Starting School or Starting a School

Most school aged children will have settled back into school this month but what do you do if you can't find a school that you feel fulfils the needs of your child? Home education is one answer but it isn't for everyone, I just read this article and another option appears to be starting your own school. The article explains why and how four parents started their own schools; Lewes New School in Suffolk, The Family School at Larkhill in Clapham, Chrysalis School for Autism in Hertfordshire and Moon Hall School and Community College.
Lewes New School opened in 2000 and has sixty pupils, from ages three to 11 with fees 0f £1,750 a term. It was started by Adrienne Campbell and her friends Miranda and Stephanie, after they realised they kept moaning about their children's education. Their school has small class sizes, fosters respectful adult/child communication and involves creative and challenging learning, it does not follow the National Curriculum.

The Family School at Larkhill, Clapham, southwest London opened in September and has 12 pupils aged from ages six to eight with fees of £1,500 a term. The school was founded by Polly Griffiths, her husband Dil Green, and a group of other committed parents. Currently the Family School at Larkhall has no permanent home, but an eco-friendly building, will be ready next January. Currently teaching takes place four mornings a week, and the rest of the time parents lead activities such as gardening, cooking, dancing and days out to museums. The school took inspiration from the Human Scale Education movement that promotes small class sizes and values each child's individual talents. The families come from a variety of backgrounds, and all parents have to put in one day a week at the school, leading activities, cooking the school's organic lunches, driving or doing administrative work.

Chrysalis School for Autism, Codicote, Hertfordshire was opened in 2005 and has just three pupils, aged from four to 13. It has fees of £15,000 a term, with one-to-one teaching. Laura Dyer started the quest for a new school as she felt the LEAs special needs school did not meet the needs of her son William. Before he went to school, William had been using Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) at home, an intensive way of teaching autistic children that breaks tasks down into small stages and uses positive reinforcement to develop skills. Chrysalis aims to provide ABA teaching for other autistic children in the area.

Moon Hall School and Community College, Surrey. The school was opened in 1985 and the college in 2005. There are 100 pupils (aged 7-13) at Moon Hall School, and 88 (aged 3-13) at Moon Hall College. Fees are from £1,900 for mainstream teaching with dyslexia fees worked out on an individual basis. Berry Baker started the school as she was unhappy with the dyslexic teaching available locally for her child. With the encouragement from her friend Andrea, who also had a dyslexic son, she decided to teach the two boys herself at home whilst training in dyslexic teaching. When the school outgrewn her house, it moved into a new building in the 60-acre grounds of Belmont, a nearby prep school near Dorking. Moon Hall School's pupils have access to Belmont's games, drama and other non-academic facilities. Two years ago the charity bought a school near Reigate – Moon Hall College at Burys Court takes children from three to 13 years old, mainstream and dyslexic, with the intention of taking them up to 16 in the future.

These four stories are very inspiring - I'm sure it isn't an easy thing to do but certainly is worth considering as an option if you feel that your local schools are not meeting the needs of your children. Anyone can set up an independent school, but you are legally required to register with the Department for Children, Schools and Families (formerly the Department for Education and Skills) and undergo an Ofsted inspection to make sure the school reaches "satisfactory standards in relation to the quality of teaching, the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of its pupils, the premises and accommodation, the welfare, health and safety of pupils and the suitability of the proprietor and staff within the school". Independent schools can decide their own curriculum and ethos so do not have to follow the National Curriculum. Most independent schools are run as registered charities. More information about starting schools can be gained from Human Scale Education and The National Association for Small Schools gives advice and support to schools at risk of closure.

Puppets now available at Littlesheep Learning

I've just realised I didn't write a blog post a few weeks ago that I kept meaning to write and that was about my trip to the Autumn Fair - a massive trade fair at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham. I spent a day networking with other WAHMs (the people behind Knot Just Jigs, PinkFairyCake, Boutiquetoyou, Gifts for Little People, Little Milestones, Kiddymania - shout if I've left you out?) and the best part of the day was sourcing some new products, the first of which - some lovely puppets have now arrived and are available to buy at Littlesheep Learning.

These puppets are great for use in Story Sacks, to provide a visual reference point and to make learning fun.

People Who Help Us Teaching Mitt
A great glove pupppet for learning about occupations and the jobs people do. The puppet fits an adults hand and includes the following roles: fireman, policeman, postman, nurse and doctor.

Expressions Teaching Mitt
A fabulous glove puppet for talking about emotions; featuring happy, sad, angry, surprised and worried.

Plus Five Little Ducks, Five Little Speckled Frogs and Ten in a Bed to provide a visual aid when singing these favourite counting rhymes.

We have also added story puppets and first animal finger puppets - more about them another day!

Advertising Co-operative

A group of Work at Home Mums (WAHM) who use the WAH forums on Mumszone Parents Forum have joined forces and produced an excellent shopping directory. These brochures have now been shared out and are being added to our orders and distributed to potential customers - I received mine today and they look fabulous - plus there are some great discount codes to help people with their Christmas shopping!

Place and order with Littlesheep Learning today to get your hands on one!

