Reflections and Predictions

With Christmas and the New Year quickly approaching, I'm getting excited about what 2013 will bring for Blossom.

The eBook, Learning that's Fun, is in it's final stages of a second version with new chapeters, more ideas and tips to make learning an exciting part of everyday, pictures and more stories.

Not only that, but it will be available in hard copy! Watch the site in the early months of 2013 for the big announcement!

In the meantime, check out the first version eBook.

We will also be releasing our very first products for sale. I can't tell you what they are just yet (they are still in production), but they will be cute, fun, environmentally considerate and help with everyday learning.

Maybe this next couple of week's is an opportune time for you and your family to sit down and reflect on the year's achievements and talk about some things you would all love to achieve next year. You could use the time to have a clean out and a garage sale to save some extra $ for Christmas spending with the kids or donate to the local charities who will be so appreciative of your generosity at this time of year.

Whatever you do over the next few weeks, remember through all the stress, the rush, the pressure and panic, that it's just another day of the year, just like all the others before it. BUT, it's a great opportunity to be close to your family and spend time just "being together" and appreciating eachother for the wonderful people you all are. And don't forget to look for the little moments when you can make learning a fun part of whatever it is you are doing, baking a cake, purchasing a gift, writing a greeting card or wrapping a present under the tree.

For more ideas like this and more visit our Pinterest boards or like us on Facebook.

Learning that's Fun at Christmas

On our Pinterest page we have been collecting loads of learning activities for Christmas time, so we thought we would share some of them with you. There is so much fun to be had, but we often get caught up in the end of the school year, the food, the parties and the gifts, and overlook the things we can learn during the holiday period.

It doesn't have to be boring, it doesn't have to be like a classroom, it doesn't even have to called educational...if you are all having fun they won't even know that they are learning!

• Christmas Cards - get crafty and make your own cards, practice their neatest hand writing on the cover and then write personal messages to friends and family.
• Christmas Books - spend time together reading Christmas stories, they are fun and relevant and great for filling in waiting time until Santa comes.
• Christmas Carols - grab a carol book with the words and music and practice playing the songs on the keyboard and singing the proper words. You'll be surprised how kids make up the funniest things in their mind when they don't quite know the words. (Little Old Jesus? don't you mean Little Lord Jesus?)
• Merry Christmas in other languages - make posters or decorations or cards and learn to write Merry Christmas in as many different languages as you can. Google will be your friend here. Merry Christmas, Sretan Bozic, Buon Natale, Feliz Navidad...
• Advent Calendar Ideas - make your own advent calendars with clues to find a treat around the house (math problems, questions, word scrambles etc), wrap up books and unwrap one each night to read leading up to the big day.
• Christmas Scrabble - have a round of scrabble with Christmas related words only.
• Baked Gifts with Hand Written Recipes - make your own baked goods as gifts for friends and family and include a hand written recipe by the kids.
• Write a letter to Grandma - practice their best handwriting and spelling and write a letter to grandma or aunt or long distance friend who they haven't seen for a while and fill them in on the year's juicy details.

For lots more ideas like these visit us on Pinterest or Facebook!

Countdown to Christmas

You've seen the Advent Calendars in all the stores, you walk straight past them thinking to yourself what a waste of money, and if you got one how would you share it between the kids anyway, and why on earth would you want them to be eating chocolates or lollies first thing in the morning anyway?

Well, this is one of the best ideas I've seen around recently (it's not my idea, but I love it so much I want to share it with you!).

It takes no creativity, you barely need any materials or any craft skills, it's not messy, it won't up your dentist bill, it can be shared among all of your kids no matter how many you have, and best of all....it's Learning that's FUN!

So what do you need?

* 24 Books  - they can be Christmas themed or just your kids favourite stories. They can be new, used, borrowed, long, short, pictures, no pictures, whatever suits your family.

* Christmas wrapping paper - left overs from last year perhaps, add bows, ribbons, decals, whatever your heart desires to decorate the wrapping or just leave it plain.

* Sticky Tape

* Labels and a pen

All you need to do is wrap each book individually, label them and number each one counting down from 24 to 1.

To finish off you could pile them up in the shape of a Christmas Tree, hide them around the house with clues, line them up on your mantel or arrange them however you please.

Then each morning starting on December 1st let the kids unwrap one book and spend time with them reading it together. When there are no more books left the kids will know that when they wake up the next day it will be the big day, and in the mean time you will have spent some really special time doing a fun learning activity with them that will create lasting memories in your family.

If you are really keen you could slip in a party favour or a treate into each or some of the books as an extra surprise, but the simple joy of unwrapping and reading with you will plenty.

Let us know your favourite Christmas books that other parents could include?

Let the countdown begin!

For more ideas like this preview our ebook on Amazon, visit us on Facebook or check out our boards on Pinterest.

Giving the Gift of Learning

Well it's come to that time of year when everyone starts to go into panic mode and fret about what they are going to get their kids for Christmas, and what to get for their neices, nephews, cousins, friends' kids and any other children out there who you like to buy a gift for.

So here's a suggestion for you: why not try to put an educational twist on christmas presents this year?

And I know what you're thinking already. Books. Boring old books. But NO, it doesn't have to be books.

