Norah Colvin

Live Love Laugh Learn … Create the possibilities

Category: Early childhood education

  • Review: The Secret Science Society’s Spectacular Experiment – readilearn

    Review: The Secret Science Society’s Spectacular Experiment – readilearn

    Welcome to my review of The Secret Science Society’s Spectacular Experiment, a new junior fiction chapter book co-authored by Kathy Hoopmann and Josie Montano.

    The book will be launched on 10 August, timed to coincide with National Science Week 10–18 August and just prior to Children’s Book Week 17–23 August. I received an advance copy from the authors in return for an honest review.

    About The Secret Science Society’s Spectacular Experiment

    Authors: Kathy Hoopmann and Josie Montano

    Illustrator: Ann-Marie Finn

    Publisher: Wombat Books

    Publication date: 10 August 2019

    Genre: Junior fiction

    Number of pages: 92

    The blurb

    Mona likes to moan. Kiki is a worry-wart. Bart loves following rules. And Zane HATES following rules.

    When the four of them are put into the Secret Science Society together, this could only mean one thing: DISASTER!

    Will they be able to work together to create an experiment that Mona won’t moan about, Kiki knows is safe, Bart will think is perfect and that is really, REALLY exciting for Zane? But sssshhh, the ending is a secret.

    Continue reading: Review: The Secret Science Society’s Spectacular Experiment – readilearn

  • School Days, Reminiscences of Barbara Vitelli

    School Days, Reminiscences of Barbara Vitelli

    Welcome to the School Days, Reminiscences series in which my champion bloggers and authors share reminiscences of their school days. It’s my small way of thanking them for their support and of letting you know about their services and publications.

    This week, I am pleased to introduce Book Club Mom Barbara Vitelli, fellow book lover, librarian, blogger and fiction writer. We’ve been following each other’s blogs for a few years now. I enjoy reading Barbara’s book reviews and have read the occasional book as a result of Barbara’s recommendation. In fact, I’m currently listening to The Other Wes Moore One Name Two Fates, a memoir and New York Times Bestseller that Barbara reviewed. What a fascinating story with a strong theme of ‘that could have been me’ and how circumstances influence life’s outcomes. What makes the audiobook even more special is that Wes reads it. A great recommendation, Barbara. Thank you.

    Barbara also dabbles in fiction of her own. I’ve been enjoying her serialised story A Man and His Phone, the most recent episode of which can be read here. If you haven’t already met Barbara, I suggest you pop over to her blog and say, ‘Hello’.

    Before we begin the interview, I’ve invited Barbara to tell you a little of herself:

    Barbara Vitelli is a mom of four children and works part-time as a Reference Librarian at her local library. She also runs a blog called Book Club Mom, home to book reviews, indie author profiles, bookish talk and some occasional original fiction. Before settling into semi-rural suburban life in Pennsylvania, she lived in New Jersey, upstate New York, Washington, D.C. and Virginia. Maybe someday she will publish a novel, but in the meantime she’s happy to work her way through the many great books already out there.

    School Days Reminiscences of Barbara Vitelli

    Welcome, Barbara.

    Let’s talk school. First, could you tell us where you attended school?

    I attended elementary school, junior high and high school in Madison, New Jersey, college in upstate New York and business school in Washington, D.C., all in the United States.

    Did you attend a government, private or independent school?

    I attended all public schools through high school.

    What is the highest level of education you achieved?

    After college, I earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and my major was Finance and Investments.

    What work or profession did you choose after school and was there anything in school that influenced this choice?

    My first job out of college was as a secretary for an air conditioning and refrigeration trade association outside of Washington, D.C. My only goal at that time was to get a full-time job with benefits. I was thinking about graduate school, but I needed time to decide. After a year, I switched jobs and worked for a Sheraton Hotel chain in the Washington, D.C. area. I worked there for 5 years while I attended graduate school at night.

    What is your earliest memory of school?

    I attended Kindergarten in the same school as my next older brother and one day at recess, the school bully pushed me into a muddy puddle. I had to point out the bully to one of the teachers and the offender was promptly sent to the principal. The bully was a boy in my brother’s class and we worried that he’d take it out on my brother. Nothing happened, though!

    What memories do you have of learning to read?

    School Days Reminiscences of Barbara Vitelli

    We all started to learn to read in Kindergarten, although I mostly pretended to know, “reading” books that my mother and father had read to me so much I had them memorized. My favorite book was A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You by Joan Walsh Anglund.

    What memories do you have of learning to write?

    I remember using big fat red pencils and paper with wide rules and dotted lines in the middle. I liked learning how to print and write cursive. I still like writing cursive!

    What do you remember about math classes?

    School Days Reminiscences of Barbara Vitelli

    I remember learning my times tables in third grade and when I got into fourth grade, learning long division. In high school, I loved Algebra because I liked solving problems where everything worked out on both sides. I wasn’t a big fan of Geometry, but I got through it. I took no math in college, but I had to take Calculus in graduate school – that was a struggle!

    What was your favourite subject?

    I didn’t have a favorite subject in the lower grades, but my favorite subject in high school was French (despite my love for Algebra). I even thought about majoring in French in college (I also considered Music and Peace Studies), but in the end I majored in English because I like to read. Now, besides reading, my favorite thing to think about is marketing. If I could do business school over again, I would pick that as my major. Finance and Investments was the hot major at the time (think Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen in Wall Street) so I just went with the flow. 

    What did you like best about school?

