I am a primary school teacher and mother of two. I am passionate about learning through play and engaging with children in a meaningful way, which promotes parent/child bonding, skills development and education.
I really don’t enjoy clutter. A big hurdle for me, since having kids, has been to overcome my need to have everything neat and tidy and uncluttered. Don’t get me wrong, I love arts and craft and making a mess… but come the end of the day I would really prefer it if everything made … More Out with the old, in with the new.
The first time I saw this picture it really resonated with me. My mind raced back to times in my childhood when I felt betrayed, misunderstood or deeply devastated. What would I have needed, what type of person or actions would I have appreciated. I had a little daydream of how wonderful it would be … More Be who you needed when you were younger.
By no means do I know all there is to know about teaching reading and writing but with two teaching degrees and a decade and a half of teaching (over 10 years of those in Grade1), I do know a few things. The first thing that may come as a shock to most people is … More Teaching reading and writing – a few tips
After weeks of not being allowed to go out of our houses/gardens, followed by weeks of only being allowed out for 3 set hours each morning we are really craving nature and the outdoors. As a family we love to be outdoors as much as possible. The children (usually) spend quite a lot of their … More Nature walk
Any sort of fantasy play is super important for children for a myriad of different reasons. If your household is anything like ours then the independent play and fantasy play have definitely gotten less during the weeks of lockdown. As all other play gets less the time in front of various screens has increased. This … More Imaginative play
Lockdown has meant that interaction with extended family has been limited to video calls and various other electronic forms of communication. This may be the norm for some but not for others.
Lockdown has changed us all in so many different ways. Some of us try to ignore it but if you are truly honest with yourself, you are a different person. More of some things and less of others.
Week one of lockdown was brutal but week two seemed quite lovely actually. I let go of a lot of things (laundry doesn’t have to be done daily and who cares if the floors are a bit dirty – as long as there is nothing choking-size lying around). At the end of week two our … More Lockdown has continued to be a myriad of emotions and a contrast between keeping super busy and lazing around all day in pj’s doing nothing… here is what we have been up to.
I have never loved our garden more than I have during lockdown (even though we are only on day 4) but the cooler weather and occasional rain has put a slight spanner in the works. On the cooler days we have still tried to get outside quite a bit but the rain forced us inside … More Cooler weather and more lockdown activities.
As South Africa prepares for lockdown there are a few things in the forefront of my mind, not the least of which is keeping my family safe, healthy, sane and occupied. Here are some of my thoughts on a few things that may be on your mind too. Also an update on a few of … More Lockdown time …
