries in water filled bowls to make ice hangings for my garden. I've seen them on pinterest and they look so pretty :)
There are Picture Book Explorers just perfect for this time of year and this kind of weather. You can have fun with the art activity in Greyfriars Bobby, or enjoy exploring frost with The Best Christmas Present in the World. Or take full advantage of the weather and explore snow in a very hands-on way with Picture Book Explorers ~ Black Dog.
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Tuesday, 29 January 2019
Lapbook Tutorial #2
Have you ever wanted to make lapbooks that are different sizes?
This video demonstrates how to make a mini-lapbook base. They're used for the mini-lapbook packs I have on TeachersPayTeachers and Currclick and we've also used them for quick projects than can be completed in a day.
For instance, we made a quick Denmark one for book group - it had a flag, map, a layered minibook with information about the country and a minibook about Hans Christian Anderson. All the minibooks were made from scratch. The covers had written titles for the most part, but The Girl drew a picture of the little mermaid on the front of the Hans Christian Anderson minibook.
We've also used this method to make bigger lapbook bases to use as a display board when we have done geography fairs at our local Home Ed group. We used stiffer card from a cardboard box for that and covered it in coloured paper :)
I hope you enjoy this sort video. I will be making more, so subscribe to my YouTube channel to make sure you don't miss them :)
This video demonstrates how to make a mini-lapbook base. They're used for the mini-lapbook packs I have on TeachersPayTeachers and Currclick and we've also used them for quick projects than can be completed in a day.
For instance, we made a quick Denmark one for book group - it had a flag, map, a layered minibook with information about the country and a minibook about Hans Christian Anderson. All the minibooks were made from scratch. The covers had written titles for the most part, but The Girl drew a picture of the little mermaid on the front of the Hans Christian Anderson minibook.
We've also used this method to make bigger lapbook bases to use as a display board when we have done geography fairs at our local Home Ed group. We used stiffer card from a cardboard box for that and covered it in coloured paper :)
I hope you enjoy this sort video. I will be making more, so subscribe to my YouTube channel to make sure you don't miss them :)
Happy Exploring!
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Saturday, 12 January 2019
Lapbook Tutorial #1
How to make a lapbook base from an A4 document wallet
This is my favourite way to make a lapbook base. It's very quick and easy.
Make sure to buy good quality document wallets. The stronger, the better. Avoid the ones from the pound shop. They tend to be grey inside and VERY flimsy. It's worth paying a bit extra, believe me. Our lapbooks have been taken out so often to be admired, re-explored and re-read and I've found that the cheap wallets just don't hold up to so much handling, much to Boykin's disappointment.
I'm so glad that we found lapbooks. They encouraged him to take a real pride in his work 👩
This is my favourite way to make a lapbook base. It's very quick and easy.
Make sure to buy good quality document wallets. The stronger, the better. Avoid the ones from the pound shop. They tend to be grey inside and VERY flimsy. It's worth paying a bit extra, believe me. Our lapbooks have been taken out so often to be admired, re-explored and re-read and I've found that the cheap wallets just don't hold up to so much handling, much to Boykin's disappointment.
I'm so glad that we found lapbooks. They encouraged him to take a real pride in his work 👩
Happy Exploring!
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the latest information, best prices and exclusive subscriber-only discounts
Friday, 4 January 2019
Woohoo! I won an award!
Have you spotted the lovely bright Blue Ribbon in the sidebar? -------->
I'm so excited to be able to tell you that I have received this Blue Ribbon for Favourite Elementary Product 2018 as voted by The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew for Picture Book Explorers ~ Paddington.
This means so much to me because the voting was done by other home educating parents. These are people who use a lot of different resources and are very discerning about quality and value. I don't mean simply monetary value, but real, educational value. I feel very honoured and humbled to receive this 👩
Oh my goodness! Is this post turning into an Oscar speech? I am just so grateful that these family took the time to learn and explore with this pack. Thank you, thank you all 😍
You can find links to all the different reviews here.