    School Days Reminiscences of Barbara Vitelli

     As a young girl, I liked the beginning of the school year when all our supplies were new. In junior high and high school, I liked that but I also liked the social side of school where I played sports, was a class officer and was in a lot of clubs. I was a little less active in college and focused more on a smaller group of friends and activities.

    What did you like least about school?  

    I generally liked school so I can’t say I disliked anything in particular. But I loved summer vacations because my family and I spent them at the Jersey shore. I had another group of good friends there and I was always excited to finish the year and see them. I was also sorry to see the summer end.

    How do you think schools have changed since your school days?

    School Days Reminiscences of Barbara Vitelli

    Without question, the biggest change has been technology. Kids now do a great deal of schoolwork on a screen, rather than writing it on paper. In many ways, technology helps kids do their work quickly and efficiently, but I think they miss out on the thinking part that happens when you write things out by hand. I think this is especially true for working out math problems and writing.

    What do you think schools (in general) do well?

    On the flip side of my technology comment, I think our schools have done a great job keeping up with technology and making changes to their curriculums to reflect this. These skills, particularly knowing how to use computer programs and do research on the Internet (besides using Google), are required skills in college and the workforce.

    How do you think schools could be improved?

    I would like to see approaches that encourage resiliency and independence. I think kids need to learn how to better handle disappointments and adversity. Perhaps that’s something that we parents are responsible for, but I think teachers can also make a big impact on our children in this area.

    thank you for your participation

    Thank you for sharing your reminiscences of school and thoughts about education in general, Barbara. It’s been wonderful to have you here. I’m sorry you got pushed over into the mud when you were in kindergarten, and can just imagine how concerned you were that your brother might also be bullied. I love that you didn’t mind school but that summer holidays were your favourite! Like you, I also loved my new supplies at the beginning of the year. There is nothing quite like the smell of new books.

    To find out more about Barbara Vitelli visit her blog

    Book Club Mom: bvitelli2002.wordpress.com

    or connect with her on social media

    Twitter: @BookClubMom
    Facebook: @BookClubMom

    If you missed previous reminiscences, check them out here:

    Charli Mills

    Sally Cronin

    Anne Goodwin

    Geoff Le Pard

    Hugh Roberts

    Debby Gies

    Pauline King

    JulesPaige

    D. Avery

    Christy Birmingham

    Miriam Hurdle

    Robbie Cheadle

    Marsha Ingrao

    Ritu Bhathal

    Joy Lennick

    Darlene Foster

    Susan Scott

    Look for future interviews in this series to be posted on Sunday evenings AEST.

    Coming soon:

    Sherri Matthews

    Mabel Kwong

    Chelsea Owens

    Pete Springer

    Carol Taylor

    with more to follow.

    Thank you blog post

    Thank you for reading. I appreciate your comments. Please share your thoughts.

     

  • Celebrating Man’s First Moon Walk – readilearn

    Celebrating Man’s First Moon Walk – readilearn

    Celebrating man’s first moon walk in the classroom with ideas for reading, writing, maths, science, technology, and history.

    This year marks the 50th anniversary of man’s first moon walk. On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong was the first man to place foot on the moon. Buzz Aldrin joined him shortly after and they spent just over two hours together outside the spacecraft.

    Since then another ten astronauts, all of whom were American men, have walked on the moon. The six crewed moon landings took place between 1969 and 1972.

    Celebrations of the first moon landing are taking place around the world. You can check out NASA events here and NASA resources for educators here.

    The way you celebrate the event in your classroom can be big or small. Here are a few easy-to-implement suggestions for different subject areas:

    Ideas for the classroom

    Critical thinking

    When Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, he said, “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”

    Ask children to give their opinions about the intended message of Neil Armstrong’s words. Were his words effective? How else could it be expressed?

    Writing
    • If I were an astronaut

    Continue reading: Celebrating Man’s First Moon Walk – readilearn

  • School Days, Reminiscences of Susan Scott

    School Days, Reminiscences of Susan Scott

    Welcome to the School Days, Reminiscences series in which my champion bloggers and authors share reminiscences of their school days. It’s my small way of thanking them for their support and of letting you know about their services and publications.

    This week, I am pleased to introduce Susan Scott, author and blogger. Susan and I have been following each other’s blogs for quite some years now. Susan’s posts are often philosophical and intrigue me with new ideas to contemplate. She thinks deeply and writes about a range of subjects from as big as our place in the universe to the smaller like her garden in South Africa. Her outlook is always optimistic with a wish for peace in the world. I like the way she concludes her posts with the words, “May the force be with you” or similar that reflects her desire to find the good in every situation.

    As I usually do, before we began the interview, I invited Susan to tell you a little of herself.

    Born in Port Elizabeth, lived in various parts of the country and abroad. Married, two adult sons, one a musician, the other an animator. Author of two books, ‘In Praise of Lilith, Eve & the Serpent in the Garden of Eden & Other Stories‘ (a collection of psychological essays); and 2nd book co-authored with Dr. Susan E Schwartz Jungian analyst in Phoenix Arizona “Aging & Becoming ~ A Reflective Enquiry‘. We express our own thoughts on the process of aging in letters to each other.

    BA Clin. Psych. Hons

    At the moment I’m living between two worlds. We are relocating from Johannesburg to Plettenberg Bay on the south-west Cape. It’s a big move, packing up personal belongings so that a corporate rental can take over in a week’s time.

    I enjoy walking and hiking, reading and writing.

    My blog, which is intermittent, is usually of a psychological nature. I’m an ongoing student of my own inner world and of that around me – living between two worlds as I said earlier!

