The parent blogging world has been rocked this week by the tragic and sudden loss of Matilda Mae. No family should have to go through what her parents, brother and sister are at the moment and I know I'm not alone in hugging my children just that little bit tighter after hearing the news. Matilda's Mum Jennie is finding great support from the amazing parent blogger community and from the hundreds of people who have been tweeting her and leaving messages of support on her blog. I can't imagine the pain that they are feeling right now, but I do know that the community will be ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: The Zoo
After numbers last week, today Ladybird Tuesday is moving on to words and a book from the Learning to Read series (series 563) - The Zoo. As with so many Ladybird books this one is written around a subject which appeals to all children - the zoo. The text is very straight forward and designed so that when looked at with the accompanying illustrations it is very easy for a child to work out what it is saying. When this book was first published in 1960 elephant rides were a popular sight at many zoos and you can see the elephant in the above illustration wearing the seat that would have ... read more
Digital Postcard from #TeamHonk in Ghana
Since my last post Team Honk have arrived in Ghana and following them on social media is extrodinary, humbling and emotional. They are out there seeing the good work that Comic Relief have done in the last 25 years and so far they have visited the Virtuous Women's Bakery and a school in the slum areas. This morning I am sat watching Jonathan Ross and Davina McCall (yep three bloggers and now on first name terms with them both!) doing a series of live TV link-ups from a vaccination clinic where Comic Relief money has paid for 1 million vaccines for small babies. As part of ... read more
Honk, honk for Team Honk and Comic Relief!
Blogging is one of those things where some people just don't "get it". They think it a complete waste of time and something that is only done by people that sit at home without enough social skills to go out and interact with the "real" world. Those people who do "get" blogging, and social media more generally, know that it's far more than that and that these days social media really can change the world. Here in the UK there are three particular bloggers who are about to use the power of blogging and social media to help change the world in support ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: More words for Numbers
I'm sticking with the slightly scientific theme introduced on the blog yesterday for today's Ladybird Tuesday: More words for Numbers. I have to admit that when I picked this book up I wasn't really sure what to expect. What do they mean more words for numbers? Is this a thesaurus with just one entry? I'll let the description inside the cover of the book take over here: When describing the changing approach to the learning of mathematics, the Schools Council observes in "Curriculum Bulletin No. 1" that we can accelerate learning by providing suitable ... read more
A budding little scientist
Whilst out doing a spot of shopping with Mr C and the kids last week I happened to spot what looked like a children's chemistry set in a shop window. Not that uncommon a sight, but always good to see. Once in the shop I noticed that it was actually aimed at younger children that I'd expected with a recommended age of 4+. This attracted my attention and a lovely shop assistance happened to come over and ask me if I wanted to see inside the box. I am so glad she did as that was the start of my love affair with the Learning Resources Primary Science Set. Making a volcano What's ... read more
Woburn Safari Park
For years I've driven up the M1 past Junction 13 and seen the elephant on the brown sign pointing to Woburn Safari Park, yet for some reason we've not visited until now. It's only about 40 minutes from where we live so getting there was nice and simple - always important when you have a toddler and baby in the car. What's there to see The safari park is in two halves - the road safari and the foot safari. The road safari gives you the opportunity to see some of the bigger, badder animals (lions, tigers, bears, wolves etc.) from the comfort of your own car, whilst the foot safari is more like ... read more
Food, glorious food!
I've had my suspicions for a while that Master C has been rather hungry. Firstly he went from sleeping 6 or 7 hours at night through to at worst waking every 90 minutes for a feed. And it was only a feed he needed in the night as he would go back to sleep as soon as he'd had some and general comforting wouldn't have any effect at all. His feeds were also starting to last longer and longer and this was accompanied by chewing on his own hands and anything else that he managed to get into his mouth. When I took him along to my weekly knitting group he'd sit there completely ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: A Second ‘Do You Know’ Book
I remember as a child sitting down with my Dad to look up some facts about planets as part of my school science homework. In those days the only way to do so was to sit down with some books yet I'm pretty sure that when I have to do similar with Little Miss C and Master C we'll be using the Internet instead and I think I feel a bit sad about that. Yes Google is very useful, but there was a certain satisfaction in finding the answers there on my bookshelf. My choice for today's Ladybird Tuesday is a book that fact loving children would have jumped upon at the time - A second ... read more
Toddler fun in the snow
Like much of the country we've spent the last week with snow and when there's snow on the ground and children in the house there are much more exciting things than sitting inside in front of a computer. Combine that with a few days solo parenting and blogging has once again taken a bit of a back seat. The wonderful thing about snow is just how magical it is for children of all ages. Enough of a rare event here in the UK that there's a huge novelty value attached to it and all the disruptions to school and transport is exciting. Talking to the parents of other toddlers yesterday we ... read more