The following businesses are included:

• Character Kids - Character Kids Clothing and Accessories
• Perfectly Gorgeous - Jewellery, greetings cards, keepsakes and accessories
• Ruby Iris - Jewellery, bags, soft furnishings and gifts
• Funky Dory Party Bags - A unique range of pre-filled party bags, personalised party boxes, party gifts and prizes.
• Natural Nursery - Sustainable and ethical clothing, toys, slings, breastfeeding aids and cloth nappies
• Knot Just Jigs - Traditional toys with a modern twist
• Mariah's Bath Products - Novelty soap, bath bombs, gift baskets and more
• Chiggs - The Baby Feed Wheel, Baby Medicine Wheel and Get Well Wheel
• Tuggle - Unique, Handcrafter & Innovative Gifts for the Whole Family
• Chutney Beads - Handmade jewellery with atitude
• Bunny & Blue - Fab & Funky Gift Shop
• Littlesheep Learning - The Best Teaching and Learning Resources
• Kidz Fashion Zone - Children's Clothes at very affordable prices
• PR Basics - A guide to help you promote your business
• Toy Adventure - Character toys, games and books
• Bead Merrily
• O-Kid-Oke - Quality baby and toddler clothes at fabulous prices
• Perfect Presents - Beautiful fashion jewellery for all the family
• Bay-Bee - Beautiful and unique baby and children's products
• IndetifyMe - Your first point of call for all your I.C.E (in case of emergency) identification needs
• Anara Toys - Beaustiful wooden toys, bbay gifts, dollS and craft kits for children
• Baby Jay's Fashion - For all your children's needs
• Glow Maternity and Baby - Maternity and Nursing Wear, New Baby gifts, cloth nappies and much more
• Enhance Me - Stunning custom enchanted photo portraits
• Chelltune The UK's first specialist baby signing store

'Write a Review' Competition

Win a copy of the Usborne First Experiences Book - this padded hardback book is a lovely collection of nine titles from Usborne's First Experiences series.

To enter all you need to do is to write a review of one of the products sold here at Littlesheep Learning. You will get one entry for the draw for each review that is accepted and the winner will be chosen at random on 31st October 2007.

To write a review of a product, log in (you may need to create an account if you don't already have one), choose the product to review, click on 'Reviews' and then on 'Write Review' and add your review!

Please note: We will accept reviews of products we stock even if you haven't bought them from Littlesheep Learning

Who Does What? Article Added!

Once you have had a child diagnosed with special needs you may find that you are inundated with many different professionals with long and complicated titles and a variety of roles. So who does what? I've an article to the Resources pages at Littlesheep Learning: 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 it useful.

Competition Winner

We are pleased to announce the answer to the competition question:

How many dressing skills are in the Fabric Skills Book? is 7

And the winner of the Dotty Dinosaurs game is Samantha from Leeds.

Look out for new competitions coming soon on our Competition page.

IEP's the Dr Seuss way!

I was just sorting out some old files and I came across a pile of old Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for children I have worked with and amongst them was Dr Suess's thoughts on the matter! I'll write a more serious post about good IEP / target setting another day!

IEPs by Dr. Seuss
Do you like these IEPs?
I do not like these IEPs
I do not like them, Jeeze Louise

We test, we check
We plan, we meet
But nothing ever seems complete.

Would you, could you
Like the form?
I do not like the form I see
Not page 1, not 2, or 3

Another change
A brand new box
I think we all
Have lost our rocks.

Could you all meet here or there?
We could not all meet here or there.
We cannot all fit anywhere.
Not in a room
Not in the hall
There seems to be no space at all.

Would you, could you meet again?
I cannot meet again next week
No lunch, no prep
Please hear me speak.
No, not at dusk.
No, not at dawn
At 5 pm I should be gone.

Could you hear while all speak out?
Would you write the words they spout?
I could not hear, I would not write
This does not need to be a fight.

Sign here, date there,
Mark this, check that
Beware the students ad-vo-cat(e).

You do not like them
So you say
Try again! Try again!
And you may.

If you will let me be,
I will try again
You will see.

Say! I almost like these IEPs
I think I'll write 6003.
And I will practice day and night
Until they say
"You've got it right!"

Author Unknown

Super Maths for the Supermarket

As I was shopping in the supermarket with my children I realised that there are a whole host of learning opportunities that it offers. This post will focus on numeracy (maths) skills - maybe after next weeks trip I'll look at literacy or another development area!

So here are some of our teaching and learning experiences:

• Counting; ask your child to get a certain number of an item e.g. get me four carrots or count how many are in the packet e.g. counting the three peppers in the sealed bag
• Number recognition; what numbers can they spot - the aisles are numbered as are the tills (checkouts), look for the numbers on packaging e.g. the number of eggs in the box or the number of pints in the bottles of milk;
• Size comparisons; which is biggest / smallest, longest / shortest
• Weight; which is heaviest / lightest, how much does it weigh? (in stores that allow you to weigh your produce)
• Simple story sums; we've got three potatoes and one more makes? if there are four of us for dinner and we are going to two sausages for dinner how many do we need altogether?
• Identifying 3D shapes; for example, tins are cylinders, cereal boxes are cuboids and oranges are spheres

And for older children you can introduce money questions and budgeting questions

• which one costs more / less?
• how much for two?
• how much change do you get?
• price comparisons - if six yoghurts cost £3 and four cost £2.20 which yoghurts are cheapest?