    Garden of Eden Blog. https://www.gardenofedenblog.com

    Books by Susan Scott

    Welcome, Susan.

    Let’s talk school. First, could you tell us where you attended school and if they were government, private or independent schools?

    I attended a variety of schools in South Africa and Zimbabwe, some private some public (government schools). Some girls-only schools, a few co-ed – boys! – in high school. Which took my attention off the lessons to be learned. The fingers on both hands are insufficient for the number of schools I attended.

    What is the highest level of education you achieved?

    BA (HONS) Clinical Psychology, as a mature student, in my late 20’s and early 30’s. 

    What work or profession did you choose after school and was there anything in school that influenced this choice?

    I was in banking for many years – different branches around the country here in South Africa, and a stint in London. For several years after that I worked for an American computer company that had set up a training course exclusively for black students pro bono to learn computer skills. My job was to guide the students for placement in the industry which meant meeting with the captains of industry to secure employment for them. Apartheid was entrenched in those days though businesses were keen to show otherwise. My job was to place the graduated student in a suitable environment.

    What is your earliest memory of school?

    It’s not a happy memory –  that of being around 8 years old at a school in Harare (Zimbabwe. Then it was Salisbury, Rhodesia). The girls circled around me and called me all sorts of unmentionable names on account of my very dark skin. It’s strange that this is the one that stands out and that I don’t recall from any earlier …

    What memories do you have of learning to read?

    It helps to have siblings who occasionally fill in the gaps. My older brother was visiting recently, and he said that I was a very early reader happily ensconced in e.g. Enid Blyton preferring nose in books instead of my nose outside playing. Which of course I did do, in the sun, hence an olive skin that darkened easily.

    What memories do you have of learning to write?

    If I dredge my memory bank, I recall teachers admonishing us to hold the pencil correctly. Write upright, hold the pencil straight between the thumb and forefinger, other end to point over your shoulder close to your neck. Thumb, forefinger and middle finger on the pencil. Cross the t’s dot the i’s. Write neatly.

    What do you remember about math classes?

    School days, reminiscences of Susan Scott

    In a way I loved maths, the order and logic of it all. I could see the bigger picture, arriving at a correct conclusion, rather than the details as to how the answer was arrived. This was not especially pleasing to any maths teacher, nor my father who was a mathematical whizz. The times table was drilled into us until we could say them backwards as were theorems. To this day I calculate the cost of goods as I unload the shopping trolley and am pretty accurate most of the time!

    What was your favourite subject?

    School days, reminiscences of Susan Scott

    My favourite subject was probably English and the set works including the poetry of the greats. Writing essays (in a very neat cursive handwriting) gave me a measure of pleasure for the opportunity of expression as I saw it.

    What did you like best about school?

    I came into a little bit more of my own in my last years of high school, a co-ed. I finally gave up my very bad stuttering around age 16 which made my life a lot easier as I could hold a conversation and be part of life instead of apart from it. And of course, boys! Bunking school became an art with a few of my subversive girlfriends. My mid-teen years were possibly those that formed me into a closet anarchist (in the best sense of the word).

    What did you like least about school?

    School days, reminiscences of Susan Scott

    My earlier years in school were always difficult because of my stuttering. I felt I was deliberately picked out to answer a question in front of class or read from a passage, which was practically impossible for me to do. And if I didn’t answer, being put in a corner with my back to the class. Some say that their school years were among the happiest of their lives – perhaps because of my perception and experience I always find that response somewhat suspect. (Though my younger son loved high school and I know others of my sons’ peers who feel likewise. My husband loved his school years). I can’t say I hated school or the many schools I attended. The one I attended here in Johannesburg for 18 months were good. I made a lasting friend from then, even though for many years we lived in different parts of the world until her death two years ago.

    How do you think schools have changed since your school days?

    Similar dynamics from my schooldays probably still reign in contemporary schools among classmates, those of e.g. bullying, scapegoating and meanness. There was no violence in my days among pupils such as we see or hear of today where pupils carry weapons to school and knock off a fellow pupil or teacher. We were ‘pupils’ at school; here in SA we are ‘learners’. Classes are usually larger in government schools, certainly for the majority and there are not enough classrooms. It is not uncommon to hear of 50 pupils sharing 3 or 4 to a desk. There is high teacher absentee-ism in many government schools and badly trained teachers to boot. Children seem to have more rights than their teachers or the stated school philosophy. Parents sadly leave it all up to the school to instil good behavior, not realizing that their role as parent and early educator is the most fundamental one.

    What do you think schools (in general) do well?

    There are many examples of government schools providing an excellent education for their pupils even those from extremely impoverished backgrounds. I guess it takes a stern yet caring approach from those in authority, from the headmaster down. Schools that do well encourage learning from the beginning, as do parents of course who can set a good example by early reading to their children.

    There are many NGO’s who do their best to improve literacy in schools. Illiteracy, despite matriculating, is still very prevalent.

    This next, Norah, is recent and interesting but I couldn’t find the URL for it. Please shorten as you see fit. (Norah’s note: I didn’t shorten it as I enjoyed it and hope you will too. I also found these links to further information here and here.)

    Nal’ibali, the national reading-for-enjoyment campaign scooped a big international award for their hard work of encouraging good reading habits in South Africa.

     Aarhus, Denmark – Nal’ibali, the national reading-for-enjoyment campaign aimed at sparking children’s potential through reading and storytelling, has been awarded The Joy of Reading Prize by the Systematic Joy of Reading at Dook 1 in Aarhus, Denmark. The award was presented by the president of the International Library Association, IFLA, Glòria Pérez-Salmerón from Spain on Saturday, 1 June.

