Littlesheep Learning

Solving the I'm bored summer holiday problem!

2011-08-01T07:28:00.000Z

Have you found us over on our new blog yet?

If not this is a taster of what we have in store for the summer holidays - a set of themed posts which all include things to do and ideas to encourage your child’s learning... go take a look – I hope they are helpful to you…

The themes are:

Messy Monday – messy play activities that you might not have done before

Toy Tuesday – how to use your everyday toys in an educational way

Wet Wednesday – lots of fun involving water

Thinking Thursday – puzzles, challenges and other ideas to keep your child thinking

Fun Friday – things to do out and about

We’ll probably post some additional things as and when but that’s the plan!

Plus don't forget to pop across to shop at Littlesheep Learning to get fun games to keep your children busy in the holidays or for back to school triangular writing supplies!

Hope you have a great summer holiday.

New Site, New Blog

2011-05-09T10:42:00.000Z

As I said in the last post we have been very busy creating a new site for Littlesheep Learning and I am pleased to say it is now finished and launched...

And as part of this redesign we now have a new intregrated blog...

Why not take a look and let us know what you think?

Don't worry this blog isn't going anywhere it's not going to be deleted so all your favourite posts will still be there as a resource and over time move and update some of the better posts across at Littlesheep Learning Blog.

I'll try and post a monthly update on here but I can't promise anything so if you want to be kept up to date - update your bookmarks and rss feeds and join us over at Littlesheep Learning Blog.

Sorry

2011-02-12T14:32:00.000Z

Sorry I have rather neglected this blog recently... the good news is that I am still here and Littlesheep Learning still exists!

It's been a bit of a busy time and we have been working hard with White Ochre Design to redesign our website. This design is taking shape (I'm adding the products right now) so watch this space to see it first when we relaunch.

In other news - I've been on several school trips and been a very proud mummy in a celebration assembly (might retrospectively blog about those)... been to the Spring Fair and met up with existing and new suppliers (lots of new products coming soon) and I've planned lots of future blog posts...

Will write again soon - promise!

Remember, Remember the 5th of November...

2010-11-05T12:50:00.003Z

gun powder treason and plot...

I see no reason why gun powder and treason should ever be forgot.

The children have been doing firework things all week... The eldest has learnt a bit about Guy Fawkes and loves the rhyme above. The middle one has been writing firework sounds e.g. "bang" "pop" "sizzle" and was very proud of his work (and his wishes and stars feedback - "my writing was brilliant but she wish-did that I did my 'g' the right way round") and at Stay and Play they were painting fire with orange and yellow paint and making sparkly glittery pictures.

So today is firework night and this morning we went to school to hear the foundation stage children singing their firework song...

10 sparkling fireworks ever so bright, one went bang in the dark dark night...
9 sparkling fireworks ever so bright, one went bang in the dark dark night...
8 sparkling fireworks ever so bright, one went bang in the dark dark night...
7 sparkling fireworks ever so bright, one went bang in the dark dark night...
6 sparkling fireworks ever so bright, one went bang in the dark dark night...
5 sparkling fireworks ever so bright, one went bang in the dark dark night...
4 sparkling fireworks ever so bright, one went bang in the dark dark night...
3 sparkling fireworks ever so bright, one went bang in the dark dark night...
2 sparkling fireworks ever so bright, one went bang in the dark dark night...
1 sparkling fireworks ever so bright, one went bang in the dark dark night...

And of course they were told about the firework code...

• Keep fireworks in a closed box

• Follow the instructions on each firework
• Light all fireworks at arms length
• Stand well back
• Never go back to a lit firework
• Never put fireworks in your pocket
• Never throw fireworks
• Keep Pets indoors

We are off to fireworks tomorrow night - wonder if they'll like the bangs this year???

Booktime Book Research

2010-11-01T08:22:00.000Z

As a parent of a reception age child we have recently received the Booktime pack of books for those starting school this year - a copy of “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” Said the Sloth by legendary author and illustrator Eric Carle and Why is the Sky Blue? by Geraldine Taylor and illustrated by Amy Schimler. These two books have certainly gone down well in our house and this backs up the recent research!

According to new reader research animals and nature are top page-turners for children across generations. The research reveals that animals and nature are the favourite reading topics for both children and their parents.

The research, commissioned to coincide with over 1.3 million books being given to 4 – 5 year-old children as part of the Booktime programme, found that animals are the favourite subject matter for more than half (52%) of children. 49% of parents also said animals were their favourite thing to read about when they were growing up, suggesting that books with animal characters and environmental themes are enjoyed across the generations.

Booktime’s research, which polled over 1,500 parents and carers across the UK, also showed that reading books featuring animal characters motivates children to find out more about the natural world: 44% of children are inspired to want to go to a farm, zoo or safari park to see the animals for themselves. 90% of respondents stated that reading books about animals increases their child’s interest in the natural world and more than half of Britain’s parents report that their children are more inquisitive about animals and nature after reading a book on the subject.

One of the reasons for this enduring call of the wild was hinted at elsewhere in the research with parents and carers overwhelmingly agreeing that animal and nature themed books help their children to make sense of human feelings, relationships and the world around them.

Key findings:

42% of parents say that reading about animals and the natural world inspires their children to read more books. This figure rises to 48% in the North East.
97% of parents find that reading books encourages their child to talk with them about new things.
67% of parents find family discussions useful in exploring their children’s questions about the natural world: 58% turn to books for answers.
92% of parents and carers feel that reading books where animals are the main characters can help children to make sense of human feelings, experiences and relationships.
90% of parents state that reading books about animals increases their child’s interest in the natural world. Parents in the North West are most likely to agree, with 93% stating books increase their children’s interest in the wider world – this is the highest in the UK.

Eric Carle, author of “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” Said the Sloth:

“I love all animals, and have since I was a boy when I used to go on walks with my father. I hope that my books can help children to develop a love of the natural world so that they will treasure and care for their environment. I am happy to be working with Booktime to inspire a love of reading that will lead children to engage with their world and every living thing in it.”

Researchers asked parents to tell them some of the most difficult and funny questions they had been posed by their children and the responses ranged from the challenging to the funny to the downright bizarre:

Why is the sky blue?

Why is water wet?

Do dolphins drink water?

Why are there no dinosaurs anymore?

How high can cows jump?

How does the moon stay in the sky?

Was the orange named after the colour, or the colour after the fruit?

Why doesn’t the dog use the toilet?

Was the world in black and white when you were young?

Can I be a vampire when I grow up?

Do you need a passport to travel to the moon?

Geraldine Taylor’s Why is the Sky Blue? is a compilation of questions asked by inquisitive children; a special shortened edition of the title was produced specifically for Booktime.

Animal character books featured in the research as the favourite books for both children and adults, with one of Eric Carle’s classic titles appearing on both lists:

Children’s favourite books 2010 1. The Gruffalo – Julia Donaldson
2. The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle

3. Peppa Pig – Ladybird Books

4. Mr Men series – Roger Hargreaves

5. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt – Michael Rosen

Parents’ favourite children’s books (when they were 5 years old)

1. Mr Men series – Roger Hargreaves
2. The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle

3. The Snowman – Raymond Briggs

4. Thomas the Tank Engine – Wilbert Awdry

5. Just So Stories – Rudyard Kipling

As well as inspiring inquisitiveness and intellectual curiosity, books help to fuel children’s interest in interacting with the natural world. After reading books about or featuring animals, nearly half of 10 year olds ask for a pet while 17% of children say they would like to be a vet when they grow up.

World famous primatologist Jane Goodall who wrote the foreword to “Slowly Slowly, Slowly,” Said the Sloth:

“I’m told I was already watching insects and in love with our dog from before I could talk. Mum got books about animals knowing I would learn to read quickly in order to read them! Reading is so good for the imagination. When I was a child there was no TV and books were the only window to the wide world. Today it is even more important to stimulate the imagination. My mother always told me that if I was disappointed or sad, I could go into another world through reading. It still, for me, is a way of experiencing another world.”

To help encourage a lifelong love of reading, 1.36 million free books will be given to schoolchildren in England through the free books programme Booktime, administered by independent literary charity Booktrust in partnership with Pearson. The programme promotes reading for pleasure at an important transition stage in children’s learning and development.

Inspired by Bookstart, the free books programme for babies and toddlers, Booktime will distribute 680,000 book packs to children in over 17,000 primary schools across England. Over 25,000 resource packs will be given to schools and libraries in England to support the programme.

Geraldine Taylor, author of Why is the Sky Blue? and BBC Wildlife Writer of the Year 2000:

“As a mother and wildlife author, and as a mental health professional, I know how important wildlife is to us all. We have to love the planet, and know things about it, in order to be committed to helping it in realistic ways. In my wildlife work with children and families, I’ve noticed that it’s the small details that captivate the curiosity; the melody of a blackbird; the way that rabbits’ ears move; watching bees weigh down the petals of flowers to make a landing stage. Books are a gateway to learning so much more about the world. It is this lively curiosity and joy of discovery that Why is the Sky Blue? celebrates.”

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T00:00:00.001Z

Half Term Halloween Cooking

2010-10-29T08:20:00.000Z

We are nearly at the end of half term - are you bored yet? If so you might want to try some Halloween Cooking ideas.

If those recipes are too complicated - try decorating your cupcakes for halloween by adding a spider to the top (a chocolate button with legs drawn with an icing pen) or a jelly worm - or just add green food colouring to the mixture before cooking to make green cakes!

Parent's Evening

2010-10-22T21:16:00.004Z

This week along with many other parents (judging by friends Facebook and Twitter statuses) we had parents evening. Thinking about parents evening reminded me of the poem "Parents' Evening" by Allan Ahlberg which describes a family and teacher waiting for parents' evening. I think this poem sums up parents evening for a lot of us.

We're waiting in the corridor,
My dad, my mum and me.
They're sitting there and talking;
I'm nervous as can be.
I wonder what she'll tell 'em.
I'll say I've got a pain!
I wish I'd got my spellings right.
I wish I had a brain.

We're waiting in the corridor,
My husband, son and me.
My son just stands there smiling;
I'm smiling, nervously
I wonder what she'll tell us.
I hope it's not all bad.
He's such a good boy, really;
But dozy - like his dad.

We're waiting in the corridor
My wife, my boy and me.
My wife's as cool as cucumber;
I'm nervous as can be.
I hate these parents' evenings.
I feel just like a kid again
Who's gonna get the stick.