It could be board games, card games, computer games, toys, digital technology products, music, vouchers, experiences or trips with you. But whatever it is here are a few tips for you to think about while you are browsing and planning to help you put a fun learning spin on your gift giving:

1. Think about the age of the child, their abilities and what sort of areas of life they are currently learning or which skills? Are they just learning to walk & talk? Perhaps some alphabet blocks in a trolley or a talking teddy? Are they learning the alphabet and numbers, learning to read? There are some fabulous interactive ABC 123 toys in the stores. Are they learning life skills through play (eg money, cooking, building, sharing, competition etc) or learning to play an instrument etc.

2. Think about the benefits of the gift. What can they learn from it, or from playing with or using it? Can they learn obvious skills like reading and maths? But what other skills might they learn? Problem solving. Creativity. Sharing. Logic. Fitness. Spending and Saving. Artistic. Musical. And lots more.

3. Keep the child's personal interests in mind too. Do they love Thomas the Tank? If so, look at Thomas puzzles and games. Are they older and into One Direction? Look at 1D games, magazines and biographies. Do they love computer games? Check out subscriptions to online children's sites such as Moshi Monsters or Literacy Planet where kids are encouraged to complete challenges to earn points and prizes.

4. When you really get stuck, there is always the internet. Visit the Learning that's Fun Pinterest page. We've set up a pin board especially for Christmas. With Christmas related activites, and fun learning gift ideas.

If you have any of your own ideas share them with us on Facebook, we are always looking for new suggestions.

For more ideas like this and more check out Learning thats Fun on Amazon.

My Top 4 Educational Sites

Over the weekend I had a concerned Mum asking me where to start with her teenage son who has managed to slip through the cracks of the school system and is still struggling with his reading. His younger siblings are starting to pass him academically and his self-confidence is really low. The obvious suggestions that came to mind were private tutoring or talking to his school to see what support services can be accessed.

But being on a budget and looking for something that could be started immediately, these suggestions weren’t really suitable. So we began talking about some online options that are free or less expensive than tutoring, that could be started today and added to his daily routine. So I thought I would share them with you. There are hundreds of educational sites out there, but these are a few that I have used and think are great value.

Literacy Planet

The best thing about this site is that it’s free. But it’s great fun. The kids can sign up for an account which you can also access as a parent, they can make their own avatar and when they complete lessons they can earn points to purchase items for their avatar such as extra clothing and accessories. It’s bright and colourful and a lot of fun.  

Future School

Future School is designed around the Australian curriculum and has lessons in a variety of subjects. You pay subscription fees for each subject area for 6 & 12 month memberships and also get discounted rates when you sign up siblings. It has a great parent access point too, so you can get great progress reports.

The Ten Minute Tutor

This site uses a variety of delivery methods to really engage your kids. It is primarily aimed at children with dyslexia and related learning difficulties, but the principles and the learning style will suit lots of children, particularly those who prefer a more hands on approach. For a monthly subscription fee that is less than a 1 hour tutoring session, dedicating 10 minutes a day a few days a week will really help improve your child’s learning.

Reading Eggs

Reading Eggs is a great fun interactive game site from ABC. It’s bold and colourful and can be accessed on the web and a number of iPad / iPhone or Android apps can be downloaded for specific needs. The fees vary depending on what you want to use, but the apps give learning that hands on approach that is often lost when staring at a text book or a worksheet.

So head along to some of those sites and see which one you think will suit your children best, and remember that private tutoring can be really expensive, and although some of these sites require you to pay for a membership, the money could be well worth it. And when you think about it, they really need to generate some income so they can pay professionals to continue to update their sites and design good solid content for your kids.

If the kids are using the computer and the internet, and you tell them it’s a game and they can only have X minutes per day, they will be begging for more time! What better way to get them learning than having fun?

Happy Learning! Be sure to leave a comment and tell us about any other sites your kids love to learn from!

For more ideas like this one on how to make learning fun. Check out my eBook Learning that's Fun.



Music for the (little) Soul

Any of you who know me, will know that I love music! Always have, since my toddler years dancing to Boy George on the TV, to getting my first Walkman and being reminded that everyone could hear me singing along to my tapes through to playing drums in the R&B band at school! Today I have so much going on that I barely get time to just relax and listen or play to music, so my favourite place is in the car...turn the radio up loud and sing along, especially on long drives to the city and back. You will often see me at the lights singing my heart out.

But even though I get to sing along in the car, it makes me sad sometimes that as I've grown up I can't just spend half an hour playing my favourite CD and not doing anything else, or that I "don't have time" to play in a band anymore, or that I should be too embarrassed to dance or sing in the car when other people can see me.

As we grow up, life gets more serious, we play less, we laugh less, we get stressed, we have worries, we lose our creativity and imagination we had as kids and we have to be "professional".

But I think it's time we put the music back in our lives and got our little ones involved in it! Singing and dancing is an activity that nearly all kids love! They are inhibited by embarassment; they just move to the groove. They will sing along even if they don't know the words, and they won't care if you can hear them because they are having fun!