Starting School Offer

As children everywhere are starting school, Littlesheep Learning are giving away a FREE copy of the First Experiences: Going to School book with every order over £10* placed before 10th September.

* after any discounts and not including P&P

September's Monthly Special Offer

This months special offer at Littlesheep Learning is 25% off the Insey Wincey Spider game. This is a best selling game based on the popular nursery rhyme and teaches both counting and shapes. Be the first to move your spider up the drainpipe before it starts to rains and it gets washed out.

We also still have a few Crash, Bang, Wallop! and Cock-a-Doodle Moo! games (tape versions) left to clear.

Blog Sitting

What do you do when you have a blog and are going to be without an internet access? Well here is the answer - you find a 'blog sitter'.

For the next few weeks I'm 'blog sitting' for Melitsa at Play Activites whilst she moves house.

Play-activities is a free and fun educational site which provides a daily or weekly e-mail for parents of children under 5 and a blog full of ideas. Sign up and gain access to a wide range of activities to help your child develop a balanced play life, have fun, and enjoy a good mix of the early childhood skills identified by child health professionals.

Take a look!

Eight Random Things about Littlesheep Learning

I've never been 'tagged' on my blog before but Melitsa tagged me today to share 8 random things about myself / Littlesheep Learning. I've been meaning to mention Melitsa's site Play Activities and blog for a while - both are packed full of FREE activity ideas for you to play with your children.

Anyway eight random things...

1. I like numbers / cool dates so Littlesheep Learning was launched on 05.05.05, the revamp was planned for 07.07.07 and launched on 09.08.07!
2. Littlesheep is one word - and it really annoys me when people (mainly suppliers) correct it for me - the alliteration doesn't work otherwise.
3. I'm a planner so it takes me ages to make a decision / get anything done.
4. I like bright RAINBOW colours.
5. I never thought that I would be running my own business - Littlesheep Learning is definitely mine though!
6. I studied Occupational Therapy but should done teacher training as I've spent more time teaching!
7. I have some great (and inspirational work at home mum (WAHM) friends running a huge range of different businesses.
8. My favourite products are the colour and shape bean bags

Now I just need to find some people to tag...

• Sally at TreeHugger Mums
• Chell at Chelltune
• Jane from PinkFairyCake
• Sue from Picture Dreams

Anyone else reading this who blogs feel free to be tagged too!

Media Coverage

I've been busy submitting press releases about the launch of Littlesheep Learning's new site and I'm pleased to announce that it has been published at TreeHugger Mums, see here to have a read.

Back to School

I know that the weather this summer has been less than ideal holidaying weather but like it or not the school holidays are drawing to a close.

So Littlesheep Learning has a fantastic way of helping you get ready for school...
Spend over £15* before 1st September and get a FREE Back to School Pack containing a Handhugger Pencil, Handhugger Pen and a pair of scissors**.

* after any discounts and not including P&P
** please specify if you would prefer a pair of left handed scissors

Fantastic Down Syndrome Advert

A friend just sent me a link to a really positive advert for the Down's Syndrome Association. Take a look!

It reminds me that children are generally very accepting of children with differences. To them it often doesn't matter what their friend 'can't' do they always find something that they can.

Competition

I'm pleased to announce a new competition at Littlesheep Learning. One lucky prize winner will receive a copy of Dotty Dinosaurs.

To enter please answer the following question:
How many dressing skills are in the Fabric Skills Book?

Send your answers by email including your name and address.

Competition Closes at Midnight on Friday 14th September 2007.

Full terms and conditions can be found here.

Walking to School

I saw a report published today by the Institute of European Environmental Policy which blames over-use of cars for fuelling the "twin crises" of global warming and the obesity epidemic. It suggests that banning cars around schools would instil good habits early on and call for "concerted action". In addition to the exclusion zones for schools, the report also called for the government to invest heavily in making Britain's streets more attractive to walk in.

We walk quite a bit and our three year old who was evicted from the pushchair by his baby brother a year ago!) can currently walk for about half an hour whereas others we know would still need a pushchair / buggyboard. Walking in our city isn't particularly pleasant or child friendly though as we have to walk along narrow pavements trying avoid parked cars, broken glass and dog poo - so anything to improve the attractiveness of the streets would be great.

I also found it interesting to read this report as we are currently looking for a new house and the ability to walk to school is high on our agenda. Having worked in schools I've seen the nightmare of congestion at dropping off and picking up times and I don't want to be part of that!

I wonder whether other parents feel the same? Do you walk to school? Do you think that walking to school affects child obesity?

Our New Site is Live

We have been working very hard with Alison at Daffodil Design and are pleased to announce that our NEW site is now live.

Take a look at Littlesheep Learning and let us know what you think!