    Twenty-eight projects from around the world were nominated, focussing on initiatives that disseminate the joy and ability to read, and thus engage in the fight against illiteracy. Jade Jacobsohn, Nal’ibali’s Managing Director, received the award on behalf of her dedicated team in South Africa.

    “I would like to dedicate this award to the 17000 literacy activists in South Africa – we call them FUNda Leaders – everyday ordinary people who have signed up with Nal’ibali to create opportunities for children in their lives to fall in love with books.”

    “I’d also like to dedicate this award to my fierce and fabulous team of fellow Nal’ibalians who are immersed on a daily basis in the hardships of social inequality and poverty, as they fight to give children the best chance they can get of rising out of it. The ability to read with understanding” lauded Jacobsohn.  

    She concluded with the formidable words of Nelson Mandela, ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. The foundation of education is literacy.’ 

    The international jury applauded Nal’ibali for its long-term impact and influence on local communities in South Africa and for parents in particular, who have become role models for their children’s reading habits. They complimented Nal’ibali’s framework that creates a nurturing environment, as well as generating the assortment of multilingual reading materials, so that children from all age groups, can learn to love reading in the many mother tongues spoken in South Africa. 

    This international recognition award comes with a prize of $10 000 which will go towards stocking up Nal’ibali’s newly launched mobile libraries for Story Power in Motion, ensuring both children and adults have access to great stories in their home languages.

    How do you think schools could be improved?

    You’ll note that the last sentence ‘…says access to stories in their home languages’. This is a debate that rages on, and is relevant as we have 11 languages here in SA, including English and Afrikaans, of whom only about 8% have English & Afrikaans as home languages. Which means that when black children enter into school and are taught in English, they are already back footed. This apart from education still being for the most part barely up to scratch in spite of SA spending the most worldwide on education and yet having an abysmal record.

    You ask how I think schools could be improved. Literacy begins long before schooling. Children could be encouraged to read firstly which allows for the imagination to come into play. Einstein, when asked by parents how they could help their children become clever like he was, he replied ‘Read them fairy stories, and read them more stories’.

    Later on they can develop critical thinking skills. Chess would be a good subject to learn. Schools could encourage the art subjects more and I read that this is being encouraged around the world in order to develop both sides of the brain. Each side enhances the other.

    School days, reminiscences of Susan Scott

    There could be more time for the playground, away from the confines of the classroom. They could learn to tend to a vegetable patch. They could see Nature in action more, e.g. the worms in the soil, or the ants, birds, butterflies and bees going about their business.

    It is as well that schools have rules and regulations of which parents and children are aware. From this basis they can break the rules, when they have the critical skills to do so.

    Schools should provide safe and secure places of learning where children have no fear of being attacked and bullied by fellow classmates and/or teachers.

    There could be skilled social workers or psychologists on hand to attend to any child or teenager who appears to be suffering from problems at home and with whom the child or teenager feels safe in revealing their problems.

    Quality education for all requires the support of government, schools, civil society, NGOs, families, communities and funders.

    thank you for your participation

    Thank you for sharing your reminiscences of school and thoughts about education in general, Susan. It’s been wonderful to have you here. I especially enjoyed reading about Nal’ibali, the national reading-for-enjoyment campaign. While I agree with the improvements you suggest for education, I am disappointed to hear that your schools days were not so enjoyable and that you were bullied in school. The situation that you describe existing in many schools is also something that none of us anywhere can be proud of when education should be universal.

    Find out more about Susan Scott

    on her blog: Garden of Eden Blog

    Connect with her on social media

    Facebook: Susan Scott – Author

    Twitter: Susan Scott

     

    Purchase your own copy of Susan’s books:

    Books by Susan Scott

    In Praise of Lilith, Eve & the Serpent in the Garden of Eden & Other Stories

     Aging & Becoming ~ A Reflective Enquiry

     

    If you missed previous reminiscences, check them out here:

    Charli Mills

    Sally Cronin

    Anne Goodwin

    Geoff Le Pard

    Hugh Roberts

    Debby Gies

    Pauline King

    JulesPaige

    D. Avery

    Christy Birmingham

    Miriam Hurdle

    Robbie Cheadle

    Marsha Ingrao

    Ritu Bhathal

    Joy Lennick

    Darlene Foster

    Look for future interviews in this series to be posted on Sunday evenings AEST.

    Coming soon:

    Barbara Vitelli

    Sherri Matthews

    Mabel Kwong

    Chelsea Owens

    Pete Springer

    Carol Taylor

    with more to follow.

    Thank you blog post

    Thank you for reading. I appreciate your comments. Please share your thoughts.

     

  • Lessons ready to teach critical thinking in early childhood classrooms – readilearn

    Lessons ready to teach critical thinking in early childhood classrooms – readilearn

    Even young children in early childhood classrooms can be taught to think critically about material that is presented to them. Being able to discern the accuracy of what they read is increasingly important in this era of fake news.

    In this post, I provide some suggestions with lessons ready to teach using children’s picture books. The types of questions and ideas can be applied to other books for checking the accuracy of information.

    To assist in verification of information, children can be encouraged to ask and answer questions such as:

    • What do we already know?
    • Does this match what we already know?
    • What do we want to find out?
    • How can we find out?
    • How can we be sure the information is true?
    • Is it fact or is it fiction?