I have used music in my tutoring and found it works absolute wonders! Getting kids to read song lyrics from their favourite pop stars is so much easier than reading books they aren't interested in. And once they have learned the words, they get to sing along without mumbling! It's a real achievement, and teaches them reading and vocabulary where they would otherwise just hum over the words they don't know or understand. I have also used musical instruments like bells and tambourine to play along to Christmas Carols to again, learn the words they would normally hum. And the best thing about it? The kids don't even realise they are learning!

So put the music back in your life.

• Instead of bed time stories, why not try bed time songs? My Nanna and my Mum used to sing lovely songs to me and my siblings. Such sweet memories in our minds.
• When the kids are watching their favourite characters on TV, get in there and sing along and dance with them.
• Sing songs in the car together, especially nursery rhymes and kids songs that help teach them about life and learning.
• Get copies of song lyrics, or the teen music magazines that have lyrics in them and read the lyrics together to learn the words.
• Better still, have the kids sit and listen to the songs and write down the lyrics themselves. Have them decipher what the artists are singing and practice their writing and spelling while learning the words to their favourite songs.
• Put musical instruments into your kids toy boxes and encourage them to play along to their favourite songs, no matter how bad they may sound. If they are having fun and learning rhythm it will improve their motor skills and enhance their creative brains.
• Take them along to kids musical performances. There are many groups and performers out there who are tailored to kids and have so much educational benefit, all in the name of fun!
• If you're lucky enough to have someone who isn't too shy, have them come along to your child's next birthday party and sing and dance with the kids! Or volunteer to do it yourself...I can guarantee you from personal experience, it is an absolute hoot!

For more ideas like these ones check out our eBook Learning that's Fun.

Happy Learning!

Get Crafty

With only a few days left of the school holidays, you might be running short of ideas and trying to think of some activities to occupy the kids, or those overseas readers might just be looking for some indoor activities for a rainy day. So why not get crafty?

I have yet to meet any kids who don’t love arts and crafts, getting in there and making things with their hands, putting their personal touches on items that they have created, letting their imaginations run wild with ideas for decorating and designing pieces that they can display and keep for years to come.

But have you ever thought about adding a “learning” twist to your arts & crafts? Here are 7 fabulous fun ideas for art & craft time at your place that are really simple to do using things you would generally find in any child’s home (no need to go out and buy expensive supplies, but you can get extras from your local discount store if you like).

Coins & Pouch (All Ages)

Great for playing shops, you can set up your own mini mart in the kitchen and enjoy watching the kids learn to count, add and subtract playing with their home made coins.

Paint bottle tops with gold or silver spray paint and to write numbers on the coins in permanent marker (plastic milk caps work well, as do metal bottle caps when flattened with a mallet).Use numbers relevant to your child’s needs, e.g. numbers 1-10, 1-50, or currency such as cents and dollars.

For a pouch, use an old clean handkerchief, cut it into a circle and either sew a seam around the edge, or cut some nicks around the perimeter and thread some ribbon or string through. Place the coins inside, pull tight and tie to close.

Board Games (Upper Primary)

This is a great one that can keep the kids occupied for hours, you may have even done this yourself at school.

Grab a large piece of cardboard and have your child draw the path around the board with individual squares adding snakes or ladders, perhaps “pick up a card” squares, “go back” squares, “miss a turn”, or whatever type of spaces you can think of based on your favourite games. Use small items around the house as game pieces such as cotton reels, lego pieces, small action figurines or bottle caps. And use small pieces of card to create the “pick up cards” with questions, challenges, dares, or any other activities that the player must complete to make their next move.

Make a cube dice from paper & glue (search google for patterns), and write the rules on an A4 sheet of paper.

Once they have their finished creation, sit down and enjoy some fun playing their home made board game that has helped them practice their thinking, logic, reading and spelling, hand writing and design & creativity skills.

Learning Clock (Pre School to Primary)

For this one you will need two different sized disposable plates, a split pin, some glue and some coloured card to cut out numbers and hands.

Punch a hole through the centre of both plates and cut out your hands, pin them all together with the split pin and ensure the hole is big enough for your hands to turn.

On the inside plate glue on your regular clock numbers 1 – 12, and on the outside plate glue on the minute numbers 0 – 55 (showing how each number on the clock represents a number of minutes, e.g. 3 represents 15 minutes on the clock.

Decorate the clock with whatever you have in your art supplies kit, glitter, feathers, googly eyes, paints etc. and spend time playing with the clock together.



Write & Illustrate a Book

This one is really easy, but really effective to get the kids involved in story telling and letting their imagination take over. In story books, anything is possible!

Staple a few sheets of A4 paper together, with some coloured pieces on the outside for a cover and sit the kids down with some pens, pencils, felt tipped pens, crayons or whatever else you think they’ll need, and let them create their own story book!

This will be a treasure for years to come, you can read it together and proudly keep it on display in your book shelf for visitors to admire.

Having difficulty getting started? Try some ideas to start the wheels turning in their minds like fairies, pirates, favourite cartoon characters,

Letter / Word Blocks

This is where you get to recycle some of your old children’s old toys. Using lego, duplo, wooden blocks or whatever other items you can find in the toy box, glue on coloured card that has letters or words written on them.

Depending on your child’s needs you might choose to use the alphabet to learn the letters and sounds, or write difficult words on the cards. Use the blocks to then play games such as floor scrabble, or make sentences with your words, or I Spy.