Don't forget our special offers:

Monthly Special
Telling the Time

Sale Items
Crash, Bang, Wallop and Cock-a-doodle Moo (tape versions)

Plus
Anyone ordering before 15th August gets a FREE Handhugger pencil Handhugger Pencil

AND
For this weekend only to celebrate our relaunch quote specialday at the checkout to save 5%

Customer Feedback

It's always nice to receive feedback from satisfied customers, here is an email I received this morning:

"Just a quick note to say how impressed I am with your service. I ordered the Roll n' Write Letters on a Friday afternoon, via the internet, and they turned up Monday morning, via Parcelforce.I have used the product at a previous school, and was so impressed, I have ordered these from my own pocket for my class. It was lovely to also receive a free little book within the package.Thank you again for your superb service."

Test Results

It's that time of year again when the exam and test results are published and there is the argument about whether standards are improving or failing.

The primary school national test results in England have shown a slight improvement in English, maths and science. Overall in this years 'SATS' taken by 11 year olds, there was a rise of one percentage point.

80% of pupils who reached the expected standard in English; 77% in maths and 88% in science. Again girls have achieved much better results than boys in English - with four in 10 boys still failing to meet the expected level for writing.

The results, based on tests taken by 600,000 pupils, continue the picture of gradual improvement - with little change in the past three years and the targets set for 2006 for English and maths, have still not been reached.

Schools Minister Andrew Adonis welcomed the "best set of Key Stage 2 results we have ever seen", but added "We won't be satisfied until we get all children up to the expected level in literacy and numeracy." With the 85% target missed for two years in a row, he said discussions were on-going about where the government "went next with targets". From September, there will be a renewed emphasis on using phonics to teach reading and more mental arithmetic "to accelerate the pace of learning".

Harry Potter Magical Activities

With the release of both the Harry Potter book and film in the last few weeks children everywhere have gone Harry Potter crazy. As it’s the school holidays, children may be reluctant to practice ‘school’ skills so here are some magical activity ideas that help your children practice the important skills of writing, spelling, and reading without realising it.

Write out your Potions Spells
Have you been paying attention in potions - does making up fancy potions appeal to you? Roll paper into scrolls and write out spells using ink pens, some children may like use quills / fountain pens to practice calligraphy, for others just starting to write use a beginners ink pen.

Mix up Potions
Make your very own potion cocktails by mixing up your favourite fruit juices - our favourite is orange and pineapple. You can use measuring cups to practice measuring and counting skills.

Or practice colour mixing by making potions using water coloured with food colourings.

Magical Secret Writing
Put some lemon juice into a cup and write a secret message by painting with the juice onto paper. When the writing is dry it will vanish until it is gently warmed over a radiator, by a lamp or with a hair drier.

Or write your secret message with a white wax crayon / candle. To discover the message paint over with water based ink and the message will appear.

Secret Codes
You don't need to study ancient runes like Hermione to be able to write in codes, make up your own secret codes.

The easiest secret codes are replacing letters with numbers so a=1, b=2, c=3 etc or moving the whole alphabet on a letter so that a=b, b=c, c=d etc or you could reverse the alphabet so a=z, b=y, c=x etc.

Or you could make up your own 'rune' symbols for each letter.

Magical Creatures
Invent your own magical creatures; take a strip of paper and fold it into three segments. Draw a head on the first segment and fold it over so that it is hidden, swap it with a friend and then draw a body, swap again and add legs. Can you think of some names for your new creatures.

Magical Model Making
Use old cardboard boxes to make a model of Hogwarts Castle or the Hogwarts Express.

Being a Hogwart's Student
Lastly, don't forget to dress up as a witch or wizard.

Go for a walk and find a wand that 'chooses' you, will you find a stick from an oak tree, a willow tree or something else. Have fun identifying the trees on your walk. Practice your 'swish and flick' techniques for good gross motor movement.

Things to do on a Sunny Day

In order to balance the rainy day post from the other day I thought I'd post some of our favourite sunny day activities as we've now had some nice sunny days.

1. Water painting - fill a bucket with water, provide your children with large paint brushes and get them to paint the outside of the house / the garden wall or fence.
2. Make ice lollies - put some fruit juice into lolly molds and freeze - make rainbow lollies by using different colour juices (for example cranberry and orange) pouring in a small amount and freezing before topping up with the next colour or pop some fruit pieces in with your juice to make a 'spotty' lolly.
3. Play with shadows - what shapes can your hands make? can you run away from your shadow? or even make your shadow hide in other shadows?
4. Go for a nature walk - what can you spot? Can you find dandelions, daisies, butterflies or ladybirds?
5. Have a picnic - you don't have to go far, a nearby park or even the garden is just as exciting for children.
6. Go to the park - children love climbing, sliding and swinging, ask around to find out the best ones. In the past we've had fun at Diana Princess of Wales' Memorial Playground and more recently we spent a fantastic day at Bewilderwood - Please let us know of your favourite play areas.
7. Do some 'gardening' - dig for worms, make mud pies or even plant some seeds!
8. Spend time doing inside activities but outside! Share a book or a jigsaw under the shade of a tree for some quiet time.
9. Painting - put big sheets of paper on the ground outside and have lots of fun - it doesn't matter how much mess is made as you can always wash your children off outside!
10. Splash around in a paddling pool

Don't forget when spending time outside - to keep covered up, use suncream, wear sunhats and sunglasses, take care in or near water and make sure you have plenty to drink.