    Children, and adults, need to be aware that misinformation, often cleverly disguised as fact, is available everywhere, including on the internet. Being able to navigate one’s way through it all is a very important skill, regardless of age. This article by Tech Teacher Jacqui Murray has some useful advice about Fake News or Fact? How do you tell?

    We don’t need to present young children with fake news stories to teach them the skills of critical thinking. We can begin with discussions of stories and information we present to them each day.

    Continue reading: Lessons ready to teach critical thinking in early childhood classrooms – Readilearn

  • Celebrating 100 days of school with lessons ready to teach – readilearn

    Celebrating 100 days of school with lessons ready to teach – readilearn

    Celebrating 100 days of school is a wonderful opportunity for acknowledging the passage of time, learning progress and a growing understanding of number. Children love a party and there can be nothing better than a celebration to increase their motivation and get them all involved.

    As the school year in Australia consists of approximately 200 days, the 100th day occurs close to the half-way mark. While it is fun to count up to 100, it can also be fun to count back from 100 to know how many more school days remain in the year.

    Celebrate 100 days

    Several readilearn resources with lessons ready to teach support you and your students as you count up to and celebrate one hundred days, including:

    Whether you’ve used it from the beginning of the year or not, the interactive digital resource Busy Bees 100 chart is great for all your usual number board activities and can be used to keep a count of how many days you’ve been at school. Simply display the resource on the whiteboard at the beginning of each day and move the bee to the next number. The chart also helps to develop a visual idea of what 100 objects look like.

    Each of these next three resources can be accessed individually or through the Busy Bees 100 chart.

    Continue reading: Celebrating 100 days of school with lessons ready to teach – readilearn

  • School Days, Reminiscences of Joy Lennick

    School Days, Reminiscences of Joy Lennick

    Welcome to the School Days, Reminiscences series in which my champion bloggers and authors share reminiscences of their school days. It’s my small way of thanking them for their support and of letting you know about their services and publications.

    This week, I am pleased to introduce Joy Lennick, author and poet. Joy joined in the conversations from the outset, sharing snippets from her war-time schooldays. Intrigued to learn more, I invited Joy to join in with a post dedicated to her own reminiscences and she accepted. I’m certain you’ll find them as interesting as I do.

    Before we begin the interview, I’ve invited Joy to tell you a little of herself:

    From a young age, I was never happier than when reading or writing (and perhaps dancing!). I was evacuated with my two brothers to live on a mountain (Hare) in Wales, being half Welsh on my mother’s side, and grew to love Wales. My education was completed in Pitman’s College, London, from the last year of the war. At fifteen, I became a shorthand-typist, and worked for an agency in the East and West ends of London, which I really enjoyed.

    After marriage just before the age of 21, and living in London for a few years, the Suez Crisis debacle flared up and petrol was so short and the atmosphere so “war-like,” we set sail for Canada, where we lived and worked for eighteen, unforgettable, months.

    Returning to the UK due to home-sickness…in 1960 I had my first son, followed by No.2 in 1962 and No.3 in 1968. I contracted but beat cancer, so was very lucky. We then ran a green-grocery/grocery store for several years. After its sale, and the children went to school, I returned to work in the city as secretary to the two editors of Kaye & Ward, an old established publishing company in the city. (My dream job!)

    The next chapter saw us buying a small hotel in Bournemouth as we both enjoyed cooking and people. We turned a dark, mean place into a thriving business, I lost a stone (yippee) and gained a few muscles, and we thoroughly enjoyed the whole business, even though it was hard work.  Tastes were changing and the hotel was old. We needed more cash than we had to make it more comfortable, so – with regret, sold it and returned to Essex to live. And that is when I learned about “Serendipity,” and became a writer, quite by chance.

    A letter from Kogan Page Ltd of London “commissioned” me (?!) to write a book for them, subject to approval of the first two chapters. I couldn’t wait! “Running Your Own Small Hotel” was approved. I had been recommended by one of the editors I’d worked for who had read some of my poetry and an article I’d had published. The book did well and went to reprint. There was even an exciting “Authors’ party,” and I updated two of their books and wrote a second called “Jobs in Baking and Confectionery,” which also sold well.

    In between working for my local junior school, part-time, I then ran a modest, while successful poetry club, and wrote a few poems and articles, which were published. I also received a few rejection letters…par for the course!

    Fast forward too many years, and we retired to Spain, I joined The Torrevieja Writing group and won the first Torrevieja International Short Story competition with a Time Traveller tale called “Worth its Salt,” then was a writing judge for two years.

    Next came a memoir: “My Gentle War” which went to No.1 in Kindle’s Social History and Memoir category. A true sea adventure story: “Hurricane Halsey” followed, then my only novel “The Catalyst,” covering one of the terrorist bombings of a train in London in 2005, but with fictitious characters. I also wrote several stories which were included in WordPlay’s anthologies – later called Writers’ Ink (our off-shoot Ezine is called INK SPOT). Then came “Where Angels and Devils Tread,” a collection of short stories written with author friend Jean Wilson; and a modest collection of jokes and humorous poems written with my husband, Eric: “The Moon is Wearing a Tutu.” I also edited husband’s book “A Life Worth Living,” and updated “From the Prairies to Paschendeale,” for a friend. I am at present working on a book about the “Dombrowski family.”

    I took a Creative Writing class for the U3A for several years and am in the “Chair” for Writers’ Ink here in Spain.

    Joy Lennick and her books

    Welcome, Joy.

    Let’s talk school. First, could you tell us where you attended school?

    Where did you go to school?