Again, get creative, use leaves or petals glued onto card to make the words, finger paint them, or cut out letters from magazines. This is a fun way to make old toys new again.

Posters

Everybody loves to make a poster of something they like! So why not make posters about things your children might be struggling with. Create their own times tables poster for the back of the toilet door or the backseat of the car, create a poster of shapes or colours for younger kids. Paint a picture of them in the centre and surround with positive adjectives that describe them or make a collage of a subject they have researched from the newspaper or a magazine.

Use paints, glitter, glue, feathers, items from nature, coloured markers, colours cut outs, magazines, stencils, ribbons, wool, wrapping paper, stamps, or anything else you can find about the house for decorating and creating.

Greeting Cards / Post Cards

Christmas is fast approaching and greeting card season will soon begin! So spend time these holidays making your own Christmas cards with the kids, or perhaps they could make cards for their friends’ birthday parties, or their grandparents wedding anniversary. If you are going away on vacation make your own postcards.

This activity is great fun, but encourages children to use their best handwriting, and focus on their spelling. It also helps them learn about locations and addresses when you pop them in the post.

For Christmas cards you might like to use lots of glitter, sparkly stick on decorations and metallic pens, but you can also use every day household items like tin foil to cut out shapes, paper lace doilies, ribbons, or cut outs from left over wrapping paper.

Whatever you do in arts and crafts, it can be lots of fun! Get messy, get creative, make something to learn and something to love!

Post your ideas in the comments below, or share pics with us of your own creations. We love to hear from our readers.

For more fun learning ideas check out our eBook on Amazon, Learning that’s Fun.

Happy Learning!  

The Gift of Time

This week has been a big one for me “doing my bit” and I was inspired for my blog by the influx of people close to me who have also been “doing their bit”.

I believe, one of the greatest gifts you can give someone, is your time. You can splash out on fancy presents or give expensive cash and vouchers to people, but the one thing that is free and comes from the heart, is your time. Spending time with a child doing something fun, spending time with your family chatting, spending time with your friends catching up. These are things you can do for free, that will build your relationships and enrich your world…and theirs.

So this week, I really noticed that so many people close to me have been giving their gift of time to the community. My mum has been involved in her local school council contributing towards the direction and success of the local school; she has also been volunteering her time to run some fundraising events for the school. One of my sister in laws has just taken on a voluntary role at a community parent centre in a local shopping mall. It’s only 2 hours a week, but with 4 young children, that is a wonderful commitment from her to give something back to the town she lives in and help others. My uncle gave his time, with that of his band members, to play a concert at the local school in his town to raise funds for their school supplies and materials. I attended a great movie night last week with a friend who had organised it as a fundraiser for cancer research. And I have been inundated by kind people donating books to the fundraiser that I am running for literacy programs for disadvantaged kids in remote communities of Australia. People who I don’t even know, as well as my close friends and family.

There is no shortage of people out there who are willing to give their time to help causes that they truly believe in, and I think this is a beautiful thing we can teach and share with our children. As parents, grandparents, extended family and friends we are the role models that our children will look up to, and aspire to be like when they grow up, and don’t we want them to grow up being caring, giving, generous individuals?

There is so much that a child can learn from volunteering; there are the obvious literacy and numeracy skills that they can build on running a market stall or baking cookies from a recipe. But there are the skills of customer service, of sharing, of acceptance and tolerance, of contributing to society in a meaningful way and giving something to their community without any expectations of recognition or reward.

So my suggestion for this week, is to look around you, see what is out there that you love, find an organisation or a cause that is dear to yourself and your children, that inspires you or interests you and get involved! Give the gift of your time, and that of your kids and a make a difference to your community. If you love it, it will be fun, and if you’re having fun, your kids will too. Learning that’s fun. That’s what it’s all about.

See more ideas like this in my book Learning that's Fun

Day Tripping with the Kids

I finally managed to plan some time into a hectic schedule to visit the National Gallery of Victoria (the main gallery in my state). Having been before I didn’t bother with the regular displays, but went straight for the Napoleon Exhibition. As I arrived I had just finished a discussion with a lady I met on the train, and the answer to her questions were “no I’m not a big Napoleon fan” and “no I don’t know anything about France”. But I do love art, and now I actually am quite a Napoleon fan, and know way more about France than I ever did before and am definitely adding some of Napoleon’s past haunts to my itinerary for travelling to Europe next year!




Get to the point...here it is. Take your kids to the gallery! If you live in a tiny country town, head down to your local community centre where local artists can display their works, or where the historical society displays sketches of days gone by. If you live in a bigger urban centre you will likely have a larger gallery with some local and international works; you might even have a couple of really famous artists on display in your home town. And if you live in a big city, you are the luckiest of all having access to bigger galleries with international and national collections and probably lots of artefacts and historical displays. Turn your trip to the gallery into a full day event. Take a picnic lunch and take advantage of any discounts you may be entitled to. Many galleries and museums have low income discounts, student discounts, family discounts, travel club discounts, kids under certain age free and lots more.