August's Monthly Special

This month's special offer is Telling the Time - reduced to £3.34 (a saving of 33%). Hurry and get your copy now as the offer is only available whilst stocks last.

Customers who have reviewed this book have given it the maximum of 5 stars and left these comments:

"Lovely and visual book for teaching the time. This book is good as the clock is interactive allowing the child to turn the clock to the time stated in the story. The story is lovely about a life on a farm - bliss!"

"Great book for starting to learn to tell the time and to see the different times things happen during the day. Especially that bedtime is at 7pm even if it is still light outside!"

Creative Cards

We've had a few birthdays amongst our family, being known for 'doing stuff' with the children it's come to be expected that I'll (sorry our children will) produce a handmade card. I've learnt from experience that simple is generally the most effective as Mr I Can Do It (aged 3) wants to do it himself and has the concentration of a typical three year old and Mr I Want To Do It Too (aged 1) thinks he can join in.

These two cards have been made using a similar theme.

A piece of white A4 card folded in half and 'coloured' with a base colour by Mr 'I Can Do It' with a few doodles from Mr 'I Want to Do It Too'. We discussed the colour needed and sorted the crayons so only the correct colour ones were on the table (incidental learning of colours / matching and sorting!).

For the windsurfing card we did a google image search for sailing but then Mr 'I Can Do It' explained he wanted "a boat the man falls off" so we found a windsurfing picture and printed it off, cut it out and glued it on. I did the cutting but if you are card making with an older child / or have a simpler shape picture they could cut it out themself.

For the flower card, I cut out six 'flower' shapes and we cut out the three contrasting circles together. We assembled two flower shapes and topped off the flowers with the circle inners. The bumble bee was coloured and striped by Mr 'I Can Do It' and he stuck on the star glitter.

There are some more easy card making ideas in my article Father's Day Cards at Treehugger Mums. Have a go and create some home made treasurers for your friends and family whilst practicing the important fine motor skills of writing and drawing and cutting.

Things to do on a Rainy Day

The school summer holidays are here but the weather is being far from summery, here are our top 10 things to do on a not so sunny summers day.

1. Build a den – use dining chairs / clothes airer and blankets to make a cosy tent, add cushions or duvet to snuggle inside.
2. Play with playdoh – roll it, squash it, cut it, shape it; you are only limited by your imagination!
3. Have a treasure hunt – hide some treasure and make up some clues to it’s location; younger children can follow picture clues (either of the location or something you find there) and older children can have fun guessing the answer to cryptic clues, questions or solving anagrams.
4. Turn your living room into a cinema – make some popcorn, pull the curtains and put on a favourite video or DVD; if you want to really get into the role play make yourselves some tickets too!
5. Do some cooking – check out Pinkfairycake’s blog for information about cooking with children.
6. Go on a puddle jumping walk – make the most of the rain! Dress up in waterproofs and wellies, take your umbrella and have a splashy walk; who can find the biggest puddle?
7. Play turn taking games – our favourites are Shopping List and Cock-a-doodle Moo.
8. Get out the craft box – cutting, sticking, drawing and colouring are great for developing fine motor skills.
9. Have a disco - put on your favourite music and dance!
10. Share a book - we like spotting things in our copy of Everyday Words.

Let us know what you are up to, so we can all fill these wet days.

Summer Holidays - Free gift with every order!

To celebrate the start of the school holidays we are offering a copy of the Usborne First Experiences Going on a Plane book with every order until 1st August.

Plus we still have some great bargains so hurry and take a look.

Our new look website will be coming soon so don't forget to keep checking back!

Story Sacks

Yesterday I had an email from Michelle who owns Chelltune asking if I had any articles / experience about story sacks, I believe she is looking at them from a visual learning point of view with her signing books and finger puppets. I've seen them used in classroom situations when working with children with autism and then used the resources from the sacks in small groups / individual work to help the children understand the book and the surrounding topics and vocabulary. Many of the resources that we sell at Littlesheep Learning could be incorporated into story sacks and we are currently researching some new products and eventually hope to have some of our very own style of sack - "Story Sack Topic Packs" including some of our favourite resources.

Here is some information about Story Sacks, their use and their assembly to get you started!

What is a Story Sack?
A story sack is a teaching and learning resource. Typically it is a large cloth bag containing a children’s book along with supporting materials to help make sharing the book more interesting and engaging.

Why make Story Sacks?
Story sacks are a fun way for carers and children to share stories together. They were developed by Neil Griffiths as a popular, non-threatening way of encouraging carers to start to share stories with their children in a way that is positive, theatrical, special, interactive and fun.

Who Uses Story Sacks?
Originally it was mainly schools and nurseries that used story sacks, however, they are now increasing used by other groups such as childminders, libraries, health visitors, speech therapists, social workers, children’s hospitals, prisons, family centres and adult learners.

How do you make a Story Sack?
Start with a bag – it doesn’t have to be a fancy one, infact you can make a story box or basket if that is more convenient. It’s just something to contain all the resources in one place.