    1937: Dagenham Infants school

    1939: Twynrodyn Junior School

    1941: Hunters Hall school

    1943: Eastbrook senior school, Long Eaton senior school, Derbyshire

    1944: Neath senior school

    1944: Pitman’s College, London.

    Did you attend a government, private or independent school?

    All Government schools, except Pitman’s College, London, which was private.

    What is the highest level of education you achieved?

    Highest level: Pitman’s where I received various certificates for hand-writing/typing/shorthand and commerce.

    What work or profession did you choose after school and was there anything in school that influenced this choice?

    I started as a shorthand-typist, became assistant secretary and then secretary. Also assisted husband in running a greengrocery/grocery shop and became a hotelier.  I was then a Dinner Lady/School assistant and did voluntary work with the elderly before writing professionally.

    What is your earliest memory of school?

    My earliest memory at Infants school was writing my name in sand on a shallow tray and playing the triangle and the tambourine in the school band.

    What memories do you have of learning to read?

    I was immediately fascinated by the letters and words on a page and took to reading straight away. I read anything and everything: ingredients on cereal boxes, comics, etc., and was always lucky enough to be given books for my birthdays. I joined the library in MerthyrTydfil and devoured books from age seven — Hans Christian Anderson and the frightening Bros. Grimm, et al.

    What memories do you have of learning to write?

    As for writing, my father was a keen letter-writer (positive views on many subjects to the local newspaper) and wrote beautiful Calligraphy which I greatly admired and wanted to emulate. He kept stamps and made a few admirable displays with delicate work around each stamp. I was proud to be told I had a “good hand!” and of my hand-writing certificate. Shorthand later made it a bit scruffier…

    What do you remember about math classes?

    I had a problem with maths. Adding, subtracting, decimals and fractions was coped with OK but  if I was thrown a maths ‘puzzler’ I’d freeze…I coped fine when we had our shop, and did the accounts when we ran the hotel as it was comparatively straight-forward, but I much preferred English.

    What was your favourite subject?

    Most definitely English, and because of the very nature of war — between the years 1939,when it  began and 1945 when it ended, there were, periodically, huge disruptions in my schooling,  especially when the siren sounded. At such times, we were read to and had to ‘Read quietly!’ by ourselves, which I found a joy. I also loved composing stories and enjoyed spelling. I even wrote a silly play which was acted on the stage. Poetry also pleased my young ears. I was particularly fond of Hiawatha because of the delightful rhythm. I couldn’t take to Shakespeare when young but loved it later when, at the ripe age of 66 I finally took and passed the English Literature exam – much to the amusement of my younger peers…

    Joy Lennick at age 4

    What did you like best about school?

    I made friends quite easily, despite being shy and was a chatter-box, in spite of the annoying habit of blushing if a boy spoke to me. In fact, I blushed a lot as I was often unsure of myself, but always enjoyed having friends at school. There was so much to learn, and I have always been a curious person. I was lucky in that I was never bullied and got on with most children, and was also fortunate with  the teachers, except for my maths teacher at Pitman’s who had no patience with my many questions…Miss Jones, my English and Games teacher at Pitman’s was my favourite.

    What did you like least about school?

    To be fair, the mores of the times were dictated by the state of the whole world, as very little was as ‘normal’ as in peace time. Some children were killed or injured and lost loved ones and air raids disrupted many classes, especially in London, Coventry, Norwich and many other towns. We children went back-wards and forwards to home and Wales several times in between the bombing for long weekends and holidays. And when I attended Eastbrook senior school in Dagenham, the bombing increased and the whole school was evacuated to Long Eaton in Derbyshire. It must have been a nightmare for the teachers to keep to a curriculum!

    How do you think schools have changed since your school days?

    There is no comparison between my schooldays and those of my three sons. Only one was bullied because he was more studious and wouldn’t join an unruly gang. Fortunately, the headmaster sorted it out. All three received a fair and satisfactory education. I have no grand- children to comment on present conditions but do have friends who were teachers. They both complained about the increased paper-work, which – apparently – is an ongoing problem for teachers today.

    What do you think schools (in general) do well?

    From my ten years working as a Dinner Lady and reading/poetry assistant in a junior school, I’d say that, over-all, today’s children are in pretty safe hands, education-wise. The technological strides forward are amazing, and I’m personally pleased to see more musical appreciation and tuition being introduced in some schools

    How do you think schools could be improved?

    It’s no secret there are a lot of problems in the world, generally – of course there always have been – but because of technology and the immediacy of news reaching eyes and ears, it is often exaggerated in our minds. Too much paper-work still seems to overload some teachers, and I wish there was more emphasis put on caring for each other. Not all parents are equipped for the job they undertook…(as my husband says: ‘You have to pass a test to drive a car, but any idiot can have a child…’ Religion should be discussed broadly, but taught and practiced in specific schools,  not mainstream, although children should be helped to accept and live and let live, when taught about caring.

    thank you for your participation

    Thank you for sharing your reminiscences of school and thoughts about education in general, Joy. How disruptive your schooling was as a result of the war. You seem to have overcome any obstacles that it may have created. It’s been a pleasure to have you here and get to know you and learn about your school days and your achievements.