But what has all of this got to do with learning? Well as I said, I knew nothing about Napoleon, and had no idea about any of France’s history other than what I have seen in “The Man in Iron Mask”(which I'm pretty sure is all made up). But by the time I was done I had enjoyed some beautiful, magnificent art works, seen some gorgeous displays of artefacts from Napoleon’s reign and felt enlightened about a time in history that actually had such a great impact on the history of my own country, Australia. I learnt that the French Revolution saw the removal of the monarch, I learnt that Napoleon of was of Italian descent but changed the spelling of his name to suit his home country of France, I learnt that over time he built his credibility to the point where he was sworn in as Emperor, and then appointed himself as a sort of monarch all over again until he was exiled in 1814. I also learnt that he was married twice, had an obsession with all things Australian, and was reading Captain Cook’s journals when he died.

All this from a one hour visit to the gallery.

This is the magic of discovery that your kids could experience in a trip to the gallery too! Many art galleries now have children’s programs that are run especially to teach kids artistic skills and art appreciation. During the school holidays you may find your local gallery advertising sessions that your kids would absolutely love, but you may never have thought of before. These sessions are sometimes free, but most require a small charge to cover materials. Imagine having 2 hours all to yourself during the holiday period to go for coffee or peruse the gallery yourself, while your kids are learning about the history of painting and creating their own works of art.

Many galleries these days also have audio aids or iPod tours, where for a small fee or no charge you can take a device and headphones and have a guided tour around the entire gallery. Now tell me…what kid wouldn’t love to have their own iPod guide them around the gallery? The best one I’ve seen so far was at the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Tasmania which was sensor driven, and somehow just magicially knew where I was and which piece I was looking at. If you are in Hobart with your kids…take them there! It is amazing!

So keep an eye out in the local papers or sign up to websites to see updates and notices of holiday programs or special kids events or exhibitions that your kids would love. If you have a daughter obsessed with Princess Kate take her to see a royal exhibition, if your son loves Ben 10 take him to the museum to see the  “old fashioned” gadgets pre-Ben10.

Not only can your children learn to appreciate art and improve their own artistic skills, but they can learn so much about the world, about general knowledge, history and society. They can learn new words, new phrases, why things are the way they are today and where we came from in the past. Art isn’t just pretty pictures, a picture tells a thousand words! And wouldn’t you love your kids to know those words?   

Find more ideas like this here to make learning fun for your kids!

Like us on Facebook!

The Beautiful Art of Handwriting

Some might start to argue these days that handwriting is no longer an important skill and we don't really need to teach it anymore because we have arrived in the digital age. But I would challenge the idea that kids don't need to learn how to write.



I think a person's handwriting can have just as much impact on making an impression as the way you dress or how you brush your hair. Other than doctors, very messy handwriting can be difficult to read, hard to interpret and can be frustrating. But reading the writing of someone with beautiful lettering can be a pleasure and can really show of their creativity or interest in making an effort.

The actual practice of writing by hand is a really hands-on approach for kids to learn to read and spell while they are forming their own words on paper. From an early age young children begin to learn the shapes of letters and as they put those letters together they start to form words. While writing the words they start to learn the basics of punctuation and gradually move in to story telling and reporting. Taking the time to write the words gives them time to process what they are writing and understand it, as opposed to typing where they are simply repeating patters and can be reliant on spelling and grammar checkers.


For me personally, I love to write. I mean physically get out a pen and paper and write things down. Every day I write lists, notes to myself, notes to others, drafts of ideas and things I want to do. I love practicing my hand writing and re-writing important things to make them neater and more logical as I go. But the biggest reason that I write by hand, is because as I'm doing it, I make an imprint in my memory, and I often find that later on I don't need to refer back to my notes because I can see what I've written in the back of my mind. Others may need to refer back to their notes often in order to remember, but better to refer back than to never write them down and forget!

So with all of this, why not make handwriting a fun activity in your home? It will encourage your children to pick up a pen and practice their handwriting and give them a fun way to practice their spelling and reading. I've put together a few ideas for you to get your kids writing at home, in a way that will be so fun they won't even know they are learning!

• Have them write out your grocery list
• Keep a note pad handy to jot down things you need as they run out
• Make a post box out of a cardboard box and leave "mail" for eachother
• Write a letter to Grandma, an Aunt or Uncle, or long distance cousin
• Find activity books that have sections for handwriting
• Put up a whiteboard with pens or blackboard with chalk for writing & drawing
• Print out handwriting sheets with topics that interest your kids (e.g. Justin Bieber, Ben 10). Just google and you'll find a heap of sites.
• Spend time writing activities and appointments in a diary or calendar
• Staple some blank sheets of paper together and write & illustrate their own stories
• Write messages on greeting cards for birthdays and christmas
• Recycle computer paper and make your own notepads for the kids to write on
• Get in on the act yourself and start keeping a journal of your thoughts or notebook to jot down your own ideas. If they see you writing, they will be begging you to get their own notebook!

There are so many ideas you could come up with; but the more they practice, the more confident with their handwriting and their spelling they will get, so why not do some of these ideas and give your kids the opportunity to be the one with beautiful and neat handwriting that shows off their intelligence and creativity.

If you have any other suggestions, go ahead and leave a comment with your ideas! Or send us a story or picture about the ideas you have used in your home! We would love to hear about them and share with our friends!!!

Find more ideas like this here to make learning fun for your kids!

Books with Benefits!

