Back to School

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!

British Mummy Bloggers Carnival

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

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.

August Business Mums Blog Carnival

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)

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

Marble Memories / Fine Motor Flicks

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...

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

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.

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

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!

1. When I started Littlesheep Learning I had one child - and now I have three!
2. I have a to do list six miles long (but show me a parent who doesn't!)
3. I am a regional volunteer for the NCT
4. I am gluten and dairy intolerant
5. I am planning a revamp of Littlesheep Learning (it is five this year)
6. I do lots of walking
7. 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)

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

So tagging...

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

Setting Targets

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?

Ethical Christmas Gifts

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.

Great Toy Guide Top 100 Toys Under £10

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

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

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.

Featured on Family Friendly Working

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.

Featured in the TGF Christmas Gift Guide

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.

TOTS100

We are very pleased to see that in the latest TOTS100 index we have gone UP twelve places to number 75. Do take a look at the list there are some fab blogs on there and do keep reading and commenting on here!

Thinking Thursday - Emergent Literacy

I've been following a lot of new blogs recently and I thought I'd share some posts that I've enjoyed and think that others might find useful.

This post is about a selection of posts at Because Babies Grow Up on Emergent Literacy. These posts give lots of information and ideas about how to encourage and motivate little ones in their literacy development.

Emergent Literacy #1: Print Motivation
Emergent Literacy #2: Print Awareness
Emergent Literacy #3: Letter Knowledge
Emergent Literacy #4: Vocabulary
Emergent Literacy #5: Phonological Awareness
Emergent Literacy #6: Narrative Skills

Do take a look, let us know what you think and don't forget that you can find more literacy activity ideas on this blog get lots of resources to support literacy development are available at Littlesheep Learning.

Blog Roll - Experimental Mum

Experimental Mum is a new blog from the person behind Sizzling Science and it is going to feature the home science experiments she carries out with her family. Check it out and get your children having fun experimenting with science.

Special Educational Needs Podcast

I've just come across this podcast from Contact a Family (CaF) about the meaning of Special Educational Needs (SEN) and other related terms like SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator). It explains what to do if you are concerned that your child has SEN and what schools and the local authority can do to help and also has more information about how to request a ‘statutory assessment’ and the ‘statementing’ process, what this means, how to make sure any provision best meets your child’s needs, and what to do if you are unhappy or want to appeal against a decision.

At Littlesheep Learning we have an article on our Resources pages People You May Meet - Professionals Involved which tries to identify some of the most common professionals involved with children with special needs and their roles.

I hope you find these resources useful.