I'm waiting in the classroom.
It's nearly time to start.
I wish there was a way to stop
The pounding in my heart.
The parents in the corridor
Are chatting cheerfully;
And now I've got to face them;
And I'm nervous as can be.

Luckily our experiences this time weren't bad - our boys are meeting age related expectations, behave well and enjoy learning... we have been set more targets for them so look out for more posts about these and how we are supporting them with these at home.

Favourite Toys

2010-10-21T21:10:00.001Z

It was interesting to read this article today about a survey by World's Apart's Dreamtown website that says children only play with five per cent of the toys they own. According to the survey of 3,000 parents, the typical child owns 238 toys in total but play with just 12 'favourites' on a daily basis making up just five per cent of their toys.

Is this true of your children?

Sadly, I think it is true of mine...

I can think of toys my children own that stay (almost permanently) in the cupboard, those that come out intensively for a few days at a time (e.g. they get a jigsaw or board game bug and do them non-stop for a day or two and then they go back into the cupboard for a month or so) and those there are two that I would say are firm favourites that are out all the time.

1) wooden train track (we have lots of BigJigs Rail from PlayMerrily)
2) Duplo (and slowly moving onto Lego)

What are your children's firm favourites?

Messy Play Learning

2010-10-11T10:20:00.034Z

We have blogged in the past about messy play but saw that The Play Academy are looking for messy play posts for the end of October so thought we would write a new post on this theme.

Judging by the four year old's school uniform he has been doing a lot of it at school so I asked him about his five favourite messy play things and have added some learning!

1. Shaving foam
Very simple and very messy - squirt on the table and then spread out with the palms of your hand and draw shapes, patterns and pictures or write letters, numbers and even words. This is a great activity for children who don't really like writing as they are too busy drawing to realise they are practicing and developing these fine motor skills!

2. Paint
He likes paint (claims he hasn't done it this week but someone has because there was green paint on his school shoes this morning)... He then talked about rolling marbles in paint to make patterns and mixing colours.

3. Finding Buried Treasure
Hide coins in a sandpit (doesn't matter if the sand is wet or dry - wet is messier though) and dig for them - you can use spades or spoons, sieve for them or just find them with fingers.

4. Noodles
He still remembers this from Chinese New Year - a big tray of cooked noodles to stir, pick up with large tweezers (trying chopsticks if you are brave!)

5. Playdough
Probably one of every preschoolers favourites - blogged about before with recipes - lots of learning opportunities. This week they have been thinking about birthdays and have been making playdough cakes.

Book Week

2010-10-08T10:18:00.000Z

Ooops I nearly missed Children's Book Week - it seems to have passed our school by...

Children’s Book Week (the first full week in October) is an annual celebration of reading for pleasure for children of primary school age. Schools, libraries and bookshops all over the UK hold events and activities aimed at encouraging children to view reading as a source of pleasure, explore libraries and bookshops and even start writing themselves.

Have you taken part? What have your children been doing?

Today's Target: Spelling (Look, Cover, Write, Check Method)

2010-10-07T10:02:00.001Z

The "Look, Cover, Write and Check" spelling method is an easy activity for learning new spelling words.

First, write the list of words to learn onto a piece of paper.

Look
Get the child to "Look" at the word. They should really study the word - taking the time to say it out loud, looking at the whole word, saying the letters aloud and looking for identifiable patterns or shorter words inside the bigger word. During this step they are looking for anything that will help commit the word to permanent memory. Before moving on to the next step encourage your child to close their eyes, picture the word and to try spelling the word from memory and then opening their eyes to check accuracy. Looking at the word one last time before attempting to spell it on their own can be of help.

Cover
Now they need to "Cover" the word; they can a hand, a bookmark, or another piece of paper so that the spelling is hidden from sight.

Spell
The "Spell" step is self-explanatory - they need to write the word down on the paper

Check
The final step is to "Check" the accuracy of what they have written. This is done by comparing it letter by letter to the original. If they use both hands they can simultaneously point to each of the letters in the word to make sure they notice any mistakes. If there are mistakes, the process should be repeated from the beginning until the word is spelled correctly.

We found using the Reception Key Words Whiteboard a really useful tool for the learning these words as it saved having to write a new list each time we wanted to practice.

Why do Elephants help spelling?

2010-10-04T10:55:00.003Z

BECAUSE

Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants

So there you go - a simple mnemonic from the 6 year old...

Mnemonics are sentences or phrases in which the initial letters of the words spell out a word which many people find rather tricky to spell. He was really proud of remembering this - do you know of any others that he can learn?

Today's Target: Spelling High Frequency Words

2010-10-01T10:44:00.000Z

We have now managed to read the high frequency words and we have moved on to learning to spell them... here are ten ways we tried with varying levels of popularity / success.

Traditional spelling test - me reading the word, him writing it down on paper
Using magnetic letters
Copying the words, saying each letter as he wrote it
Typing spelling test - as above but typing the answer on the computer
Writing silly sentences of target words
The look, cover, write, check method (more about this method on another post but we found also found some games online - have a search)
Backwards spelling - I said the letters and he had to work out what the word was
Using the letters from Pass the Word
Oral quizzes - "how do you spell..." This was great when driving or waiting for appointments
Correcting my spelling (for words I knew he knew - not good for learning!)

Farm Animals

2010-09-30T08:48:00.002Z

Old Macdonald is once again a firm favourite in our house and if I hear e-i-e-i-o once more...

Anyway, it reminded me that I blogged before about learning about farm animals so I won't repeat myself - but thought it was worth sharing these finger puppets with you. Hope your little ones enjoy making them as much as mine.

We have also had fun playing Old MacDonald Lotto; a game which encourages you to make lots of noises and actions as you find the farm cards to match the pictures on your playing board.

Altogether now... Old MacDonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o!

Talk Like A Pirate Day

2010-09-19T09:58:00.013Z

Today is 'Talk Like a Pirate Day' so whilst it isn't a real "Jobs People Do" it is one that a lot young children wold say they want to do when they grow up - so I thought that it was worth a post.

Maybe you could have a pirate learning day?

Here are some ideas:

make maps (art skills plus try coordinates)
counting treasure (either make simple circles of gold card or practice real money skills)
treasure hunts (writing, reading and solving clues)
singing pirate songs
reading pirate books

Today's Target: Reading High Frequency Key Words

2010-09-17T18:25:00.000Z

Over the last week we have continued to work our way through the learning to read high frequency words... here are the top five ways we have practiced reading them:

Reading books together and seeing which ones we can spot
Matching pairs (using two sets of word flashcards - read as you turn over)
Find the word (we printed a sheet with them on in a wall arrangement and coloured the bricks)
Fishing (a paper clip added to the word flashcard and a magnet on a string for a rod) - read the word when you pull it out)
Quick reading lists - list ten-twenty of the words in a list, how fast can you read them all correctly

How have you been practicing these words?

We have started learning to spell them too - look out for a post on that next week!

Special Offer: Half Price Numberball

2010-09-16T13:14:00.002Z

Does your child have the target of learning their times tables? If so this special offer is just for you!

A HALF PRICE Numberball: a great aid for learning basic multiplication.

The set includes two giant tactile eight-sided dice, as well as counters, number grids and timer.

Numberball is a fun and colourful way to help memorise the basic multiplication tables - the colour coded Numberballs and chart make finding the answer easy, and remembering it too!

There are many different ways to use Numberball; playing 4-in-a-row, using the timer, filling in the blank chart, or placing counters on the squares all of which help children remember the times tables. Suitable for 1 to 4 players.

Today's Target: High Frequency Key Words

2010-09-10T21:48:00.000Z

Children in Reception / Year 1 and Year 2 have a list of high frequency words that they need to learn to read and spell. Our eldest has been given the challenge of ensuring that he can read and spell them and he is very excited about ticking them all of his list! So over the next few weeks that is what we will be doing and I will blog about the different ways we do this. If you have any great ideas please let me know!

First of all we have dug out the set of Magnetic Reception High Frequency Words and they are stuck on the fridge so we can check the reading of them by making sentences - I will leave some there for the boys to read in the morning.

I think he can read all of these and probably spell most of them but it makes sense to start with checking the reception words before tackling the list of Year 1 & 2 ones.

Fairy Tales for Boys?

2010-09-07T19:26:00.024Z

Over the holidays we went to Warwick Castle and went into the Princess Tower. They have warning signs that it is "not for boys" but boy #2 wanted to go in the Princess Tower so we did.

The story goes that Princess Tower is home to Warwick Castle’s very own fairytale princess, Princess Arabella and that preparations are underway for her wedding. Children go into one of the castle rooms and meet a princess who tells them all about Princess Arabella's forthcoming wedding to Prince Toby and along the way she shows the children various things from other fair tales. So they meet a frog (who she kisses to see if it will turn into a prince), Sleeping Beauty's spinning wheel, the bed from the Princess and the Pea, one of Cinderella's old ragged dresses and help to chose the fairy tale outfit to go with Princess Arabella's dress. Then they go into another room and dress as princesses (with boys dressing as knights as a bit of an afterthought) before going onto the room of wishes where they write their wish in the book.

All in all it would seem a great introduction for children to fairy tales - so why then is it all "pink" and why are they discouraging boys from getting involved?

Surely, all children need to know traditional tales not just girls? and is it any wonder that boys are not achieving the same results in literacy if they are not being given encouragement at even this most basic level.?

Back to School

2010-09-06T15:59:00.039Z

I had been meaning to write a post about starting school and transitions - but I had written about that before in these posts about starting school and transitions and I couldn't really think of much to add. I had plans for blog posts that didn't work out for various reasons but today we are "Back to School".

Tara's prompt for this week's Gallery is Back to School - and here are my two big boys going back to school.

For Littlesheep Learning this "Back to School" means a few less children at home during the day, more time to focus on the business and a new year with new plans - watch this space!

Autumn Fair

2010-09-05T23:29:00.011Z

Today I went to the Autumn Fair to see what new things my old suppliers have and see if there are any new suppliers that have nice things I want to stock at Littlesheep Learning.

As usual I came away a bit overwhelmed with lots of catalogues and ideas. Now the hard work starts trying to choose what to add to our range. Lots of planning to be done over the next few weeks.

When I have blogged about it before I have managed to meet up with some other mums in business but sadly that wasn't the case this weekend - maybe next time!

Incidental Learning – But I didn’t teach them that!

2010-09-01T10:58:00.001Z

How often does your child demonstrate their knowledge and you sit there thinking – how on earth does he know that, I’ve not taught him it? I know it happens a lot in our house. We don’t sit around all day with colour, letter and number flashcards (although we do have some that they play with from time to time!) yet somehow; maybe through osmosis, children seem to manage to learn this and so much more.