Next you need to choose your story. The story you pick will depend on the child or children you are making the sack for and any learning objectives you want them to gain from the sack. When making your first story sack choose a favourite story – it will make it easier to think of things to add to the sack!

Then you need to fill the sack! With some stories the possibilities for items will seem endless and with others you will need to be more creative. Here are some of the things that are often included:

• soft toys / puppets of the main characters
• costumes / props / scenery / photos to support the story
• an audio tape / CD of the story
• a video of the story or related material
• a language based game
• a related non-fiction book
• craft and activity ideas / colouring pages

When choosing items for your story sack, read and re-read your story, what are the themes, who are the main characters / where is it set / does it use colours / counting / letter sounds / listening skills. How could you use it as the basis of non-fiction work; can you incorporate first experiences, new vocabulary and other topic based activities. What art and craft ideas can you think of that link in with the book you have chosen - if you search for the title of the book you want to base your sack around you can often find example activities and colouring pages!

Here are some quick ideas I've had for some contents for story sacks based around popular books to get you started:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle (Puffin Books)

• Soft toy caterpillar / butterfly
• Lifecycle of a butterfly sequencing cards
• Days of the week / number sequencing cards
• Play food props
• Non-fiction book about caterpillars and butterflies
• Activity ideas / colouring sheets including suggestions for fruit printing and painting butterfly pictures
  

Peace at Last, Jill Murphy (Walker Books)

• Three bears
• Puppets for the other animals in the story, e.g owl / cat
• Environmental sounds listening game; for example Orchard Toys Crash, Bang Wallop! or Cock-a-doodle-moo! or the listening lotto game Soundtracks
• Activity ideas / colouring sheets including making paper aeroplanes / clock faces

Little Red Riding Hood, Heather Amery (Usborne Books)

• A doll dressed as Little Red Riding Hood
• Puppets for the Wolf / Grandma / Woodcutter
• A basket with pretend cakes / flowers
• Wolf mask / Red Riding Hood’s red cloak / Granny's glasses / shawl for dressing up as the characters
• Pictures of forest / grandma’s house
• Non fiction books about wolves / forest wildlife
• Activity ideas / Colouring sheets including making cakes for Grandma!

Incey Wincey Spider, Annie Kubler (Child’s Play)

• Spider finger puppet
• Length of drain pipe
• Weather pictures / symbols
• Non-fiction books about weather / spiders
• Orchard Toys Insey Winsey Spider game

If you are making your story sacks to lend to children to take out of the setting also include some learning targets, a short guide to questions to ask / discussion points to consider and other ideas to extend the activity. Finally it is worth laminating the activity idea cards to protect them and including a list of what is in the bag so that nothing gets lost!

Story sacks are also ideal for sharing popular dual language books in areas where people speak English as an additional language.

If you are still stuck for ideas feel free to ask! I'd also love to hear about your favourite story sacks and resources and how you've used them so please add your comments below!

Campaigning for Better Education

I just received an email from my husband and someone he works with has found the petitions on the Number 10 website and searched for the education ones – here’s an edited list of the ones I thought might interest you! I'm sure I've missed some - if I've missed your favourite please let me know!

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Autismtraining/ petition to Make Autism training COMPULSARY for all teachers.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/aspergersupport/ petition to increase support services in the UK for people with Asperger’s Syndrome and other Autistic Spectrum Conditions, their families, schools and employers.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/HomeSchool/ petition the to Keep Home Schooling Legal.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Steiner-Waldorf/ petition to Create more state funded Steiner Waldorf Schools in the UK.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/NEG-funding/ petition to Increase the Nursery Education Grant for children in Early Years Education.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/SpecialEducation/ petition to Review the special needs provision across the country and provide clear rules and targets local education authorities must comply with in order to remove the local authority lottery of special education provision across the country.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/aspergers/ petition to Abolish the concept of Inclusive Education.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/FitForPurposeSEN/ petition to Undertake a major review of the Special Educational Needs policy as recommended by the House of Commons Education and Skills Committee and make provision for a system of special educational needs that is fit for purpose.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Education3-6/ petition to Implement successful European models of the teaching of pupils aged 3-6 years into mainstream nursery, pre-school, and early years education.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/langedu/ petition to Teach languages in schools from the age of 5.

Although my personal favourite is…

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Cbeebies/ petition to put forward Cbeebies Presenter Justin Fletcher for a OBE.

The petition's organisers say

"Apart from Derek Griffiths in the 70s, i cant think of another children presenter since who has brought Sign Language / Makaton to mainstream childrens televison. Justin Fletcher is a communication genius!! Justin both entertains and educates our children and does this with just intelligence and panache without patronising. My 3 year old daughter has no learning / hearing. disabiliies to speak of, yet she signs words she has learnt, to me sometimes, and she is so proud of herself for doing it. Although at my daughters age now she is not yet aware of people with disability and special needs, i cant help thinking that programmes like 'Something Special' can only help bridge the gap that sometimes sadly appears between able and not so able bodied people in our society and help banish the unkindness that disabled people sometimes face due to ignorance. I have a feeling our children may be the generation to banish this ignorance, and this is helped by such positive role models as Justin, helping us show our children the way. I think it would be fitting to recognise Justin Fletcher in this way and be honoured for his services to childrens broadcasting and communication in general."