If you're a book worm like me, you will already have that inate sense of value that books bring. They are like rectangular treasures filling your world, piling up in corners of your rooms and spending money on books is as necessary as buying milk or bread.

But for many people, they just don't feel the same way. Strange to say, but there are lots of families out there who really don't own many books at all, and just don't find reading an enjoyable past time. Now there's nothing wrong with this at all, we are all different and people find joy and interest in various activities and past-times...if we were all the same the world would be a pretty boring place.

However, reading is a really important part of life, especially for our kids. The skill of reading benefits us in all walks of life, being able to read instructions, read contracts, read letters, read forms and understand how our world operates. Reading comes naturally to some people, but others struggle to grasp the concepts and take more time to learn, which can hinder their development in other areas.

So encourage kids to read books from an early age can be a really easy way for parents to instill a love of reading in their children, even before they head off to school. Great books can be found all around us, in libraries, at friend and family places, in discount stores, book shops, on the internet and now with the increase in eBooks you can even read and view them on your computer or eReader for the kids who are so technologically minded.

The one thing I like to remind people, is that books can be SO MUCH MORE than "just books". There are books you can hear, books you can feel, books you can smell, books you can write in, books you can relate to, books you can act out, books that come with toys and so much more.

Here are 5 of my favourites from the bookshelf at home. Books that are more than just books and make reading time fun!

FAIRYOPOLIS - is a beautiful big book for late primary age through to adulthood. This is MY book and it's just magnificent. With all the gorgeous illustrations, little scrapbook type items you can touch and take out to inspect it gives you a sense of discovering the world of fairies. With such a fabulous cover this a treasured item on my shelf.

DANCING QUEEN - part of the Australian "Go Girl" series; I love these books! Aimed at the "tween" age group they are an introduction to chapter books that are easy to read, and easy to relate to. The characters in this series experience the same things as the reader, this particular one relates to self esteem, fitting in, making new friends and being self conscious. I picked these up at a second hand store and have loved each one of them. I believe there is a new set out more recently.

THE JOLLY POSTMAN - an aboslute classic! This was the anniversary edition of the Christmas Postman, but it is just the most fabulous interactive book! Through the journey of mail delivery you get to experience the goings on of each residence along the way. Opening the letters, reading the christmas cards, even a small puzzle to complete. I loved this book as a kid; it was one of the most popular books in our school library and you would have to wait months to borrow it! Still a must have for primary aged kids.

THIS DINOSAUR IS SO BIG - for pre-school aged boys, this book is brilliant! It has big bold colourful pictures, is about dinosaurs and has magnetic pages and magnets to stick on! Every time you read this it is different depending on where you place the magnets! "This dinosaur is so big it can eat a CAR/HOUSE/PLANE/TREE for breakfast!" It's got great repetition to remember the words, goregous illustrations and is just a whole lot of fun!

WRITE & WIPE - again for the younger kiddies, I love these books. The pictures are bold and colourful, the words are simple and repetitive but with the added bonus of a board marker they can learn to write the letters as well as recognise them. They can trace pictures and refine their writing skills....just be sure to keep these ones away from fabric furniture!

So next time you are looking for a gift, or wondering what you can do to encourage your young ones to read think about a book...but think about a "book with benefits".

Find more ideas like here to make learning fun for your kids!

The Reading Hour

2012 happens to be The National Year of Reading! So what better chance to get your kids excited about books? Better yet, what a great chance to get yourself excited about reading books?

Some of us are book worms; I am reading 3 books at the moment, a comedy novel, a drama novel and a professional development book. But others of us aren't so interested in reading. My husband would not say he is an avid reading; but he is absolutely fascinated by Australian history and brewing so he actually reads quite a lot of books about history and beer. He will tell you that over the past 10 years his reading his improved dramatically just from reading books about topics he is interested in.

So why don't we use this theory more often with our kids? If they are interested in science or nature, how about we encourage them to read books about bugs and animals and technology? If they are mad keen sports fanatics, encourage them to read books about sporting heroes, famous teams, chronologies of sporting history and so on. You would be surprised how much you can learn from sports - maths, statistics, averages, countries, cities, cultures and so much more. If magazines are more their style provide them with good quality magazines that have age appropriate content and puzzles, games, articles, glossy pictures to attract their attention.

Basically, no matter what they are reading, so long as they are reading, they are learning! Encourage them to read the back of the weeties box at breakfast time, read articles from the newspaper, read advertisements, catalogues, signs and posters.

But Saturday the 25th of August 2012 as part of the National Year of Reading there is a special event that you can have in your own living room for free! The Reading Hour. This week, try to spend 10 minutes a day reading with each of your children. And then on Saturday grab some fabulous books that your kids will love and set aside 60 minutes to snuggle up together and participate in the national event! Put on your best voice and get excited about the books you have chosen. You could even choose to read some chapters from a book that also has a movie...and finish the night with the movie version? Harry Potter, The Witches, Narnia, Charlotte's Web and the list goes on.

You've got one week to head down to the library and grab some great books or find some to borrow from a friend. Get some snacks and set up your special spot in the house and let the kids know that this fun time is coming up. Ask at your school if there are any events that they are running that you could also be a part of?