    Find out more about Joy Lennick

    Website: https://joylennick.wordpress.com/

    Contact her at joylennick@gmail.com

    Or connect with her on social media

    Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Writers’ Ink

    also a member of Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club on Facebook

    If you missed previous reminiscences, check them out here:

    Charli Mills

    Sally Cronin

    Anne Goodwin

    Geoff Le Pard

    Hugh Roberts

    Debby Gies

    Pauline King

    JulesPaige

    D. Avery

    Christy Birmingham

    Miriam Hurdle

    Robbie Cheadle

    Marsha Ingrao

    Ritu Bhathal

    Look for future interviews in this series to be posted on Sunday evenings AEST.
    Coming soon:

    Darlene Foster

    Susan Scott

    Barbara Vitelli

    Mabel Kwong

    Sherri Matthews

    Chelsea Owens

    Pete Springer

    with more to follow.

    Thank you blog post

    Thank you for reading. I appreciate your comments. Please share your thoughts.

     

     

  • Developing Number Concepts with Lessons Ready to Teach – readilearn

    Developing Number Concepts with Lessons Ready to Teach – readilearn

    Ensuring children have a firm understanding of number concepts is important before moving them on to working with larger numbers and more abstract concepts. A strong foundation makes for greater confidence when working with numbers of any size.

    To support your teaching of early number concepts, I have produced a new interactive resource, Count with Teddy Bears, with lessons ready for you to teach on the interactive whiteboard. The resource extends the range for teaching understanding of number already available from readilearn.

    The lessons in Count with Teddy Bears provide opportunities for teacher explanations, teacher-student discussions, and student demonstration of understanding.

    Interactive lessons are engaging for students, and with the children focused on the lesson, the teacher can identify areas of misunderstanding that require further teaching as well as concepts about which the children are already confident.

    About Count with Teddy Bears

    Count with Teddy Bears incorporates five separate sections with teaching in five main concept areas:

    Count Teddy Bears — Counting in ones from 1–12.

    Children click on each Teddy to count. As it is clicked, the Teddy is coloured, and one is added to the total.

    Teddy’s Cupcakes — One-to-one matching up to 10.

    Continue reading: Developing Number Concepts with Lessons Ready to Teach – readilearn

  • School Days, Reminiscences of Ritu Bhathal

    School Days, Reminiscences of Ritu Bhathal

    Welcome to the School Days, Reminiscences series in which my champion bloggers and authors share reminiscences of their school days. It’s my small way of thanking them for their support and of letting you know about their services and publications.

    This week, I am delighted to introduce Ritu Bhathal, author, poet, blogger, teacher. Ritu and I follow a similar group of bloggers. We seem to pop up alongside each other, commenting on a number of blogs and writing flash fiction at the Carrot Ranch where Ritu’s contribution is often poetic. I think that we are both teachers, have a love of children and learning, and similar views about education draws us together. Ritu decided she wanted to be a teacher at an even younger age than I did. Teaching (and writing) was our destiny. If you haven’t yet met Ritu, I’m sure you’ll be pleased to do so now.

    Ritu Bhathal and her book of poetry

    Before we begin the interview, I’ll allow Ritu to tell you a little of herself:

    Ritu Bhathal was born in Birmingham in the mid-1970’s to migrant parents, hailing from Kenya but with Indian origin. This colourful background has been a constant source of inspiration to her.
    From childhood, she always enjoyed reading. This love of books is mostly credited to her mother.
    The joy of reading spurred her on to become creative in her own writing, from fiction to poetry.
    Winning little writing competitions at school and locally gave her the encouragement to continue writing.
    As a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and teacher, she has drawn on inspiration from many avenues to create the poems that she writes.
    A qualified teacher, having studied at Kingston University, she now deals with classes of children as a sideline to her writing!
    Ritu also writes a blog, a mixture of life and creativity, thoughts and opinions, which was awarded first place in the Best Overall Blog Category at the 2017 Annual Bloggers Bash Awards.
    Ritu is happily married, and living in Kent, with her Hubby Dearest, and two children, not forgetting the furbaby Sonu Singh.
    Having published an anthology of poetry, Poetic RITUals, she is currently working on some short stories, and a novel, to be published in the near future.

    Welcome, Ritu.

    Let’s talk school. First, could you tell us where you attended school?

    I went to school in Solihull, Birmingham, in the UK.

    Ritu Bhathal's first school

    Did you attend a government, private or independent school?

    The school I attended from 3 all the way to 17 was an Independent private girls’ school.

    What is the highest level of education you achieved?

    I completed my B/Ed (Hons) English & Drama (3-7 years) degree at Kingston University in Surrey, UK.

    What work or profession did you choose after school and was there anything in school that influenced this choice?

    Ritu Bhathal decides to be a teacher

    My degree shows what my intention was – to teach. I ended up in retail, a bank and then a marketing company, before finally getting to the job I always felt I was created to do. The reason I decided teaching was my vocation was because of the head girl at our school, Jo Duck, when I was 7. She came to our class to do work experience, and that was when it clicked that teaching was a job, something I could choose to do!

    What is your earliest memory of school?

    Ritu Bhathal discusses starting school

    My earliest memory is the classroom where I first started school, in Miss Wilson’s class, as a 3-year-old. It was a huge room, filled with so many activities, books and toys, and a lot of love. I distinctly remember this beautiful wooden playhouse that was our home corner, and that we all had a bit of a ‘thing’ that something creepy lived behind it. Obviously, all that was behind it was a wall, but at 3, your imagination can play games! And the fact that I spoke no English when I started, apart from Hello! Apparently, I learned quickly, and within a week, my mum says my pidgin English would sail through the air at home, as my Punjabi faded away… And I haven’t stopped speaking it since! But never fear, I haven’t forgotten my mother tongue!

    What memories do you have of learning to read? 