So how do children learn acquire general knowledge? The answer is simply by their observational skills and being given the opportunities to see things, ask questions and have information shared with them. All of this learning is incidental so they don’t realise they are doing it, as far as they see it they are going to the supermarket, watching television, having a bath or sharing a book but in reality they are doing so much more.

This post gives some ideas of how you can incorporate these incidental learning opportunities into your day.

First, make use of clocks! When your children wake for the day show them the time it is – talk about the big hand being on the (whatever) and the small hand being on the (whatever – preferably after seven!) or read the numbers on a digital clock. You’ve immediately started teaching telling the time / number recognition and you are still all in your pyjamas! You can repeat this activity throughout the day pointing out lunch time, bath time, bed time etc and telling them that at certain times things will be happening.

Breakfast and getting dressed give a whole host of opportunities. Labelling foods and clothes, colours, counting as you do up buttons, reading labels on food packaging plus developing the self-help skills related to eating and dressing.

Moving onto the household chores; sorting washing is great for learning colours – and the sooner you can get your child to pair up the clean socks the sooner it’s one job you can pass on! Tidying toys is an excellent opportunity to teach categories – all the animals in one box, musical instruments in another and the cars in a third. Cooking is a fantastic activity for incidental learning. Not only is your child learning the culinary skills, they are also reading (following recipes), measuring and counting, developing fine motor control – stirring, rolling, spooning, cutting etc, plus increasing their general knowledge by talking about food labels, where ingredients come from, plus all the describing words for example; dry, powdery, wet, lumpy, hot, cold, smooth or my son’s favourite ‘gungy’! Again a trip to the supermarket has a whole host of possibilities; colours, labels, counting, writing and reading lists (very small children can use picture lists) and money skills.

Of course children’s toys all have educational potential too. Whilst building with blocks talk about their shapes and colours. You can count the carriages on the train when playing with train sets and talk about where the people are going. Dressing up activities provide opportunity to explore topics such as people who help us through talking to your children about what they do, where they work, the vehicles they use etc, and role play with pretend food and plates / cutlery means you can talk about sharing, counting and even meal planning and healthy eating. Games can teach turn taking, matching, counting and many other skills.

Then at the end of the day, counting the stairs to get upstairs reinforces counting and bath time provides another great learning opportunity, the simplest of bath toys – a set of stacking cups is a brilliant for learning colours, sizes, measuring volume and pouring. Lastly bedtime is a lovely time to share books snuggled up together – rhyming books help with phonic development, counting books are good for teaching numbers and all books provide the opportunity for learning to read simple words, talking about the plot, the characters, predicting what comes next and a whole host of other things.

Lastly, there are lots of reports about television being ‘bad’ for children – but a few well chosen programmes can enhance their knowledge base (and yours!). For example, at three my son was telling me about the sewage treatment process thanks to Come Outside and Something Special has taught us all lots of signs and helped the children with their language development. Again, programmes such as the Numberjacks, Fun with Phonics and Alphablocks introduce numeracy and literacy skills without children really thinking about them.

So, in answer to the question – how did they learn that – the answer is you probably taught them without even thinking about it, what you see as a simple discussion about the weather will stick in a child’s head and before you know it they are telling you about the seasons, or even the water cycle!

British Mummy Bloggers Carnival

2010-08-31T11:04:00.000Z

The August British Mummy Bloggers carnival is now live: http://www.playingbythebook.net/2010/08/31/british-mummy-bloggers-carnival-books-and-play/ and we are pleased that one of our blogs have been included.

Please pop by and have a read of Zoe's fantastic blog (where you can find lots of ideas linked to reading books). Read the carnival, follow the links to have a look at the other posts and get playing with books.

Independence

2010-08-30T09:23:00.002Z

This week in the Gallery, Tara asked gave us the theme: One Day in August - not any day in August but more specifically Sunday 29th August... it could be a photo of anything just it had to be taken on that day. The reason for this challenge is that on that Sunday threee UK parenting bloggers Josie, Sian and Eva flew to Bangladesh for a week to help raise awareness of the work Save the Children is doing with mothers and children there.

So my photo:

This was taken as I took my eldest to Beaver camp for the first time. It was the first time he has been away from home staying with people who are not family (he wasn't a bit phased) and the first time he had responsibility for organising his own belongings for a whole 24hours! So I left him (in his uniform) with his bag of clothes and his pillow, sleeping bag and mat (and teddy). He now has to organise the independent living skills or self-help skills as they are called for himself; he needs to dress (buttons, zips and velcro - I wasn't mean enough to make him learn to tie his laces!) himself, he needs to brush his teeth, wash himself (ok so I am not entirely sure little boys at Beaver camp do that!), comb his hair and of course I am hoping he eats using his cutlery!

Anyway, I have written about dressing skills before and maybe I should teach him to tie his shoelaces sometime soon.

On Wednesday take a look at the Gallery and see the other posts and photos we will all have taken part in one giant Blip for that day - a journal for a Sunday in August.

Does Cooking with Children = Mess or Learning?

2010-08-26T09:09:00.001Z

There is an article on the BBC website If flour + sugar + children = mess, why let them bake? written by Katy from I Can Cook which got me thinking about cooking with children.

Of course cooking with children is messy but it also has a whole host of learning opportunities.

First, you need a recipe. Finding a recipe using cookery books, shows the use of non-fiction books and gives the opportunity to use an index or you could use a computer search engine. We have found using an internet search for a recipe interesting to see variations of the same recipe and deciding which one works best for us.

Then reading the recipe - older children can read it for themselves, younger ones will need help. This shows that reading is a useful skill and demonstrates the use of instructional text. If your children like cooking get them a notebook and help them make their own recipe book. This helps them practice writing skills (don't forget to add photographs or illustrations of the finished product). They can copy in favourite recipes but also make up their own simple ones for their favourite things like cheese on toast, home made ice lollies or popcorn, which gives them practice at writing instructions.

Next we need the ingredients (learning through shopping is a whole other post see summer holiday market shopping or super maths for supermarket for some ideas). Have you got everything you need or do you need to make some substitutes (strawberry jam for raspberry jam, sultanas for raisins (or chocolate chips!). Looking at the ingredients gives the opportunity to increase vocabulary and general knowledge - what is oregano? where is butter kept? how is tomato puree made? what are raisins made from? where do bananas come from?

Measuring out ingredients using both weight and volume is a great practical maths lesson, what is bigger a teaspoon or a tablespoon? How many cups of flour do we need - can you count them?

Then the making part - this involves many fine motor skills; pouring, scooping, cracking eggs, stirring, whisking, cutting, grating, spooning, kneading, rolling, squeezing, sprinkling, spreading - every part of the making process using motor skills (which in turn will help them improve their handwriting!).

Recipes that involve cooking (or freezing) also teach patience / time telling as you can't eat them immediately!

Some of the things we have made recently...

What can you see?

2010-08-24T14:09:00.001Z

One of our favourite types of book at the moment are 'first word books' and in particular - First hundred words. This book is popular because the illustrator is the same person who illustrates 'the Apple Tree Farm books' and the First Experiences Books and my children love Stephen Cartwright's illustrations!

This type of book is one of the types of book that grows with your child. To start with they enjoy picking out the odd words that they know and pointing to the "big" items on the page, then as they get older they can actually hunt (and start remembering!) the items to find on each page. They can also look at the picture in more detail, describe what is happening and spot the more subtle things. It is also great for children who are learning to read as the words are printed underneath the picture so they can start to recognise the sight words.

The book has scenes from around the house; the living room, getting dressed, eating breakfast in the kitchen (my children find the broken egg and the burnt toast most amusing), tidying up (uh-oh what is going to happen to Dad's plate?), bathtime and bedtime, in the community - the park, the street and the swimming pool and having a birthday party. The swimming pool and changing room pages show body parts, whilst the shopping pages illustrate colours and finally the very last page has a numbers 1-5.

We love this book and I am sure you will too!

August Business Mums Blog Carnival

2010-08-23T09:24:00.007Z

I am so excited to be hosting the Business Mums Blog Carnival - my first ever time of hosting a carnival. As my business is education based the submissions have been split into lessons... so prepare to go back to school! I hope that you will enjoy reading this post and the ones that have been submitted.

First of all - we all need inspirational teachers - those people who inspire us... Kate at Mum's The Word shares three very different examples of business success. Who has inspired you?

In lesson time:

Literacy - Helen from Business Plus Baby explains: What I've Learned About Writing Books and Antonia from Family Friendly Working wants you to write your story.

Numeracy - Alli (Motivating Mum) looks at the value of money in her post My husband my detractor and Becky at Baby Budgeting looks into buying a family friendly franchise.

ICT - a lesson from Joanne Dewberry about fan pages.

Music - Karen from Learning Made Fun tells us about the 1st musical mini.

Citizenship - MidwifeValerie explains how to campaign to save independent midwifery.

PSE - Heather (The Efficiency Coach) talks about self-confidence in her post the-dreaded-c-word-how-the-lack-of-it-can-sabotage-your-business-efforts/

For playtime, Sam and Helen from Mums the Boss ask How free should our children be? and Nomita at ebabeelikes reviews the Cachatou Maggy a bright and colouful shape sorter.

In assembly teachers share the best work - Antonia tells us about Family Vie where you can share the best work you find, also most schools have some sort of prize giving, star of the week - the world of business mums isn't without its awards - check out the post from TJ at Support4Women: Awards - Are they Worth it?

Not forgetting babies... Antonia and Karen at Kiddibase share their top ten baby activities.

If you read a post that you find interesting, amusing, informs or inspires you, then please leave a comment for the author – bloggers love comments (and please let me know if you think I have passed or failed!).

You can find the 2010 Blog Carnival schedule by clicking here.

Social Networking (Test)

2010-08-20T21:20:00.002Z

Ooooh I think I have just set it up so that you can share your favourite posts from my blog onto Twitter and Facebook and the like...

Have fun sharing them!

ps. Please follow @littlesheep on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook

Emotions

2010-08-19T19:48:00.001Z

As I was viewing the photos on my camera I came across one of the stone face that the six year old had made at Beavers...

and this made me think about how this idea could be adapted to create a craft activity to help children learn about emotions.

First of all you need a collection of pebbles or stones, then things to decorate them with - as you can see this one uses googly eyes, wool and a bit of pipecleaner but you can use whatever you want - if you wanted you could just use paint or a marker pen to draw on the pebble.