To find out more about the events through out the year, competitions, ideas for schools and families head to the National Year of Reading website:
http://www.love2read.org.au/

And for more information about The Reading Hour head to:
http://www.thereadinghour.org.au/

Happy Reading!

When Opportunity Knocks

Over the next few days have a think about the little things you do with your kids that have an impact on their learning. While they are getting ready for school are they reading, counting or learning times and days? On the way home from school in the car are they singing little tunes to help them remember? During dinner time are they practicing their maths from your recipes or they glued to the tv? At bed time, on the weekend, in the car, at the shops, in the bathroom, on a walk....there are learning opportunities everywhere you look! Get your kids to help you run you errands and involve them in the process, make the boring things in life interesting by turning them into games and spend time being together having fun!

Here are some great ideas to get you started:

READING

·     Send notes to your children. Get them to send them back. Use sticky notes on the fridge. Or make a letterbox from a tissue box or milk carton.

·     Plan a special place & time in your house just for reading. This is not for their homework reading; this is quality time together for sharing exciting stories. Perhaps a cubby house, out in the garden, a beanbag in the corner, or make a special place from blankets and cushions.

·     Visit the library as a family. Most libraries are free to join and have a wealth of resources for everyone! History, cooking, fiction, medical, self help, automotive, building, CDs, DVDs, magazines and so much more. Libraries usually also have a variety of free activities for all ages like pre-schoolers story time, school holiday programs, poetry readings, community groups for special interests. Head out to your local library for a free fun filled afternoon with the kids.

·     Get your kids to to help you write the grocery list. It will encourage their spelling and hand writing.

·     Have your children write letters or emails to family members. Grandparents will absolutely LOVE it and other family members or close friends might enjoy it too. Handwriting will help them to improve this skill, but email can be just as effective in their spelling and grammar. The kids will then need to brush up on their reading when they receive responses!

·     Next time you have a special occassion coming up ask your kids to write on your greeting cards. Have them write out your Christmas Cards, fill in cards for birthdays and special occasions. It adds a personal touch to your greetings and helps with their hand writing and spelling.

MATHS

·    Take the kids Widow Shopping. Give them a catalogue from the mail box assign them a budget, and let them loose to choose products that amount to their limit. It will be like Christmas for them, but best of all it won't cost you a penny! No calculators!

·     When you are out with a trolley full of kids trying to do your weekly grocery shop, ask them to help you keep track of your spending as you go, or have them work out which items are best value for money.

·     At home you could play "shops" with items from the cupboard set up in a supermarket and pretend money from your monopoly game.

·     Cooking is a fabulous activity for maths as well as fine motor skills. Recipes have lots of fractions and measurements and the success of a finely baked cake or a delicious home cooked meal can have many benefits other than just a happy tummy.

·     Spend some time to create a poster timetable of their week. Note down the important events that occur each week and encourage your kids to learn the times of day and days of the week.

·     Similarly create your own calendar of the year on a poster or multiple pages. Note down the important events and have them cross off each day as it passes. This will help them to learn the months and years.

No matter what you are doing, or where you are, there are opportunities for learning in all aspects of life. Education doesn't end at 3:15pm on Friday afternoon; it is a 24/7 event. So why not make the most of the opportunity to Make Learning Fun!

Find more ideas like this here to make learning fun your kids!

Get FREE Tutoring!

Have you ever thought about getting some extra tutoring for your kids to help them with a subject they are struggling at, or just to help them get ahead? If you've looked into professional tutoring organisations or answered newspaper advertisements, you would know that it is NOT cheap! Depending on the age and needs of your child it can be anywhere up to $60 per hour! 

But there's a way you can get extra tutoring for your child for absolutely FREE! Networking! Not the technical computer kind, but the social kind. Networking goes back to the old saying of "It's not what you know, It's who you know". It's something that job seekers and business professionals get told to do this all time! Build your network! Get out and talk to people, ask questions, make connections. And it really works. So why not use the same principles for your kids learning?

So go on, get out a sheet of paper, write your name & your kids names in the centre, then start to jot down all the names of people you know who are “good” at something. Start with your close family and friends and work your way out from there. For example, I have a brother who is great at maths, I have another brother who is great with hands on type stuff, my mum is a great reader, my uncle is fantanstic with computers. I have a friend who is a teacher, I have another friend who is really crafty and loves to make things.

From this list you can start to see what skills and qualities you have in your circle of friends & family, and you can start to think about how you could use those to help with your child’s progress? Perhaps you could ask the uncle who is good at maths to spend some time every couple of weeks with your child to do some extra maths related stuff or help with their homework and expand on the concepts they are currently learning in class? You could ask the friend who is really crafty to help with the school project your child has been working on? Their Nanna might like to spend some special “Nanna Story Time” with them. A special dedicated hour on a weekend to share fun and exciting stories with Nan?

You never know unless you ask! You could spend thousands of dollars on expensive tutoring; or you could use the network you have in your life already to strengthen the bond between your children and their family and save all that money for something rewarding (and educational of course)! People are usually flattered to be asked for their help and will most often go out of their way to find time to offer what they can. But if you don’t ask, they may never even think about it. The worst they could say is no, so if they aren’t able to help at that time, just look for the next name on your list and keep networking.

Download our eBook Learning that's Fun FREE for the next 24 hours!