    I can always remember having school reading books to take home, and the series that always stays in my mind involved a griffin and some pirates! Books were always key in my life. My mother is also a keen reader and her passion rubbed off on me. My first set of books were the original Noddy series by Enid Blyton, which I was given at 4, after having my tonsils out. I still have them.

    What memories do you have of learning to write?

    I don’t know when I specifically learned to write, but the whole process involved lots of fine motor activities, and I know I had crayons and paper from a very young age. I was proud of being able to master my full name, Ratinder!

    What do you remember about math classes?

    Maths as a subject, is not my favourite. I used to say I can’t do maths, but that’s not very growth mindset, so to this day in my forties, I say “I cannot do maths, yet!” My biggest memory of maths, aside from the squared paper in the books was a male maths teacher joining our school, and not being able to cope with the chattering that happened in this fully female class!

    What was your favourite subject?

    English and Drama were my favourite subjects, for obvious reasons! Reading and writing was always a pleasure, never a chore, and acting, oh, I loved to create personas that were totally unlike the real me.

    What did you like best about school?

    Ritu Bhathal discusses her well-rounded education

    Honestly, I can’t pinpoint one thing. I feel blessed that I had a really positive experience at my school, and I feel proud to say that I left with friends for life and a wholly rounded education.

    What did you like least about school?

    P.E.! I am not a physically motivated person, and though I didn’t mind games lessons, they were definitely not my favourite!

    How do you think schools have changed since your school days?

    Ritu Bhathal discusses schooling

    There has been a huge change in education and schools since I attended. Being a part of the education system as a professional, I feel I can say that. A lot of standardised testing from a young age has put additional pressure on children, and I really think that this pressure is what ends up creating the angry teens we seem to have more of nowadays. Teachers try so hard to make school fun, but the tick boxes we have to adhere to, really strip the enjoyment for us as well as the children.

    What do you think schools (in general) do well?

    That is a really hard question because I don’t think there is a blanket answer. Some schools are better than others at giving children a rounded experience of life. Some are more concerned with tests and results.

    How do you think schools could be improved?

    I think this answer doesn’t lie with the schools, but with the government. They really need to learn from the Scandinavian Education system, where the emphasis is on learning through play for the first few years, and formal schooling that starts at 7, when a child is more ready to learn in a classroom environment. And scrap the SATS! I speak from experience here as I have seen both my children go through the SATS and the upset it caused them at 7 and 11. In Finland, where my brother is bringing his family up, my nephew is 4 and the age of children I teach. What he can do at that age, in more than one language, astounds me, from his general knowledge, motor skills, numeracy and literacy! UK – please take note!

    thank you for your participation

    Thank you for sharing your reminiscences of school and your professional perspective on education as it is now, Ritu. I’m not surprised to hear that English and Drama were your favourite subjects and I applaud your recommendation to the UK Education Department. We need our Australian Government to take note too.

    Find out more about Ritu Bhathal

    Website: http://www.butismileanyway.com

    Goodreads author page: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/56854412-ritu-bhathal

    Or connect with her on social media:

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/RituBhathal
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ritubhathalwrites/
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/butismileanyway/
    Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/bhathalpadhaal/
    Mix: https://mix.com/butismileanyway
    Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ritusmiles

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritu-bhathal-48941648/
    Bloglovin: https://www.bloglovin.com/@ritubhathalpadhaal

     

    Poetic Rituals by Ritu Bhathal

    Purchase your own copy of Poetic RITUals via this link

    myBook.to/PoeticRITUals

    If you missed previous reminiscences, check them out here:

    Charli Mills

    Sally Cronin

    Anne Goodwin

    Geoff Le Pard

    Hugh Roberts

    Debby Gies

    Pauline King

    JulesPaige

    D. Avery

    Christy Birmingham

    Miriam Hurdle

    Robbie Cheadle

    Marsha Ingrao

    Look for future interviews in this series to be posted on Sunday evenings AEST.
    Coming soon:

    Joy Lennick

    Darlene Foster

    Susan Scott

    Mabel Kwong

    Sherri Matthews

    Chelsea Owens

    Pete Springer

    Colleen Chesebro

    with more to follow.

    Thank you blog post

    Thank you for reading. I appreciate your comments. Please share your thoughts.

     

  • Teaching apostrophes with lessons ready to teach – readilearn

    Teaching apostrophes with lessons ready to teach – readilearn

    Do your children have difficulty spelling contractions or using apostrophes for possession correctly? If so, you are not alone. Many, and not only young children, do.

    To support your teaching of this punctuation mark that many find tricky, I have produced an interactive resource that explains, demonstrates and provides practice in its correct use.

    I have called the resource Apostrophes Please! to encourage young writers to get their writing right.

    About Apostrophes Please!

    Apostrophes Please! is an interactive resource, ready for use on the interactive whiteboard. It consists of enough material for a series of lessons teaching the correct use of apostrophes in both contractions and possessive nouns.

    Like other readilearn resources, Apostrophes Please! recognises the value of teacher input and the importance of teacher-student discussion. It is not designed for children to use independently. While the activities have interactive features, there are no bells, whistles and gimmicks. It relies simply on effective teaching.

    The resource provides flexibility for the teacher to choose activities which are relevant to student needs and teaching focus. All lessons and activities encourage explanation, stimulate discussion and provide opportunities for children to practise, explain and demonstrate what they have learned. There are nineteen interactive slides and over thirty slides in all.

    Organisation of Apostrophes Please!

    Contractions and possessive nouns are introduced separately.

    Continue reading: Teaching apostrophes with lessons ready to teach – readilearn