Then make a collection of different faces; happy, sad, scared, surprised, angry - talk about the emotion, what makes people feel that way, or act out scenarios with your pebble people. You could also make an identification game by putting the pebbles in a bag and picking one out - or a matching game matching the pebble to a picture of someone showing an emotion or a scenario.

You can find a range of resources to help children learn about emotions at Littlesheep Learning.

Back to School

2010-08-18T07:23:00.003Z

As thousands of children prepare to start school, Barefoot Books have published a lovely book about Ruby's experiences. Plus Kathryn White, author of Ruby's School Walk, early educator and mum of five children has shared her tips to ease children's start-of-school anxiety and make this an enjoyable milestone.

This back to school post has lots of ideas too and the Usborne First Experiences Starting School book might also be useful.

Obstacle Courses

2010-08-17T07:16:00.000Z

Hooray, we've had a sunny day! We finally got to play in the garden and it was fun watching the boys play - they set themselves up an obstacle course... they had to go up the rock wall, down the slide, run along the decking, climb onto the grass and kick a ball.

The great thing about obstacle courses is that they are great for helping children develop their gross motor skills and improve sports skills. Some children like the addition of a stopwatch to keep track of their course times, others want to have a race with their friends whilst others would rather just go through the course for fun. It doesn't really matter which type of child you have they will still be getting active and improving their skills.

The list of possible obstacles in an obstacle course is endless - obviously some will be more suited to your individual child than others so choose these (and feel free to add any more ideas in the comments).

crawl through a pop-up tunnel
jump from stepping stone to stepping stone (paper / mats / hoops)
do star jumps
ride a bike / scooter / ride on
throw bean bags / balls into a box
throw hoops onto a hoopla
run in and out of cones
walk backwards for ten steps
hit a ball with a tennis racket
kick a football in a goal
walk along a “tightrope” (a skipping rope placed on the floor or a chalked line on the patio - the line can be wiggly too!)
stand on one foot
go down a slide
shoot with a basket ball
dribble a football between cones
jump over a line / small box / hurdle
complete a stage from a crazy golf kit
fire a “stamp on” foam rocket
walk on stilts
dribble a hockey ball through a slalom
shoot a hockey goal
bounce on a trampoline
skip with a rope
walk balancing a beanbag on head
hoola with a hoola-hoop
climb part of a climbing frame
jump off a box
walk heel-to-toe in a straight line
build a sandcastle
squirt water with a water pistol
hop
do a forward roll

Marble Memories / Fine Motor Flicks

2010-08-16T18:33:00.000Z

As readers of past entries will know I have just started joining in with The Gallery set by Tara at Sticky Fingers and this week the theme is "Memories" and I thought it really linked with a post that I was planning about Fine Motor Flicking Activities, so here goes...

First my "arty" picture of marbles - the toy of memories - ask any old person and they will give you tails about playing with marbles as a child (well my grandparents certainly did!).

And then about the "fine motor flicking"...

"Flicking" is a fun fine motor activity that can really help a child develop their fine motor skills. Flick by opposing each finger and thumb in turn (you can use either hand and when you get good use both together). Flicking can increase motor planning and accuracy, fine manual dexterity and can strengthen the muscles in the hand.

As you can see we were "flicking" the marbles... we had all sorts of games, for example; flick them the furthest, flick them onto the target, flick them to hit another marble and flicking two at the same time seeing if they could crash.

If you don't have any marbles (or you are worried about your children putting marbles in their mouths) you can scrunch up paper and flick that or make small balls of playdough or use peas.

Have fun flicking! And do have a look at the other photos in the "memories" photo gallery.

Whatever the Weather...

2010-08-13T16:18:00.006Z

I have been meaning to get involved in more blog carnivals and other blog linking things for a while and over the last week got more active on Twitter...

This lead me to find that there is a Gallery "challenge" each week set by Tara and that as she was away this week so set no prompt for the Gallery. Those who usually partake were missing it so instead, Chelle has a Pretend / Unprompted Gallery this week, with a water theme, for those who feel like they're missing out.

So for my first joining in - here's my offering for the week... this was actually taken two summer holidays ago but I could have taken a similar one several times this week!

Rain on the window pane

Where has summer gone?

Luckily we have a cupboard full of games to play (don't worry I have put a lock on Littlesheep Learning's stock cupboard so there are plenty for you too!).

Whatever the Weather - Rain or Shine!

What will the weather be today? Take a guess, then spin the spinner to see if you are right. You'll have to watch out for thunderstorms as you race to the pot of gold under the rainbow!

Blog Carnival

2010-08-12T08:03:00.002Z

At the end of August we are hosting the Business Mum Blog Carnival.

If you would like more traffic to your blog, links and comments and the chance to network online around the business mum community then this is for you. It’s free and will take you just a couple of minutes.

Here’s how it works. Each month, a different business mum blogger hosts the blog carnival, listing the best posts that month. If you’re a mumpreneur with a blog, you can submit your own favourite post of that month to the carnival.

We’re looking for posts that add value in some way, so maybe they inspire, inform or make us smile. It’s OK to talk a little about what you do (we’re all in business after all) but a post that’s just a sales pitch isn’t going to be much of a read and is less likely to be included.

Email posts to elaine (at) littlesheep-learning.co.uk by the end of Friday 20th August and the carnival will be posted on Monday 23rd August.

If you want to read July's for inspiration check it out at mumazing's blog.

Water Safety

2010-08-09T09:36:00.000Z

This week the big two are having a week's intensive swimming lessons to help them keep up their swimming skills over the summer break.

The Swimming Teachers' Association - the leading authority on learning to swim and water safety education, have produced a guide to give parents practical tips regarding water safety in the home, garden, at the beach and swimming pool.

Visit their website for your free copy.

Special Needs Software

2010-08-06T20:30:00.013Z

Recently on Mumsclub I bumped into Carol from Special Needs Software - a fab site that I thought some of my readers might like too.

Carol has a 3 year old son with severe learning difficulties and sensory issues, which make it really difficult for him to engage with toys and activities. Once a week, he attends a Child Development Centre for specialist therapy, where they have discovered that he responds really well to their touch screen computer. In fact, he enjoys it so much that it is the one activity they choose to calm him down if ever he becomes upset!

After finding this out she thought it would be a great idea to get a touch screen monitor for home use and as she is a web developer by trade, she decided to put her skills to good use by creating simple games for him to play using his new touch screen computer. Carol is still at the very early stages of developing the games, but she has found that her son enjoys playing with them even when the interaction is quite limited! So, she created the website to share the games with other touch screen users – many of the games are still in development, but are still playable to some extent!

Examples include:

Rockets

If you’re using a mouse, the rocket will follow the mouse pointer around the game. Click anywhere to hear a rocket sound! For touch screen use, touch the screen and the rocket will head to that spot, accompanied by a rocket sound!

Paint the Screen

Click on or touch one of the coloured squares to change the screen colour. You’ll also reveal a hidden picture and accompanying sound! For older children, why not try using this as a memory game (e.g. after going through all the colours & pictures, ask if they can remember where the digger is).

Ladybirds
This is a really simple cause & effect game, where there are two on-screen objects (ladybirds initially) which are stationary. By touching the ladybird, you can make it run up and off the screen. When both ladybirds are off the screen, another two objects appear (there are also ladybirds, spiders, frogs and rockets). This is also good for turn taking, as there are two of each object. Your child could touch one then you (or another child) could touch the other, and so on.

Seaside Fun and Learning

2010-08-05T08:53:00.000Z

Are you off to the seaside this summer holiday (not sure whether we are or not yet - it wasn't on the boys MUST DO list so it depends how things pan out) but if you are there are lots of learning opportunities at the beach.

First, the beach is one big open space and if you are lucky enough to go to one that isn't crammed full of other holidaymakers (memories of the Norfolk coast in mid-winter when we very definitely were the only ones there spring to mind!) there is lots of space for running, jumping and throwing balls; plus the obligatory digging - trenches and sandcastle building and carrying buckets of sand / water / pebbles. All of these activities will help children develop their gross motor skills which in turn help develop their fine motor skills. Another thing that you can do is write big letters and draw huge pictures in the sand - this is great fun for children who may usually be reluctant writers.

Then of course there are all the different object labels to be learnt - sand, sea, cliff, rockpool, lighthouse, shell, crab, starfish, seaweed , bucket, spade, ice cream - the list is endless! And for older children identifying the different types of creatures in a rock pool - how many different types of crustacean can you find?

Lastly the shells and stones can be used for counting, adding and subtracting, comparing sizes and much more.

Have fun on your trip to the beach and see how much "accidental learning" goes on!

Playday

2010-08-04T08:16:00.002Z

Today is Playday the annual celebration of children's right to play. On Playday and throughout the summer, thousands of children, young people and communities will get out to play at hundreds of locally organised events across the UK. As well as a celebration of children's right to play, Playday is also a campaign that raises awareness about some serious issues affecting children's play.

The Play Day 2010 campaign is 'Our Place,' which puts children at the heart of our communities, and asks everyone, young and old, to help create better places for all of us to live and play.

We are off to an event for 0-8 year olds at our local Children's Centre (shame about the rain!) where there promises to be: face painting, messy play, entertainers and a bouncy castle and a picnic afterwards.

See if there is something happening near you - www.playday.org.uk.

Knick Knack Paddy Whack

2010-08-03T19:10:00.001Z

Summer Reading Challenge

2010-08-02T13:00:00.003Z

Have you signed up for the Space Hop at your local library?

The aim of the summer reading challenge is to get children to read six books from the library over their summer holidays. The challenge is designed for children of all ages and all reading abilities.

To sign up children need to visit their local library and enrol (completely free), they then receive a foldout poster, to keep track of the books they are reading and a membership card.

In our library they also decorate a rocket to put on the space race which they move along the board as they read their books. Then when they finish the challenge they get a certificate.

What books are you reading this holiday?

Bottle Bugs

2010-07-29T09:34:00.002Z

We have been to an art workshop - making minibeasts from plastic bottles... here are our creations:

The six year olds 'bee' all his own design - some help with the sticky tape!

The four year olds 'bee' (copying his brother's - except they ran out of black tape so his has strips of paper coloured black)

The two year old's "bottle-fly"

I am sure that you get the gist... get an empty plastic bottle and decorate it into a bug.

