This week, readilearn celebrates three years of supporting teachers and parents of children in their first three years of school.
In recognition of this milestone, we are offering, until the end of the month, a 50% discount on any readilearn resource, including subscription. To take advantage of this offer, simply enter the code *birthday* at the checkout.
Continue reading: Celebrating Three Years of readilearn with a Gift for You – readilearn
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 Carol Taylor who blogs at CarolCooks2 and writes about food, health, cooking, the environment and life in general, but especially in Thailand. I enjoy her positive outlook and the honesty with which she writes. I first met Carol at Sally Cronin’s where she contributes a regular column about food and cooking. She has taken a great interest in the school days reminiscences shared by others and was happy to join in the conversation sharing her own.
Before we begin the interview, I’ll allow Carol to tell you a little of herself:
Enjoying life in The Land of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.
I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetables I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.
Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have come to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.
The environment is also something I am passionate about …Plastic, Recycling and effects of Global Warming are all high on my agenda now…I am appalled at man’s waste and how they are destroying our beautiful natural world…But also how successive governments around the world are not doing enough to address this problem.
Welcome, Carol.
Let’s talk school. First, could you tell us where you attended school?
My school days…I am dredging deep now as that was many, many years ago…I started at Potter Street Infants and Juniors and then progressed to the local Comprehensive which it became just as I started. Brays Grove, Harlow, Essex, England.
I then progressed to Tottenham Technical College before starting work…
What is your earliest memory of school?
I can’t remember much about my early school years …I was happy I don’t have any bad memories I remember my mother still tells that tale as how when I first started school I stated I was now old enough to walk on my own…She got the bigger girls in the street to watch me..we didn’t live far it was maybe a five minute walk but I never let my mother take me I was always an independent miss or minx…ha-ha
What memories do you have of learning to read and write?
I think I was born being able to read and write I never remember struggling and my handwriting was always neat and tidy I tried to emulate my father who wrote beautifully. The local library was my home and I always took out the maximum books and I was back again the next Saturday for more…Like many of us I read under the bedclothes and from memory early presents for me were always books…I loved the famous five and my Rupert Bear annuals…That was until I received my first set of encyclopaedias…and also a set of reference books on Botany …
What was your favourite subject?
My father thought girls just got married and had children my mother always said very nice dear when I showed her my A+ marks…I was a good student…Particularly in Biology, History and Geography because I could write and add illustrations…Domestic Science and needlework I have always loved and music I mean we should all have music in our lives and I love to play the piano which was my first instrument. My nana’s every day after school as she had a lovely piano…and practise I did…until she passed away and her piano was given to the nurse who looked after her…I have never quite forgiven that action…
What do you remember about math classes?
You have probably noticed I didn’t mention Maths, Physics or P.E….Apart from the swimming I hated the rest and avoided where possible…Or tried to sit at the back of class unnoticed…
What other memories do you have of school?
Languages I studied 3…Latin, German and French… all at my senior school which I think is too late to start…Language is learnt far easier when the child is younger I can only speak for here( Thailand) but English is taught from when the child first starts school so much easier to pick up…
I was never the most popular or unpopular I was just there. I had a few friends rather than everyone…
What work or profession did you choose after school and was there anything in school that influenced this choice?
From senior school I progressed to Tottenham Technical College to do Hair dressing and Beauty culture …I enjoyed my two years there. I learnt a lot about culture as I was meeting people from different backgrounds…I had led a sheltered life until then… I have always had a streak in me which didn’t want to conform to the norm so college allowed me to do that…I was a competition model my hair has been all colours and wacky styles which meant when my children wanted to dye their hair green I was overjoyed not the reaction kids like …ha-ha..
I finished my two years with a distinction and came out raring to go…First Year improver…Hmmm…Not for this girl… I joined an Engineering company and did their stats for them…I left school and college still not knowing what I really wanted to do…
I then had my first daughter and worked part time at our local Hospital…I was there for a few years mostly enjoyable and a learning curve …I was still an avid reader but apart from a diary never wrote much…That came much later in my life…
What is the highest level of education you achieved?
I have always had a thirst for learning and an inquisitive mind and when I saw an advert for a Banking position I applied…Although maths was not my strong point in Senior school I can add up in my head all that early learning in Infants and Juniors paid off I still remember all of that…I passed the entrance exams…That really was the start of learning as while at the bank I took evening classes and passed A-level law and The London Institute of Banking and Mortgage Practise exams with distinction which is my highest level of education…
My dear friend Jilly was my mentor she was a nursing sister…and she encouraged my thirst for knowledge telling my children and me that when I was studying I was unavailable…anything they wanted they asked before or after and it worked after a few days…
After 15 years in banking I then started work for the government until I retired…Another learning curve …That was when my real distrust of politicians started…
After retiring to Phuket and by chance joining a writing group…All my thanks go to them, they encouraged me …In my friend Dianne’s words…’ Oh my Buddha what have we released?” My writing journey began in earnest as did my cooking as much is not available here so some was borne out of necessity and the rest out of my growing awareness of what is in our food.