Like us on Facebook!

From Bored to Board

We have been doing some home improvements this week and needed to clear out a book shelf and a big storage trunk before we could begin...what I uncovered was an absolute treasure trove!

A massive pile of board games, puzzles and card decks.

It's not like I didn't know they were there; I mean the trunk is their home, and I was the one who decided to keep them there. It's a nice neat place where they can live in peace without causing clutter or having their game pieces lost. It makes a great central spot in our home where we can go looking for something to do on a cold winter's night, or some funny entertainment when we have friends over. But what I was reminded of while I was pulling all these games out was how valuable they can be to our families and our children.

Do you remember being a kid spending a night in with your brothers and sisters sitting around playing a round of monopoly? Or trying to join in with your parents and answer the questions in Trivial Pursuit? When I was a kid one of the most popular titles in our house was "Beetle", it's the most simple game of spinning a wheel and adding the eyes, legs, body, antennas to your beetle and the first one to complete wins! So simple, but we spent hours playing it. When we eventually lost most of our beetle body parts one of us got a new version of the game for a gift, and on we went. I believe some of this game may still be in my Nanna's toy box.

So where am I leading with all of this?

The educational value of playing board games!

Beetle seems like quite a simple game, but it helped us learn some really valuable lessons about competition, fine motor skills, sharing and taking turns, even colours and shapes for the younger kids, and more importantly for Mum, it taught us to pack up when we were done and keep things neatly so we didn't lose the pieces. It seems sometimes that the old board game gets forgotten in among all the techno gadgets we have today. So many people overlook the humble board game and head straight to the i-section, the game consoles, the dvds and portable entertainment systems, the computerised toys, everything that needs batteries...and what do we always forget to do when purchasing electronics??? Get the batteries! But board games don't need batteries! They are simple, cheap, easy to use, no power cords, no special add-ons for your computer, no software to download. And most of all they can make learning fun for your kids without even realising that they are being educated!

Lets think about some of the old games we used to play and how they can educate?

Monoply - teaches mathematics, handling money, investing, increases the vocabularly to learn words like mortgage and develop.

Scrabble - is an obvious one, spelling, reading, vocabulary, but it also has some mathematics in adding up the scores and learning to use a dictionary.

Cranium - this might be one you haven't heard of, but trust me, it is a HOOT! Your kids and your family & friends will love it! It is a blend of all the old games you used to play, it combines charades, pictionary, acting, humming tunes, making plasticine figures, trivia and has the most outrageous looking game pieces and is an all round fun game!

Trivial Pursuit - so maybe when you were 10 you couldn't answer your parents questions, but now that you're older you can get the millenium editions and actually get the answers right! Or you can get the kids edition and play with the whole family. General knowledge, reading, problem solving and elimination are all skills you can learn from this game. And patience....it can take a while this one!

Deck of Cards - how basic is a deck of cards? You can pick one up for $1. But they are so versatile, play SNAP with the kids and help them learn to recognise numbers, shapes and colours and improve their quick response skills. Play SOLITAIRE, play GO FISH, PAIRS or MATCH or the good old trick...PICK UP 52...kids love that. Again, simple, but effective.

You don't have to spend alot of money on board games to get value out of them. You can often pick them up in a second store, or find them in your relatives cupboards to borrow. They also make a fantastic gift idea. So next time you're out shopping for birthdays, Christmas, Christenings etc be sure to stop into the board game section of your local department store, or even visit a specialist game store. Perhaps if you have a lot of friends with kids you could all purchase one per family and share them around to save on the cost.

Hours of fun in one box, a cheapy from our local discount store!

It's not just the value of learning new skills that kids get from board games, it's the time you take as a family to sit down and spend time together and do something enjoyable as a group. These are the memories your children will grow up to treasure. I know I do.

All a-board!!!! TOOT TOOT!!!

Find more ideas like this here to make learning fun for your kids!

Like us on Facebook!

Welcome

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to my blog; where we take boring old education, shake it upside down, get back to basics and put the fun back in to learning for your little blossoms!

I'm Louise, but you can call me Aunty Lou if you like; I'm the owner of Blossom - Learning that's fun. I'm an IT professional, an author, a student, a tutor, a wife and an Aquarian, a big sister, and last but certainly not least, I'm an Aunt to my 21 gorgeous nieces and nephews.

This is me!

Now that you know me, I'd like to ask you some questions:

Are you a Mum, a Dad, Nan, Grandpa, Aunty, Uncle, Cousin, Big Brother, Close Friend, Scout Leader, Baby Sitter or any other grown up who has young kids in their life outside of their profession?

Do you ever have trouble helping your little blossoms with their homework?

Do you find yourself nagging them to read or finish off that maths worksheet?

Do you have younger children and you're just not sure how early to start preparing them for school?

If you answered yes to any of those questions you've come to the right place!

Follow my blog for ideas and suggestions on how you can make homework enjoyable for you and your children, tips on activities you can do with your kids to encourage their learning and not even realise they are "getting educated", ways to bring your family closer through shared experiences and discussions and tid bits from other parents and role models just like you!

Like what you see?

See my latest publication Learning That's Fun - Cheap and Easy tips for parents to help their kids with homework and make learning fun!