Things you could use:

tape (different coloured electical tape works well or masking tape means they can add details using crayons or pens)
fabric
ribbon
paper (tissue paper or cellophane makes good wings, wrapping paper scraps to cover the bottle makes it very colourful, sugar paper makes a good base for butterfly wings)
pipecleaners (antennae and legs)
straws
'googly' eyes
pompoms
feathers

Make a real minibeast or an imaginary bug; maybe make lots and host an ugly bug ball or join in the creepy crawly calypso... but most of all have fun.

Lego Learning

2010-07-28T06:46:00.002Z

I have three boys (aged six, four and two) so perhaps unsurprisingly we have LOTS of Lego in our house and it is something that they all play together with. Legoland is on their top places to visit and on Monday we had a great day out at the Legoland Discovery Centre in Manchester.

Duplo is a firm favourite for building houses for all sorts of toys, building bridges for the wooden railway and building towers, trains and all sorts of other constructions. Building with Duplo and then standard Lego is great for fine motor skill development as children pick up the pieces and connect them together (tip: pulling apart Duplo is easier than putting it together). We have now started to move onto "little Lego" and are enjoying building models following the instructions.

There are many other targets that can use Lego as a tool...

Colours - match, sort and identify the different colours

Sorting - by colour, shape or size of brick

Patterns - make colour patterns using the blocks (or use them as mosiac tiles)

Shapes - use Lego bricks to build / identify different shapes (both 2D and 3D depending on the bricks you have

Counting - simply use the bricks in place of counters or count how many bricks were needed in your creation. You can also use them for addition and subtraction and solving word problems - make a tower with 3 green bricks and 5 red bricks, how many bricks did you use altogether? or take two blocks away, how many blocks are in your tower now?

Measuring - use your Lego bricks as a unit for measuring (see No Time for Flashcards for a great demonstration)

Literacy - put words or letters on your Lego bricks to make great literacy manipulatives (see Filthwizardry for an excellent example)

The Shape Game

2010-07-27T09:30:00.005Z

It is a rainy school holiday day - what to do...

Maybe play the shape game? It's a great fun drawing game involving a random shape being transformed into something recognisable, and even the celebs (including Quentin Blake, Emma Thompson, Harry Hill, Ian McEwan and Sir Peter Blake) have been playing it as part of Anthony Browne’s THE SHAPE GAME project, in aid of the charity Rainbow Trust.

They started with this shape drawn by Children’s Laureate Anthony Browne.

and they came up with many different ideas...

Hats proved a common route for many of the contributors involved, with Jo Brand, Axel Scheffler, Jacqueline Wilson, Andrew Motion, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and Sir Peter Blake amongst those transforming the shape into headwear. Animals were also a popular choice: Harry Hill opting to customise the shape into a whale, Quentin Blake adapting it into a bird and Emma Thompson using her artwork as a way to declare that she is “obsessed with pigs”. Other creations inspired by the animal kingdom include those by Greg Wise (who drew a rhino), Michael Morpurgo (elephant), Michael Foreman (hippo) Catherine Rayner (pig), Linford Christie (bird), Emily Gravett (owl), Shirley Hughes (cat) and Ken Livingstone (shark).

Other creations include a desert island by Booker-Prize winning author Ian McEwan, a person pondering the question: “Why Me?” by philosopher Alain de Botton, and comedian Leigh Francis’s take on 1980s high-school hero, Teen Wolf.

Other contributors to Play the Shape Game include: Anne Fine, Emily Gravett, Meera Syal, Philip Pullman, Tracy Chevalier, Nick Sharratt, Michael Rosen, Imelda Staunton, Anthony Horowitz, Sir Derek Jacobi, Rob Ryan and Jan Pienkowski.

Quentin Blake, the first contributor to sign-up to the project, said:

“I jumped at the chance to get involved; not only was it huge fun thinking about how I’d like to customise Anthony’s shape, but encouraging creativity is something I feel very strongly about. I hope the auction and book go on to raise lots of money for Rainbow Trust, which does such important work to support families at a time of great need.”

Anthony Browne said:

“Although on one level it’s just a game, I believe that it encapsulates the act of creation… everything comes from something else, inspiration is everywhere. I am thrilled that so many big names have joined in to play The Shape Game and I’ve had enormous pleasure looking through their artworks – it’s fascinating to get a glimpse inside the minds of celebrities! Hopefully they will capture the public’s imagination too so that we can raise a good amount for Rainbow Trust.”

Bestselling author Philip Pullman said of his contribution:

“I was enthusiastic about the idea from the start, because I seize on any excuse to get my pencils out, and this idea was so intriguing. I did have to let my mind go free over Anthony’s shape – there’s no point in thinking hard about it, because the exercise really involves thinking very loosely. But as I did, the landscape seemed to form itself around the shape. I loved doing it - huge fun”.

Members of the public will be able to bid for the original artwork from the project at an online auction for further information see www.childrenslaureate.org.uk. The transformed shapes will also be published by Walker Books in a book, Play the Shape Game, intended to encourage children to use their imaginations. The book, which will be published in paperback at £5.99, will also feature brand new shapes created by the contributors which readers can then customise for themselves.

Both the auction and the book were launched yesterday at a special event at Waterstone’s Piccadilly (London), Europe’s largest bookstore. All funds raised from the auction and all profits from the sales of the book will be donated to Rainbow Trust, a charity which provides vital support to families who have a child with a life threatening or terminal illness.

Barefoot Books Summer Sale

2010-07-20T13:05:00.001Z

Today's Target: Multiplication

2010-07-10T09:23:00.001Z

Our eldest has just started being interested in learning times tables - he can rote count 2,4,6,8 or 5,10,15,20 or 10,20,30,40,50 etc but now he is beginning to understand the concept behind the counting in 2s, 5s and 10s.

So - 1 x 2 is 2, 2 x 2 is 4, 3 x 2 is 6, 4 x 2 is 8 etc or 2, 4, 6, 8 or some other method? Which is the best way for children to learn their multiplication tables? I think the answer is use as many different methods as possible (and have fun).

Some children will find it really easy to memorise the rote chant of the times tables but it is important to ensure that they understand the underlying maths fact that 4x2 = 2+2+2+2 and that it is the same as 2x4.

Some of the other things we have been doing (apart from the chanting!)

pairing socks: counting the pairs / individual socks - a pair = 2 socks, 2 pairs = 4 socks, 3 pairs = 6 socks etc
sorting for three children: the number in each bowl x 3 is the number altogether

Please add a comment let us know any ideas you have!

The Journey Home from Grandpa's

2010-07-08T09:16:00.000Z

Today's Target: Colour Matching

2010-07-07T08:26:00.009Z

Like most other families that live within a 30mile radius of an IKEA store we have these sets of coloured plates, cups, bowls and spoons.

Also (I guess like many other children) our children love to have "matching" sets at each meal time. This causes a bit of angst at the moment as our youngest likes the green set best and our green spoon got lost! However, joking aside, this is a great introduction to colour matching in every day life.

We have also used the bowls as "sorting pots" with other coloured items (for example; coloured paper clips, mini pompoms, crayons, toy cars) matching all the same colour things together in the bowl of that colour.

Learning colour matching is a skill within Mathematical Development - sorting familiar objects to identify their similarities and differences, making choices and justifying decisions and as part of Creative Development as children explore colour.

Other colour matching games that are enjoyed in our house are:

People Who Help Us: Police Officers

2010-07-01T12:51:00.005Z

Following my Firefighters post as a continuation of the theme "people who help us" at the Stay and Play group we go to yesterday we had a visit from a police car and a police community support officer.

The children got to climb all over her police van (standing in the "cell" at the back and pretending to drive it), seeing the lights flash, hearing the siren (again a few tears!) and trying on her hat. She also spent time playing with the children to show them that police officers are approachable and people they should go to if they need help.

Free Postage at Barefoot Books

2010-06-25T08:37:00.001Z

People Who Help Us: Firefighters

2010-06-24T12:12:00.000Z

At the Stay and Play group we go to we currently have the theme "people who help us" and yesterday we had a visit from a fire engine - cue lots of excited toddlers! They got to see the hose and squirt at a plastic traffic cone and hear the siren (a fair few tears!). The fireman talked to the children about who he was, what he did and explained that fire is dangerous and there was lots of literature for parents to take away about fire safety and stickers for the children. Obviously we can't all have a fire engine visit us at home with real firemen to talk to our children but we can encompass the theme of people who help us into our children's play.

National Breastfeeding Week

2010-06-22T08:50:00.000Z

This week is National Breastfeeding Week and one of the things that is often talked about when people talk about breastfeeding is that it is no longer seen as "normal" within our culture. Baby dolls are automatically sold with a bottle and a bottle symbol is synonymous with baby facilities - so what about children's literature?

Lots of childrens books - for example the Usborne First Experiences Series feature the everyday lives of the characters, which is usually similar to the everyday life of young children – they show all the day-to-day things like getting up, having meals, going to school or pre-school, playing, going shopping, going to the park, going to bed etc. All things which will reassure the reader that his or her life is “normal”.

Often in books toddler age children are shown as having a baby brother or sister - how many of these are babies shown breastfeeding? (Answer very few).

When children grow up surrounded by pictures of babies bottle feeding, it can subtly undermine awareness and confidence in breastfeeding, reinforcing bottle feeding as the dominant norm. Given that the current recommendations from the Department of Health and the World Health Organisation are for exclusive breastfeeding to six months and for breastfeeding to ideally continue beyond this to at least two years, surely we should be showing this in the images our children see? The reasons behind this imagery are complex and often it will simply be that it just doesn't occur to the illustrator as breastfeeding is not part of their experience.

One book that does feature breastfeeding is the Usborne First Experiences story: The New Baby which has an illustration of Mrs Bunn sat in a chair nursing baby Susie - with the text "Mrs. Bunn feeds Susie." and "When Susie is hungry, Mrs. Bunn feeds her with milk. Susie will need to be fed many times each day."

Please add other children's story books that show breastfeeding as normal.

Today's Target: Letter Formation

2010-06-10T14:08:00.002Z

Once children are consistently Mark Making it is time to encourage the correct letter formations. There are many resources to help this but ultimately it is practice that makes perfect - the key is to keep the practicing fun.

Our four year old has been product testing the My First Wipe Clean a-z letters over the half term holiday and has thoroughly enjoyed himself (and yes he is appearing to be left handed).

Never too late to learn...

2010-06-09T08:48:00.002Z

I have just been reading this article entitled "I couldn't read or write until I was 27 years old" and it just shows that you are never too old to learn the skills that many of us take for granted. At Littlesheep Learning we sell resources to help children learn to read and write but there is no reason why our educational games couldn't help an adult too - maybe learning in partnership with their child.

