Posts

Showing posts from September, 2022

Literacy Games

Image
In this blog post I talk about 5 different word games we use in our house with a magnetic whiteboard. Welcome to Hands-On Education Magnetic White Board I have had this white board for a while, wondering where the perfect spot to hang it could be. I needed a location where we would see it throughout the day and could easily access it. Finally, the perfect wall presented itself in the kitchen; next to the cooker, and in view from the table where we eat. Alongside this I have found a set of letter magnets that I finally like and actually have a good combination of letters. The set comes with both capital and small letters so children can spell words correctly. The vowels are red to support children in their spelling, and the set also comes with full stops, exclamation marks and question marks. All of this allows children to build sentences which are grammatically correct. My latest favourite find. Since hanging up the board we have enjoyed numerous fun literacy games which I would like t

Freedom to Play

Image
  Sometimes as educators we feel pressure to plan educational activities, and our children feel pressure to do these activities. Teddy and Harry grasshopper hunting. Searching For Grasshoppers Today we went for a walk in a remote area near the  River Lune  in the English county of Lancashire. By following a public footpath through a field of sheep, across a bridge and over a stile, we finally entered an area of long grass. Here we heard the most wonderful sounds: the song of birds, the leaves rustling in the wind and the chirping of grasshoppers. I cannot remember the last time we heard the sounds of grasshoppers, it felt like we had discovered a hidden treasure. The boys slowly crept through the long grass, listening and tracking the location of grasshoppers. When they were close enough to see one, they just watched and waited for it to take a jump. This became a great tracking game for them as they hid amongst the grass and followed their senses to search for this noisy insect. When

Family Field Trips

Image
  A wonderful way to connect as a family and disconnect from at home screens and concerns. Harry and Teddy discovering electricity. Real Life Learning Our experiences can solidify our understanding of the world around us and help us to develop our ideas and concepts. It appears to me that it is an essential part of our children’s education for us to provide opportunities for them to learn through their experiences. Going on field trips has been a big part of our home education and I feel fortunate that we are able to spend quality time together whilst exploring and learning in different environments. From exploring a new city, (recently London and Edinburgh) to walking through the forest, there is so much to see and learn. Out for the day at Kendal Castle. Planning A Field Trip Whilst we are learning about a specific topic, I will make a plan for a field trip to support this learning and bring otherwise abstract ideas to life. For example: whilst we were looking at the topic ‘castles’