Get signing these petitions and make a difference to the education of children in our country!

Travelling with Children

Sorry for disappearing for a while - we've just been on our holidays. With the imminent start of the school holidays a post on travelling seemed about right!

Long car journeys, waits at airports, flights, ferry trips and train rides are not the easiest parts of a holiday with excited children who just want to be there and doing. This article gives some of our top tips for the journeys and some activities to keep them entertained on the way.

Firstly, try and plan your journey time around your childs routine, so either leave at bedtime and travel with them asleep or travel during the day so that you travel for a bit, stop and have lunch, then have a bit of awake time in the car, nap time and then another awake bit of journeying before a dinner stop / arrival. Try and find places to stop where the children can run around and get some fresh air.

Whilst travelling there are plenty of games and activities that can keep your children amused.

A top tip is to make sure you are prepared for the journey. Take lots of small toys / books and snacks so that during awake periods your child has new items to look at to relieve boredom. You could wrap small items for a ‘lucky dip’ to increase interest (and the length of time spent on each thing!). Older children who can tell the time could have a series of ‘packages’ to open at designated times, or points on the trip.

The classic car games are guessing games – the most common of which is ‘I spy’! This can be adapted for younger children by spying objects that are a certain colour. Another one is the more abstract ‘Guess?’ where someone thinks of something and everyone else asks yes / no questions until someone can guess what it is.

Popular word games include word association, alphabet games and variations of ‘I went to market and bought…’. To play word association – start with a word e.g. holiday, the next person could say aeroplane (you travel by plane), the next fire-engine (both vehicles) and the next red (as fire-engines are red) and so on – how long can you go on without repitition? To play an Alphabet games pick a theme and see if you can find something for every letter of the alphabet – for example – vehicles; aeroplane, bike, car, dustbin lorry, etc. Variations of ‘I went to market…’ are good for memory skills – try ‘I went on holiday and packed…’ each person has to recite the previous items and add theirs on the end.

Observation games are also good for keeping children enthusastic at looking out of car windows. Play ‘Spot’ where everyone has to see if they can find things on a list during the journey, for example a Royal Mail lorry, a sheep, a police car. This can be adapted for younger children by making them picture pages. Either give each item to be found a score and then total up who’s seen what to find a winner or make lists in different orders and you can’t move onto the next item until you’ve spotted the first one, the winner being the person to finish their list first.

Don't forget if you are travelling by plane the Usborne First Experiences: Going on a Plane book is a handy little story outlining what will happen!

Overall, enjoy your holiday, and have a safe and relaxing journey. Happy Holidays!

Summer Madness!

I've just added a new discount code at Littlesheep Learning - when entering SummerMadness07 at checkout you will save 10% (and yes that's on top of the sale prices!)

Take a look and get yourself a bargain - hurry though as the code expires on 30th June 2007

Planning for Starting School / Class Transitions

I had an email from a friend who has a child with ASD about how to prepare him for the changes in work from play based learning in Reception to the more formal learning in Year 1. Replying to her email reminded me of some of the transition support work I have done in preparing children for school / new classes and I thought I would share some ideas to help ensure that the move anxiety free.

Firstly, preparation is the key to smooth transitions. Some children will need more preparation than others so work out your own plan in conjunction with your school and other professionals working with your child (as appropriate).

One of the best ways to prepare a child for the new term is to visit the school and meet the teacher and other children, this is usually organised by the school at the end of the summer term or first thing in September as part of a gradual transition to full time schooling. If formal visits are not possible, taking the child to see the school (even just to drive past it!) will help make it a ‘real’ place.

If possible take photos the building, the classroom, the toilets, the library, the dining hall, the teachers / teaching assistants and anything else of interest. These can be made into a personalised 'starting school' / 'moving to year 1 (etc)' book. This personalised book can also include 'rules' as appropriate, for example, we have to be quiet in the library, we hang our coats on our peg, class x can play on the climbing frame on Wednesdays and we take turns on the computer.

It is important that the adults (teachers, parents, carers and other family members) connected to the child starting school are positive about the prospects of the experience, however it is also important to allow the child to express their fears and concerns. Books, for example, the Usborne First Experiences: Starting School or role playing school with favourite toys / puppets may help a child understand the process.

Another task that might help your child prepare for school is taking them ‘school shopping’, being taken to get their new school clothes, shoes and bags it can help build excitement about the experience and being able to chose items will add empowerment.

In the period before starting school, other skills that might be worth practicing include self-help skills - dressing, toileting and feeding, following routines and playing with similar toys to those used in school.

To prepare children who are already have specialist support in school, find out whether their support workers will be staying the same or changing next term. Evaluate the strategies used this year and look at how they can be implemented in the new classroom setting, for example, if the child was allowed to have quiet time out in a side room is there the space for this to occur in the new room? If the child sat for carpet time on a specific cushion / space - can this be transferred to the new class? Don't forget to ensure that angled writing boards and other specialist equipment is moved into the new class before the start of term.

Scope Communication Aids Survey

I've just received an email about the Scope Communication Aids Survey which is available here.