How do you think schools could be improved?
Having lived here, Thailand for 8 years now…and watched my grandsons grow up through the Australian school system …My observations are that schools are too politically correct now…too qualification driven…I think children should be allowed to be children first and foremost…I think more attention should be paid to the fact that not everyone is academic and if they have other qualities like working with their hands it should be encouraged…
So should a community spirit which is high on the agenda here in Thailand…I was a late starter as regards qualifications and that door should always be open…By listening and advising in a non-doctorial way but a two way conversation… if a child struggles with reading let them read a book which is of interest to them and fosters questions.
What do you think schools (in general) do well?
From my research into climate change I have been heartened by the fact that many schools now are encouraging children to learn about the environment and showing them how to grow food…I think that is good way forward …
Thank you for sharing your reminiscences of school and thoughts about education in general, Carol. It’s been wonderful to have you here. I love your attitude to learning and agree that it should be life-long. I also agree that ‘children should be allowed to be children first and foremost’ and to ‘let them read a book which is of interest to them and fosters questions.’ I am heartened by your observation that ‘many schools are now encouraging children to learn about the environment’.
on her blog: https://carolcooks2.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheRealCarolT
Face book: https://www.facebook.com/carol.taylor.1422
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caroltaylor56/pins/
https://www.amazon.com/Phuket-Island-Writers-Anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B00RU5IYNS
Colleen Chesebro
Thank you for reading. I appreciate your comments. Please share your thoughts.
This week I have added a new classroom game for junior entomologists to the collection. The game is a fun way to integrate learning across the curriculum and, while appropriate for use at any time of the year, is particularly so when completing a unit of work about minibeasts.
The game works well as a group activity in science, literacy or maths lessons. It is also great as an activity with buddy classes. It is best if an adult or older buddy is available to explain and oversee the play.
The game involves children in learning and practice of skills across curriculum areas; including:
Biology – focus minibeasts
Reading:
Research skills – finding the answers to questions
Games are an excellent way of teaching children the essential skills of getting along, including:
All components of the game are downloadable and printable. Laminating is recommended for durability.
The package includes:
Continue reading: A New Classroom Game for Junior Entomologists – 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.
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
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.
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
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 Christy Birmingham, prolific blogger, author and poet. I’m not sure how or where I first met Christy but I do know that we have been regular visitors of each other’s blogs since the beginning of 2015, not long before the launch of her book of poetry Versions of the Self.
I would have thought I read her book not long after that, but Amazon tells me I didn’t purchase it until 2017, so I guess Amazon knows? It also doesn’t display a review from me, though I thought I had added one. However, I do remember enjoying Christy’s insightful poetry and being touched by the exploration and depth of emotion portrayed in many of the pieces which delve into ways in which the self may change over time and in response to circumstances.
On her blog When Women Inspire, Christy shares information on a wide range of helpful topics especially those aimed at helping women live healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives. No topic is too big or too small for Christy. She covers anything which she expects women, however young or old, will find interesting or beneficial. But her blog isn’t just for women. Numerous men regularly read and comment too. If you don’t already follow Christy’s blog, please pop over and say hello.
Before we begin the interview, I invite Christy to tell you a little of herself:
Christy Birmingham is a blogger, author, and poet who lives in Victoria, BC, Canada. She uses her writing to show others that they too can get through difficult times as she has, personally with anxiety and depression, as well as professionally with starting her own business. Find her blogging at When Women Inspire, at the gym, reading, or out with her family and friends.
Welcome, Christy.
Let’s talk school. First, could you tell us where you attended school?
All of my schooling has been on Canada’s west coast. Specifically, I went to schools in Victoria, British Columbia until after high school graduation, when I then did a mix of college and university in Victoria and Vancouver, BC.
Did you attend a government, private or independent school?
I’m a public-school kid!
What is the highest level of education you achieved?
I am proud to have a BA in Criminology and Psychology from Simon Fraser University.
What is your earliest memory of school?
I recall my elementary school teacher telling us she had published a book. I was wowed by it and never forgot that inspiration!
What memories do you have of learning to read?
I was taken out of class regularly to see a speech therapist for problems I was having with pronunciation. It made me self-conscious reading aloud and talking in general.
What memories do you have of learning to write?
Learning cursive was so much fun! Learning how to spell out my full name and create different styles of writing for it provided hours of delight for me. I’ve always loved language.
What do you remember about math classes?
Not liking them very much, unfortunately. It often took me a while to catch onto concepts, and once math homework was done, I wanted to read books or write short stories.
What was your favourite subject?