If you are an adult who wants to improve your skills try http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/ or http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/AdultLearning/ImprovingYourSkills/index.htm for more information.

Down's Syndrome - The Essential Guide

2010-06-08T10:39:00.001Z

We have been sent a copy of Down's Syndrome - The Essential Guide by Antonia Chitty and Victoria Dawson to review. This is the third book in the series that they have written (the first being Special Educational Needs - A Parents Guide).

Down's Syndrome - The Essential Guide is for parents who have just received a diagnosis as well as parents who are already caring for a child with the condition and it covers all aspects of Down's syndrome from diagnosis to adulthood.

In my opinion this book is great, it has simple easy to read chapters so that you can dip in and out as things become relevant to you or read it in one sitting. There are facts, parents experiences and a very comprehensive list of support organisations - a fantastic resource for anyone with a child with Down's Syndrome or who is caring for one.

Published by Need2Know, Down's Syndrome - The Essentual Guide is available now from the Need2Know website (http://www.need2knowbooks.co.uk/) or by calling 01733 898103 or emailing sales@n2kbooks.com. Price: £8.99.

Family Time

2010-06-07T09:05:00.004Z

We have just had half term and part of the reason why this blog has been postless is that we were spending time as a family (trying to create a new play area in the garden!). I was shocked though to read this news article that says that parents spend on average 49 minutes a day together with their children.

Surely that can't be right? If that is an average some people must be spending no time with their children at all?

If you are happy and you know it...

2010-05-25T08:36:00.000Z

New Product: Nursery Rhyme Puppets

2010-05-20T09:54:00.005Z

We have just taken delivery of this fabulous nursery rhyme finger puppet set at Littlesheep Learning and all three of our children think it looks great - the youngest eagerly pointed out the animals and immediately said "Tinkle Tinkle idle tar", the middle one was pleased he knew all the word and the eldest can manipulate the puppets. We are inclined to agree that it is a great addition to our collection of puppets to support first songs and rhymes.

This six puppet contains finger puppets representing the main characters from each of these popular nursery rhymes: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Humpty Dumpty, 1,2,3,4,5 Once I Caught a Fish Alive, Hickory Dickory Dock and Incy Wincy Spider and comes with a detailed song card to help you if you do not know the words!

Today's Target: Mark Making to Writing

2010-05-13T15:01:00.007Z

Children learn to write by starting "mark making" these simple marks then develop into something more recognisable as writing, from a very young age they will imitate adults, grasping writing tools and making marks on paper or any other available surface! It is important during this development that they are encouraged, as young writers as it is from this that handwriting grows.

Mark-making can be done with a pencil and paper but the wider the range of textures and media that are used the more fun it is and the more children will practice it.

Some suggestions:

Paint using an easel and brushes
Chalk on boards
Draw in sand (wet or dry) with either a stick or a finger
Paint the playground / wall with water and large brushes
Draw shapes in the air with a wand
Finger paint
Dance with a ribbon in your writing hand
Draw in cornflour "gloop"
Draw in salt
Write with pens on a whiteboard
Use chunky triangular crayons
Use felt tip pens or colouring pencils
Draw in mud with sticks

Learning to hold a pencil and make marks that ultimately lead to writing is a complex development. Young children’s scribblings and drawings are their way of communicating and showing observation of their world and as parents and teachers we should encourage, praise and celebrate their achievements.

Examples of development - writing a weather report by my nearly four year old and my nearly six year old boys.

The scribbled circle is the sun, the sideways wavy line is the "s" (followed by another attempt - that looks like a c), then a recogniseable (but formed incorrectly) "u" and a "n".

There is a whole sentence that is recognisable (one reversed letter and the x to cross out a s which was placed without a finger space) plus a recogniseable picture!

The Best Books?

2010-05-08T20:47:00.004Z

A list of 70 children's books said to be the best of all-time has been compiled by publisher Puffin to celebrate Puffin's 70th birthday. The Puffin Handbook is available in bookshops and libraries or can be downloaded here.

The guide is packed full of everything you could ever want to know about children's books and reading, including expert advice, exclusive articles, brilliant books for children of all ages and MUCH more.

The classic counting book The Very Hungry Caterpillar tops the list of best bedtime books, with other favourites featured including Meg and Mog, Spot, Charlie and Lola and The Gruffalo.

Do you agree with Puffin? What books would feature in your top 70?

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

2010-05-07T19:47:00.006Z

A little while back I answered a tweet on Twitter from @babysigningmum who was looking for some puppets - specifically Goldilocks and the Three Bears and I showed her these ones and promised to order them in as a special for her.

They arrived this week in a lovely big fabric drawstring bag (ideal for a story sack) and I have to say they are FABULOUS and look even better in real life. I am going to be ordering some more - so watch the website's new products page or contact me directly if you want a set!

Happy Birthday Littlesheep Learning

2010-05-05T14:24:00.003Z

Today is FIVE years since Littlesheep Learning opened it's virtual doors and started trading. We would like to thank all of our customers over the last five years and everyone who has offered us help and advice on the journey from the days when we had a few product lines and an order a week to the product range and number orders we receive today. I can't beleive how fast the last five years have gone but here's to the next five and beyond!

To celebrate if you visit Littlesheep Learning during May and use the discount code "birthday" you will save 10% - please tell your friends!

Look out for some other special give aways and offers over the course of the month.

Listening to Stories

2010-04-29T09:15:00.003Z

Children love listening to stories and reading to children is great but what about those times when you can't sit and snuggle with a book? You can't read whilst driving and if you have more than one child reading as many stories as they want at bed time can be tricky - check out these FREE podcasts from Barefoot Books.

Listening to stories improves a child's listening skills. Through listening to audio books children develop concentration skills and they become better listeners which help them become better learners. Listening to stories can improve a child's conversation skills and to encourage them to express themselves. By listening to stories without books children are encouraged to use their imagination to visualise the characters and places in the stories.

Growing Sunflowers

2010-04-28T18:17:00.006Z

Spring has sprung this week and today at "Stay and Play" we planted a sunflower seed so I thought I would write a post about the learning opportunities that this provides

This can cover lots of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) areas of learning - here are the immediate ones to spring to mind:

Knowledge and Understanding of the World - what does the seed / plant need to grow
Communication, Language and Literacy - writing your name on the pot (mark making)
Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy - how tall is your sunflower? how long is it taking to grow?
Physical development - the fine motor skills of filling the flowerpot with compost and then pushing the seed in
Creative development - decorating your pot / drawing the plant at different stages of development

I am sure there are millions more!

Seven things you didn't know about me...

2010-04-22T15:44:00.000Z

I have been sent this Kreative Blogger award and tagged by Toniann at Knot Just Jigs (who got it from Helen at Business Plus Baby) so I thought I had better quickly do a post on seven things you didn’t know about me before I forget. As I said to her it will help me meet my target - Thanks!

When I started Littlesheep Learning I had one child - and now I have three!
I have a to do list six miles long (but show me a parent who doesn't!)
I am a regional volunteer for the NCT
I am gluten and dairy intolerant
I am planning a revamp of Littlesheep Learning (it is five this year)
I do lots of walking
I foolishly volunteered to dye my hair green if my husband reaches £800 on his fundraising target by the Marathon - feel free to sponsor him

Now I need to find seven people to tag to pass on this award and to take up the simple challenge (which could be tricky as I guess most of the blogs I read have already been tagged)

Copy the award to your blog
Insert a link to the person who nominated me
Tell you seven things about myself that I haven’t told you before
Nominate seven other bloggers for the award
Link to their blogs
Tell the nominees about their award

So tagging...

Ann @ Education Takeaway
Melitsa @ Play Activities
Brenda @ The Green Familia
Tracey and Lisa @ Talking Tots
Judith @ Kiddymania
Vicky @ Enchanted Portraits
YOU! If you are reading this and have a blog - please accept the tag and let me know about your blog!

Earth Day

2010-04-22T06:09:00.000Z

Earth Day is an international day that is celebrated on 22nd April each year, and has been since 1970. The celebration of Earth Day began in the United States in 1970 and was the idea of Senator Gaylord Nelson, who wanted to "put the environment into the political 'limelight' once and for all".

What can you do to celebrate Earth Day?

Here are some links from some of my favourite blogs:

No Time For Flashcards has lots of brilliant ideas: Nature Activities, Earth Day Muffins, Earth Day Craft, Letter of the Week - Earth Day

Simple Kids have some nature challenges: Discussing Nature Challenge #1: Naming Nature, and Connecting with Nature: Challenge #2 (and others besides!)

Easy Preschool give some lesson plans

Other things: look at how electicity is made, sort out rubbish for recycling, make a bird box, think about how much electricity do you use? (could you use less?), make a wormery, plant a tree, do a litter pick or walk to school.

Let me know what you've been doing - and feel free to add links to other Earth Day Activities in the comments!

Spring

2010-04-21T06:08:00.002Z

Setting Targets

2010-04-19T08:50:00.004Z

First of all I must apologise for the lack of posts on this blog - I will get writing again! As most of the country's children return to school for a new term and will be being set targets, I thought a post about setting targets and setting myself some would be a good start for posting again.

So, what is a target and why are they set? The Compact Oxford Dictionary defines a target as "an objective or result towards which efforts are directed" and the The Standards Site (for the Department of Children, Schools and Families) says that "Setting targets for pupil achievement puts standards at the centre of school planning, and helps staff focus on practical ways of raising them".

To be effective, targets need to be SMART targets. This means they should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable and Realistic, and set against an appropriate Timescale

Children are likely to have targets relating to the stage they are at: some might be "learning the sounds the letters make", "learning the times tables", "writing the letters the correct way round", "counting to 5", "recognising the numbers to 10", "reading the key sight words", "remembering finger spaces" - the list is endless. If your child is struggling with a particular target - check out some of the resources at Littlesheep Learning that might help!

Adults set themselves targets too - my husband is currently trying to reach his fundraising target and then next Sunday will be trying to complete the London Marathon in his target time, I have friends going back to college / university to work towards qualifications to help them in their careers and to be honest my to do list each day is a target!

So back to this blog and my (Specific) targets:

By the end of April (Timescale) I will have written five blog posts (Measurable) - (Achievable (hopefully!) and Realistic (one every other day should be manageable).

By the end of May I will have developed a routine for posts in themes eg new products, teaching and learning ideas, product reviews or news.

By the end of June I will be posting five posts a week.

I am intending a series of posts relating to different areas of children's learning and the targets they might be being set - so watch this space!