Scope believes that everyone should have the right to communicate. Lots of people with communication impairments have told them that they find it difficult to get the right equipment and support to speak for themselves. So they are conducting some research into the issues. The survey is for people with a communication impairment, who use, or would like to use, a communication aid. They would also like to hear from parents and family members or people that work with people with communication impairments. The survey ends on 1st July 2007.

Chelltune

Here is my second featured 'WAHM'

We went to Twycross Zoo yesterday and whilst following the sign language trail I remembered Michelle's site! Michelle holds a level three qualification in British Sign Language (BSL) and is a communicator for Deaf people and enjoyed signing with her own (hearing) children but struggled to find the resources to help teach them. Chelltune is the UK's first specialist signing store containing all the materials you need to get you babies and children signing. The shop contains items from the BSL - Let's Sign and WOW! ranges, products to support baby signing classes (including Tinytalk, Sing & Sign and Sign with your Baby), Makaton compatible resources as well as fun signing puppets. As well as the shop there is also a forum to discuss signing and ask any questions - it's well worth a look!

Birthdays

We are celebrating a birthday in our house today and it made me think about how children learn about birthdays and how we can help children with special needs experience the excitement / prepare them for their big day.

Some ideas:

• share books about birthdays / parties (including the Usborne First Experiences: Going to a Party)
• use a calendar to count down the days until the birthday / party
• practice unwrapping presents to teach both the anticipation of 'what is in the present' and the skills needed to tear the paper
• practice blowing out candles and singing happy birthday
• think about your child's needs and difficulties when planning a birthday treat, you want them to enjoy it!
• let your child 'help' with the preparations

Learning Number Names

I was talking to my eldest son yesterday and he pointed out a number 9 - I had no idea he knew the number names (we haven't sat down with the flashcards although he does have a set to play with!). I realised he must have learn them from all the incidental talking about numbers that we do so I thought I'd share some ideas with you - feel free to use the comments function to add yours too.

1. Look for house numbers
2. Complete number jigsaws
3. Play with number bean bags
4. Play number matching games like number lotto
5. Identify numbers on car number plates
6. Ask what number the hands on a clock are pointing to
7. Look at books with numbers in the story
8. Colour or decorate number outlines (see our resources page for FREE number colouring books)
9. Get your child to press the buttons for you in the lift
10. Identify the numbers on the scales when cooking

Littlesheep Learning has a full range of products to help your children learn numbers, including Rol 'n' Write Numbers, Tactile Sandpaper Numbers, Number Bean Bags and Number Fans

Autism Forum

As you may or may not know Littlesheep Learning came about as a result of our work with children with autism and that supporting parents of children with special needs is an area of importance to us. Whilst networking on MySpace we came across this new autism forum which will be well worth a visit if you are the parent or carer of someone with autism - take a look!

Down's Syndrome Awareness Week

This week (4th-10th June) is Down's Syndrome Awareness Week. A campaign week that aims to raise awareness of the condition, dispel myths and allay the fears surrounding Down Syndrome. It is a national initiative organised by the Down's Syndrome Association. This year the main focus of the week this year will be improving employment prospects for adults with Down’s syndrome.

So bearing in mind it's Down Syndrome Awareness Week I thought I'd help raise awareness of Down Syndrome by a post about it!

Down syndrome is a genetic condition which is caused by the presence of an extra chromosome. The name ‘Down’ comes from the English doctor, John Langdon Down, who first described the syndrome in 1866 and ‘syndrome’ comes from the description of a collection of signs or characteristics.

Everyday in the UK, an average of one or two babies are born with Down syndrome, which means that one baby in 1000 has the condition. People with Down syndrome have a certain degree of learning disability however the degree of disability varies from person to person and it is impossible to tell at birth what that degree will be, most children with Down syndrome do learn to walk, talk, read and write just that their development is usually delayed.

There are certain physical characteristics that are shared by people with Down syndrome though not every child with the condition has every characteristic. Common characteristics are:

• Low muscle tone (although this improves with age)
• Lower than average birth weight and a slower pace of weight gain
• Eyes that slant upward and outward, the eyelids often have an extra fold of skin (epicanthic fold) which appears to exaggerate the slant
• A flatter than average back of the head
• A single crease which runs right across the palm of the hand

About forty per cent of children with Down syndrome have an associated heart defect. These heart conditions vary from small holes in the heart to more complex problems which may require major open heart surgery. The majority of these defects can be corrected and the prognosis is very good.

All babies are different from each other and the same is true of babies with Down syndrome, this means that in some babies the characteristic signs of Down syndrome are fairly easy to recognise soon after birth, however others need a blood test to check the chromosomes.

Lastly, I'd like to add a little picture of the daughter of a friend of mine, I'm sure you'll agree that she is gorgeous! Her mummy is a great advocate for Down Syndrome and wants the world know that having a baby with Down Syndrome is NOT the end of the world.

Please feel free to add your comments about your experiences of children with Down Syndrome (and send me any photos you want me to add).

For more information:

Competition Winner

Congratulations to Karen from Worthing, who is the lucky person who found the birthday cake and won a copy of The Usborne Book of Playtime Activities.

We hope you enjoy your book. Look out for more competitions coming soon.