English, by far. Poetry and short stories were ways for me to describe what was going through my head. Releasing thoughts onto the page brought my mind calmness and then seeing the positive feedback from teachers for what I wrote in English class was amazing to me. I’ve never forgotten the encouragement of certain teachers for my writing in elementary and high school.
What did you like least about school?
Trying to find where I fit in. Books brought me happiness, as did the writing. Thankfully I found friends throughout my years of school who supported me in my artistic projects. Once I realized that it was about the quality of friendships rather than the number of friends I had, I was happy.
How do you think schools could be improved?
By listening to students, no matter their age. Hear what students want to see change about your school and determine if it’s feasible. Also, make libraries a priority as they are where students go to do research and can encourage a love of literacy.
Lastly, engage with the local community rather than being independent of it as a school. By schools partnering with the communities they’re nestled within, students can enjoy a fuller educational experience. Also, schools can get ideas and support from the general community that can take the institutions further than they might otherwise go.
Thank you for sharing your reminiscences of school and thoughts about schools in general, Christy. It’s been wonderful to have you here. I’m not surprised you enjoyed expressing yourself in writing from a young age.
on her website When Women Inspire
Connect with her on social media
Purchase your own copy of Christy’s books of poetry:
If you missed previous reminiscences, check them out here:
Look for future interviews in this series to be posted on Sunday evenings AEST.
Coming soon:
with more to follow.
Thank you for reading. I appreciate your comments. Please share your thoughts.
It’s Easter time again and I wish you and your loved ones a very happy holiday, however you celebrate it.
I’ve been brought down by the flu and haven’t uploaded as many new resources for you as I’d hoped. However, there are many Easter-themed resources already available on readilearn and, now that you can purchase them individually, access is even easier.
Previous posts provide many suggestions to keep the learning in fun Easter lessons and activities, including:
Learning literacy and mathematics with Easter classroom activities
Delivery – just in time for Easter
One of my favourite lessons is Easter Delivery: a fun story I wrote and produced as an interactive lesson to support the development of mathematical understanding of number combinations to ten.
This video tells you about it.
Continue reading: Wishing you a Happy Easter Holiday – readilearn
Teachers! Save time and money with readilearn K–2 teaching resources
readilearn teaching resources for the first three years of school save teachers time and money with lessons ready to teach. More than just worksheets to keep kids busy, readilearn lessons and activities are designed to progress children’s learning.
Now available to purchase individually
Over the past few weeks, we have been working to make it easier for you to access readilearn teaching resources. All readilearn resources are now priced for individual purchase, many with a $0.00 price tag. While a subscription is still the best value for money, being able to purchase resources individually means you can purchase what you want when you want to use it.
Resources across the curriculum
Resources are available across curriculum areas and include lessons in character development such as confidence and friendship skills. Many integrate learning from different subjects. Child-focused, engaging and connecting with experiences familiar to children, the resources develop language and thinking skills alongside learning in other subject areas.
Easy to use
Browse through the resources. When you see a lesson that’s just right for you and your class, add it to the cart and continue shopping or proceed to the checkout. Complete your details and, as a registered user, a record of your purchases will always be available on your accounts page.
Continue reading: Teachers! Save time and money with readilearn K–2 teaching resources – Readilearn
Teaching place value is a vital part of mathematics programs in lower primary classrooms. This post outlines lessons and activities to teach place value.
Teaching place value is a vital part of mathematics programs in lower primary classrooms. It is essential that children develop a firm understanding of place value right from the start to avoid later confusion and maths anxiety.
Sadly, many children and adults confess to having an aversion to mathematics. My belief is that the aversion is often learned from ineffective teaching methods. For this reason, there is a strong focus on number in readilearn resources with lessons and activities that provide opportunities to develop understanding in fun and meaningful ways.
Before we begin to teach place value, we must ensure that children have a strong sense of number. Understanding number is more than simply being able to rote count or recognise numerals. While even very young children may learn to memorise and recite the sequence of numbers from one to ten, they don’t always understand what the words mean.
Rushing children through to abstract processes before they have developed a strong foundation creates confusion. It sets them up for frustration, fear, failure, and a dislike of maths.
This can be avoided by encouraging an “I can do it. I get this. Maths is fun” attitude.
To develop an understanding of number, children require many and varied experiences using concrete materials in many different situations.
Continue reading: Teaching place value to young children – readilearn
Parents often ask teachers for suggestions of holiday activities that will maintain learning before children return to school. While we neither expect nor want children to spend hours at a desk engaged in school-type lessons, there is plenty that parents can do with their children to keep them curious and motivated to learn. This post includes suggestions teachers can provide to parents.
There are three free handouts of holiday suggestions available for teachers to distribute to parents, or indeed for parents to access for themselves.
Continue reading: Holiday activities maintain school learning – Readilearn
Norah Colvin 