My own favourite memories of exploring Paddington with my own children have to be all the foam activities - meringues, elephants toothpaste, foam painting Paddington...
… and shaving foam fun 😂
You can find Picture Book Explorers ~ Paddington on the Branch Out World website, on Teachers Pay Teachers and Currclick.
I'd love to know what messy fun your kids get up to. Leave a comment below :)
Happy Exploring!
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the latest information, best prices and exclusive subscriber-only discounts
I'm so excited to be able to tell you that I have received this Blue Ribbon for Favourite Elementary Product 2018 as voted by The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew for Picture Book Explorers ~ Paddington.
Oh my goodness! Is this post turning into an Oscar speech? I am just so grateful that these family took the time to learn and explore with this pack. Thank you, thank you all 😍
You can find links to all the different reviews here.
My own favourite memories of exploring Paddington with my own children have to be all the foam activities - meringues, elephants toothpaste, foam painting Paddington...
… and shaving foam fun 😂
There was a good dose of academic learning went on too with maps, maths, creative writing, architecture and science 📚
You may be interested to know that Michael Bond, the author of Paddington Bear was born on 13th January 1926, making this a perfect tome to explore the book 👩
I'd love to know what messy fun your kids get up to. Leave a comment below :)
Happy Exploring!
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the latest information, best prices and exclusive subscriber-only discounts
Monday, 24 December 2018
Thursday, 2 August 2018
Summer Learning
We've really been enjoying the long, unusually hot summer days around here, but I can't say we were sorry to see the weather break and the rain come pouring down. Our grass was turning brown and our plants were looking slightly wilted. The rain was so welcome. It cooled the air, greened the garden and refreshed our energy levels. It brings the familiarity of the usual summers we get in our hilly part of northern England :)
We are a year round home educating family, so the summer holidays usually have a minimal impact on us. This year is a little different because The Girl started college last September and this is her first official six week holiday. We always lighten the regular load a little at this time of year and spend much more time on free-flow learning paths that arise from opportunities that aren't always available in term times.
One opportunity we've always enjoyed is the Summer Reading Challenge. It's a great way to encourage kids to read, not that mine needed it really. The scheme is aimed at 4 to 11 year olds, although some libraries will let them take part even if they're a bit older. The challenge is to read six library books over the school holidays, recording them and collecting rewards along the way. Libraries often have other related activities on over the summer too.
We've always enjoyed the Summer Reading Challenge, but this year Boykin decided that he is too old for it. I remember how proud he was to be able to take part for the first time when he was 4 and a half. It has been such an important part of our summer season for many years. They were very keen to read their six books, collect their stickers, move along the challenge board and receive their medal at the end. They would take part in the competitions and loved going to the weekly craft sessions. We have been so blessed to live so close to an active little library. Happy memories :)
Libraries are great places for all sorts of free summer activities - craft days, STEM sessions, story times, author visits and more. It's well worth checking what's on at your local library over the next month :)
We are a year round home educating family, so the summer holidays usually have a minimal impact on us. This year is a little different because The Girl started college last September and this is her first official six week holiday. We always lighten the regular load a little at this time of year and spend much more time on free-flow learning paths that arise from opportunities that aren't always available in term times.
One opportunity we've always enjoyed is the Summer Reading Challenge. It's a great way to encourage kids to read, not that mine needed it really. The scheme is aimed at 4 to 11 year olds, although some libraries will let them take part even if they're a bit older. The challenge is to read six library books over the school holidays, recording them and collecting rewards along the way. Libraries often have other related activities on over the summer too.We've always enjoyed the Summer Reading Challenge, but this year Boykin decided that he is too old for it. I remember how proud he was to be able to take part for the first time when he was 4 and a half. It has been such an important part of our summer season for many years. They were very keen to read their six books, collect their stickers, move along the challenge board and receive their medal at the end. They would take part in the competitions and loved going to the weekly craft sessions. We have been so blessed to live so close to an active little library. Happy memories :)
Libraries are great places for all sorts of free summer activities - craft days, STEM sessions, story times, author visits and more. It's well worth checking what's on at your local library over the next month :)
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