What are your targets?

Hot Cross Buns, Currant Buns and other cakes!

2010-04-02T08:00:00.002Z

Today is Good Friday or "Hot Cross Bun day" as my five year old has declared it (they are one of his favourite foods so I think he is planning on them for breakfast, lunch and dinner!).

Whilst thinking about hot cross buns (the spicy fruit buns that have a white cross on the top traditionally eaten on Good Friday) the little rhyme popped into my head - don't forget to share it with your children today.

Hot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
One ha' penny, two ha' penny,
Hot cross buns!
If you have no daughters,
Give them to your sons
One ha' penny,
Two ha' penny,
Hot Cross Buns!

So thinking about rhymes and cakes then reminded me of the five currant bun song and song mitt puppet that is a favourite in our house... This is also a great song for teaching counting skills.

Five currant buns in a baker’s shop.
Round and fat with a cherry on the top,
Along came a boy with a penny one day,
Bought a currant bun and took it away.

Four currant buns in a baker’s shop.
Round and fat with a cherry on the top,
Along came a boy with a penny one day,
Bought a currant bun and took it away.

Three currant buns in a baker’s shop.
Round and fat with a cherry on the top,
Along came a boy with a penny one day,
Bought a currant bun and took it away.

Two currant buns in a baker’s shop.
Round and fat with a cherry on the top,
Along came a boy with a penny one day,
Bought a currant bun and took it away.

One currant bun in a baker’s shop.
Round and fat with a cherry on the top,
Along came a boy with a penny one day,
Bought the currant bun and took it away.

If you wanted to keep the song Hot Cross Bun themed you could change the words to Round and Fat with a cross put on the top.

Other songs including cakes are: The Queen of Hearts, Pat-a-Cake and Little Jack Horner... let me know if you need the words - and please share any other cake songs you know!

Spring A-Z Quiz – Win £10 M&S Voucher

2010-03-27T22:32:00.000Z

Hello Everyone... here is a little game to keep your children entertained in the Easter holidays! The rules are simple – fill in as many of the gaps in each category as you can with an item starting with that letter.

If you want to make a £2 donation to my husband's marathon fundraising target for the NCT (you can donate using the JustGiving pages (include Gift Aid if you want) please indicate in the comments your donation is for quiz entry http://www.justgiving.com/Andrew-Lambe).

Return your lists to me (by email is fine to elaine @ littlesheep-learning.co.uk ) by the 25 April 2010 (the day of the London Marathon).

You will score 1 point for every answer that is correct (judges decision final!) and 2 points if it is unique answer; the winner is the one with the most points.

Name and contact details _____________________________________________________

Name Vehicle Clothes Food Spring
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

Have fun

Happy St Patrick's Day

2010-03-17T00:00:00.000Z

Down's Syndrome Awareness Week 2010

2010-03-15T17:15:00.005Z

This week (15th-21st March) is Down's Syndrome Awareness Week - I have blogged about it in previous years, but thought this week was worth mentioning again to raise awareness especially as 2010 marks the 40th anniversary of the Down's Syndrome Association which provides help and support for people Down's Syndrome and their families. They have lots of information available here.

Also Antonia Chitty has got a new book on Down’s Syndrome coming out in June and the publishers are making a special pre-publication offer to tie in with Down’s Syndrome Awareness Week. Instead of £8.99 the book is available for £5 from 15th to 21st March. Buy it here if you want to be one of the first to use this practical guide. Please note: post and packing is included, so £5 is all you pay, but you will only get the book on publication – at the start of June.

Barefoot Books

2010-03-09T10:55:00.001Z

World Book Day... or World Disney Day?

2010-03-04T09:31:00.004Z

In previous years I have blogged about World Book Day and have suggested some really simple costume ideas.

There are hundreds of children in books - Charlie or Lola, Harry (with his bucket of dinosaurs), Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, the Famous Five or Secret Seven, the Baudelaire children (from A Series of Unfortunate Events), Pippa Longstocking, Milly Molly Mandy, Poppy or Sam (Usborne Farmyard Tales) - I am sure you can think of even more...

So today is World Book Day - is your child dressing up?

I read parenting forums / see comments on facebook and think that the whole spirit of dressing up as a book character has been lost in the commercialism of character dressing up clothes.

I hear reports of schools full of little girls in Disney princess dresses (yes I know some of them existed in books before Disney got their hands on it but they didn't wear identikit Disney designed outfits) or going as Hannah Montana and boys going in their favourite football strip, Spiderman, Powerrangers and so on and wonder whether it is all a waste of time.

I suppose I can sit here a bit smug as we haven't had to dress up today so I haven't had any stress... what was your playground like this morning?

How to hold a pencil?

2010-02-12T11:03:00.004Z

We have been trying to encourage our five year old to hold his pencil properly with the correct triangular grip but he prefers to hold it with his middle finger and thumb rather than his index finger.

So what have we tried?

In the Reception class they were told to use "tweeting" fingers to hold their pencil - so "tweet" like a bird with the index and thumb and then pick up the pencil - the novelty wore off! He recently came home with a paper aeroplane and worked out that it was the same fingers he needed to hold the pencil with so that might be another good exercise for children needing to encourage their index finger and thumb to work together.

We have tried triangular pencils but because his grip is only slightly off this doesn't help, ditto the triangular grip. The grippy pencil grip looked promising to start with - it did make him hold the pencil correctly but he found it awkward to position by himself each time he needed to pick up the pencil. Lastly, we tried the tri-go grip this has three clear spaces for the fingers and he could position is fingers independently and most importantly it did improve his grip.

What works best now? Telling him if I see him holding his pen incorrectly I will tell Miss B he needs to have more handwriting practice!

How have you encouraged your children to correct their grip?

New Products: People Who Help Us Glove Puppets

2010-01-31T12:44:00.004Z

We are pleased to announce that Littlesheep Learning now stock even more of the popular flat people who help us glove puppets adding the postman, keeper and farmer to the range, plus the bargain people who help us complete set of nine puppets.

These simple flat glove puppets are a fantastic resource for both role play and teaching about occupations / jobs people do and are great for inclusion in story sacks. Size 28cm tall.

Other Spelling Help

2010-01-21T20:29:00.002Z

From comments posted onto the Facebook link to yesterday's post about texting helping spelling it appears people are still sceptical!

If you would like a more traditional way of helping your child learn take a look at these Orchard Toys Spelling Puzzles now in stock at Littlesheep Learning. These lovely jigsaws have between three and five pieces and contain a lovely illustration with the word written underneath with each piece having one letter and a part of the picture. Children will enjoy completing the puzzle whilst learning to spell the word.

Older children might like the spelling game Pass the Word where they need to race against the timer to put together a word, trying to be quick as when the time runs out the letters have to be passed on to the next player.

Does Txt Speak Help Spelling?

2010-01-20T13:53:00.003Z

Well according to a new report it does! These latest findings of an ongoing study at the University of Coventry contradict any expectation that prolonged exposure to texting will erode a child's ability to spell and instead suggests that pupils who regularly use text language - with all its mutations of phonetic spelling and abbreviations - also appear to be developing skills in the more formal use of English.

Children who are heavy users of mobile phone text abbreviations such as LOL (laughing out loud), plz (please), l8ter (later) and xxx (kisses), are unlikely to be problem spellers and readers, a new study funded by the British Academy has found. The research, carried out on a sample of 8-12 year olds over an academic year, revealed that levels of “textism” use could even be used to predict reading ability and phonological awareness in each pupil by the end of the year. Also, the proportion of textisms used was observed to increase with age, from just 21% of Year 4 pupils to 47% in Year 6, revealing that more sophisticated literacy skills are needed for textism use. The study conclusions will come as a surprise to many who believe that textisms are vandalising the English language.

The theory behind the research, carried out by Dr Clare Wood, Reader in Developmental Psychology at Coventry University, relates to one of the early developing skills associated with (and believed to underpin) successful reading and spelling development. ‘Phonological awareness’ refers to a child’s ability to detect, isolate and manipulate patterns of sound in speech. For example, children who can tell which words rhyme, or what word is left if you remove a letter, have particularly high levels of phonological awareness.

The forms of text message abbreviation (or ‘textism’) that are used when sending messages include:

Shortenings: cutting the end off a word, losing more than one letter, e.g. bro = brother.
Contractions: cutting letters, usually vowels, out of the middle of a word, e.g. txt, plz, hmwrk.
G Clippings: cutting off only the final g in a word, e.g. goin, comin, workin, swimmin.
Other Clippings: cutting off other final letters, e.g. I’v, hav, wil, com.
Symbols: using symbols, including emoticons, and x used symbolically, e.g. &, @, ;-), :-p, xxx.
Initialisms: a word or group of words is represented by its initial letter, e.g. tb = text back, lol = laughing out loud, gf = girlfriend.
Letter/Number Homophones: a letter or number is used to take the place of a phoneme, syllable, or word of the same sound, e.g. 4, 2, l8r, u, r, c.
Non-conventional Spellings: a word is spelled according to legitimate English phoneme-grapheme conversion rules, but not the conventional one used to spell the word, e.g. nite, cum, fone, skool.
Accent Stylisation: a word is spelled as it is pronounced in casual speech, e.g. gonna, wiv = with, av = have, wanna, elp = help, anuva = another.
Missing Apostrophes: left out either in possessive or traditional contraction form, e.g. dads, Im, Ive, cant.

So what do you think does txting help or hinder spelling?

New Products: Counting Song Mitts

2010-01-19T11:04:00.005Z

Just a quick blog post to let everyone know the popular counting song mitts - 5 little ducks, 5 little speckled frogs and five little monkeys are all now back in stock at Littlesheep Learning AND we are now stocking the teaching song mitts for the favourite rhymes 5 little men in a flying saucer, 5 currant buns in a bakers shop and ten green bottles standing on the wall.

These puppets are great to assist children learning about numbers, counting, songs and rhymes - helping them to develop communication, imagination and fine motor skills and by providing a visual aid which makes songs and stories more enjoyable. They are fantastic as a material for acting out stories / the demonstration of different situations and role play scenarios and for including in story sacks.

Snow!

2010-01-06T16:58:00.006Z

According to the news reports thousands of schools across England, from the north to the south, face closure and disruption in the cold weather but ours was open despite the snow so it was business as usual here at Littlesheep Learning.

Apparently at school today there were about 30 of them in the nursery, reception and year one (all combined into one class due to the absences of staff and children stuck in the nearby villages) and the curriculum included lots of outside play time (they made several snowmen and big snow balls), making hot chocolate for the whole school (including having squirty cream and marshmallows on top!) and lots of fun was had. It might not sound much like learning but they worked out how many people they were making hot chocolate for, what ingredients they would need - and wrote a list, some of them went to the shops to get the ingredients (money skills) plus of course lots of gross motor activity.

Whatever the weather at Littlesheep Learning we dispatch your parcels as soon as possible (usually next day) - you might want to take a look at this special weather game if you want to help your children learn to dress appropriately to the climate!

Money Lessons for Children

2010-01-04T09:27:00.003Z

I was just reading this article about how primary school children are going to be given lessons on managing debt from next year. Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families has disclosed details of the new programme, which starts with lessons on how to save money in a piggy bank and continues through primary school with lessons about current and savings accounts and how to budget.

At Littlesheep Learning we have several products to help teach children about money. The Magnetic Money Chart, Money Snap, Pop to the Shops and Piggy in the Middle, all help children learn to start to learn the value of coins, money 'sums' and budgeting in a fun way.

January Sale Now On!

2010-01-02T15:52:00.008Z

The January Sale is now on at Littlesheep Learning.

Save up to 30% on a range of books, games and fine motor activities.

Our favourites items are Fine Motor Fishes (reduced from £15.50 to £10.50), the Going to School book (reduced from £2.50 to £1.50) and the Timestables Lotto game (reduced from £9.99 to £8). What are your favourites?

All items subject to stock availability and the sale will end on 31st January 2010!

If there are any other Mumpreneurs / WAHMs who want me to promote your sale - please do add the details in a comment!

Writing Thank You Letters

2010-01-01T17:38:00.004Z

Hopefully everyone will have had a lovely Christmas and everyone will have received lots of presents. Now we are in the new year in many families thoughts turn to writing thank you letters. I can remember sitting as a child handwriting my missives to the friends and family who had given us presents and now it is me trying to persuade my reluctant writers to carry on the tradition.

With the advent of computers into family life it is sometimes easier to get our eldest to type his messages as until recently writing was not something that he enjoyed. Typing a letter onto a computer is less personal if it is just the name and present details that are changed and it doesn't show the child's developing handwriting (although we did leave in the creative spellings!) but it does get the job done.

Having done our letters and felt proud that they are all in envelopes ready to post I then stumbled across this link on Filth Wizardry about a website where you can generate a font of your child's handwriting. You download a printable template for your child to write each letter of the alphabet (plus the common punctuation marks), scan it in and upload the image and wait for your font which you can then use in all of your documents. As I said - we haven't tried it yet but there are some great examples on the Filth Wizardry post so you can see how it works. I think we will try this for the birthday thank you letters later in the year - so watch this space!

Barefoot Books Winter Sale

2009-12-31T09:12:00.001Z

Stocking Fillers

2009-12-04T12:09:00.000Z

Check out our Stocking Filler Guide for Gifts under £5

Happy Christmas

2009-12-03T08:15:00.000Z

Happy Christmas to all our readers

We would like to wish all our readers 10% off their Christmas shopping at Littlesheep Learning - Quote Christmas2009 at checkout (offer ends 20th December 2009)

Ethical Christmas Gifts

2009-12-02T16:14:00.003Z

As readers of our blog will know, we recently posted about Crash Bang Wallop being featured in The Green Familia Christmas Guide as a suggested stocking filler for children.

We are pleased to announce that What a Performance -was also rated on Day 28 - gifts under £20 AND Bus Stop was featured on Day 29 - gifts under £10.

So why are Orchard Toys winning recommendations in Ethical Christmas Gift Guides - they are just games right? WRONG! These educational games have ethical credentials because they are made in Britain AND they are made from durable recycled board. They are hardwearing, long lasting and most of all fun!

Check out the rest of the TGF Ethical Christmas List to get lots of Christmas gift ideas.

Put on a Panto!

2009-11-22T08:20:00.005Z

The pantomime is a great British Tradition and this Robsinson's Put On A Panto site contains a fun game that takes children through the steps of putting on their very own pantomime at home - from planning, to practising to performing.

It takes you through everything you need - first choose your favourite pantomime (Snow White, Peter Pan, Cinderella or Aladdin), then you can print the script, follow directions to make your own costumes and props, add your details to print out your poster or invitation. The site even takes you through practicing (younger children could mime along to this script rather than having to learn their lines!) with some fantastic special effect sounds.

Plus, it even features the chance to enter a competiton to win tickets to your local pantomime up to the value of £250. Oh yes, it does!! (Sorry - couldn't resist). Entering the competition is simple;

Simply take or dig out a photo of your favourite panto costume

E-mail the photo before 30th November 2009 to amodernmother (at) gmail (dot) com with PUT ON A PANTO in the subject line. The winner will be selected by a third party before 4th December 2009, and the winning entry gets tickets for 2 adults and 3 children to a 2009 local pantomime (or equivalent) worth up to £250.

Good luck (for full details see A modern mother).

If your children would rather put on a puppet show using the Cinderella script Littlesheep Learning have fairytale puppet sets including Cinderella (and lots of other ones too!).

Great Toy Guide Top 100 Toys Under £10

2009-11-19T15:42:00.007Z

We are pleased to announce that Doodlebugs has been reviewed and placed in the Great Toy Guide Top 100 Stocking Fillers in the pre-schooler (3+) category.

The article states that Doodlebugs is a great game that helps kids learn about colours, shapes and numbers.

See here for the full review.

The Orchard Toys Doodlebugs Game is simple but very exciting, game to match the same colour or quirky 'doodlebug' character cards to the last card played. Take a look and get your award winning stocking filler game today.

Top Parent Bloggers

2009-11-13T10:39:00.003Z

We are pleased to announce that our blog has jumped a massive 38 places to number 49 in this months Tots100 index - we suggest you go and take a look at all the blogs listed there are some great reads!

British Mummy Blogger Carnival

2009-11-10T11:02:00.003Z

We are very pleased that our post on Preparing for a New Baby has been added to this weeks BMB carnival - Thank you Yummy Mummy Tips. This weeks carnival has a birth / birthday / rebirth theme and there are lots of great posts there to read - so take a look.

Friendly Baby Competition

2009-11-08T17:38:00.004Z

If you sign up to receive the Friendly Baby monthly newsletter before the end of December you can win two Usborne first experience books from Littlesheep Learning.

Friendly Baby is the simple choice for cloth nappies, and natural and eco baby products.

Featured on Family Friendly Working

2009-11-06T07:26:00.004Z

I am pleased to say I have been profiled as the Mumpreneur behind Littlesheep Learning on Family Friendly Working - do go and take a look there are a lot of very inspirational Mumpreneur Profiles on there - Mums at all sorts of different stages of their business careers.

While Shepherds Watched

2009-11-05T08:26:00.000Z

'While Shepherds Watched' sell Handmade Children’s Nativity Costumes and today they opened for the 2009 Nativity Play season.

Lucy, who started the business in 2006, says "I am so pleased to be able to offer tunics made from Fairtrade Organic Cotton for the first time this year. After working closely with Bishopston Trading I now have a 'limited edition' range of Fairtrade certified cotton tunics that are just perfect for Shepherds, Joseph, Mary, Inn Keepers - just about any traditional Nativity role! I team these with appropriate head dresses and head bands, and you have distinctive, unusual and beautiful costumes for your little star. The quality of these skilfully made outfits is unrivalled, which means the costume will last and last."

'While Shepherds Watched' has always aimed to be the best place to buy affordable, great looking, handmade Nativity Costumes. Let them take one of the worries of the festive season away, and leave you free to enjoy seeing your little star shine!

Driving my Tractor

2009-11-02T22:36:00.000Z

Spooky Recipes for Halloween

2009-10-31T08:34:00.000Z

Featured in the TGF Christmas Gift Guide

2009-10-29T13:29:00.007Z

We are pleased to announce that the Orchard Toys game Crash Bang Wallop has been featured in The Green Familia Christmas Guide as a suggested stocking filler for children
Do take a look at the rest of the list too - and keep checking back for the rest of the TGF Ethical Christmas List to get lots of Christmas gift ideas.

Fine Motor Skills - Finger Rhymes

2009-10-27T10:00:00.000Z

I was reading Melitsa’s blog post about finger rhymes and it reminded me how finger rhymes and action songs can help children develop their fine motor skills. Copying finger movements will strengthen muscles, increase dexterity and help children develop control of fine motor movements.

From as young as six months babies will love action rhymes like Round and Round the Garden, Pat-a-Cake, or This Little Piggy Went to Market. These songs and rhymes are great for encouraging interaction and whilst they are starting to hear these songs and see the actions they will start to join in.

One of the easiest motor actions in songs and rhymes is clapping and one of the most popular songs is "If Youre Happy and You Know it" which also incorporates the gross motor actions of stamping feet and nodding your head. Other songs which involve clapping are Clapping song, We All Clap Hands Together and Open, Shut them. Other favourites action songs and rhyme, Insey Winsey Spider and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,

Songs that can include a multitude of actions eg Copy me are great for introducing new motor movements as the repetitive nature of the song makes it easy for children to learn and then they can use imitation skills to practice new motor skills.

Other favourite ones with small children are Two Little Dicky Birds, One Finger One Thumb, Tommy Thumb, and Two Fat Gentlemen, and as Melitsa says bigger children might like the finger play Here is the Church.

What are your favourites?

Personal Customer Service

2009-10-26T09:43:00.005Z

One of the things I like about owning a small business is that when you get a request from a customer - for example "If there is any chance of any of the order being yellow, great. It is my little boy's favourite colour! Any incentive to write is good!" as the note accompanying an order for triangular pencil grips we can usually fulfil our customers wishes.

'Suitable' home education review

2009-10-12T11:24:00.002Z

My home educating friends have alerted me to yet another review challenging their way of life and I thought it was worth writing a post about it.

The government is to commission a review into what a "suitable" and "efficient" education means for home educated children in England. Contrary to popular belief there is no legal obligation for children to attend school - but there is a responsibility of parents to provide an education that is suitable for their age and aptitude. The government has now decided in response to a report into home education, that they need a clearer definition of what is required.

I think this seems crazy - how do you prove whether something is suitable - what are the outcome measures? Is there actually any proof that HE children receive a less suitable education than those same children would have received in school and does anyone actually assess whether a child in school is actually in the most "suitable" and "efficient" school for them (rather than the one their parents have picked for their convenience) - and actually as it is the parents responsibility to provide it why do the government really care?