Twinkl, you little star! Free Learning Resources

I use a variety of learning resources when helping Natty with homework, when we used to hem school and when simply helping her learn about the world around her. 

Natty, like many children with Down's syndrome is a visual and a kinesthetic (actions) learner, so colourful and interesting visual resources that capture her interest are key.

One of my favourite sites is Twinkl.
If you are a teacher you will already be using their 93,000 lovely and unique teaching resources' daily, but you might not be familiar with them as a parent.

Teaching a Visual Learner about Jobs

I haven't written one of our HOME SCHOOLING posts for a while now.

I flexi-school Natty at home one day per week which allows her a quiet day with undivided attention to focus on her reading, writing and numeracy skills. We also do a hearty slice of life skills, such as cooking, laundry sorting, grocery shopping, even bed-making. We then usually fit in a SWIM or a run on the beach. Natty gets a mid-week rest which she so often needs and, quite simply, we love our time together.

This half term the topic at school is JOBS. Natty knew a few of the more obvious roles, perhaps those involving uniforms or the ones that feature in her life like doctors and dentists. The other jobs I chose to focus on today were those I knew she understood and had met, but perhaps didn't know the term for. So here are the activities we enjoyed together:

1) I found and copied pictures of people doing jobs. These are readily available to download free from many online educational sites.

2) I copied 2 sheets of these images. Natty coloured in and drew on one as we chatted about what the people were doing.

3) I cut up Natty's coloured in sheet to make smaller individual flash cards. We labelled each picture with the job title.

4) Natty matched the flashcard to each picture and we repeated the words and talked about what the people were doing again, using Makaton if necessary.

5) We then went to find a story about jobs and cuddled up to read together. Natty chose Doctor Daisy.

6) Finally we raided the dressing up box and Natty dressed in as many different job outfits as she could think of. As you can see from the doctor's afro (formerly to be spotted on Daddy Downs Side Up at a 70s party) Natty had a free range over her choice of what to wear for each outfit.

Mind you, the firewoman's backwards baseball cap is a little unorthodox too.

There is no right or wrong way to teach your child at home. Just choose what they enjoy doing and adapt it. Most of all have fun and enjoy each other's company.

For more ideas such as learning about fruit and veg, shapes, textures, reading and writing skills, have a look at our ACTIVITIES TO TRY AT HOME page.

The New School/ Home Ed Term

We've been dropped on the shore of a new term, today our first day back, having ridden the crest of a wave all through the summer holidays.  

It was our best summer ever, the girls were super company, got on well for the most part, and the house was filled with visiting family end to end. I think we only watched Mary Poppins about 87 times too, which wasn't too bad going ;) Read about our summer experience here : Looking Back, Looking Forward

Now we are ready to plough on, full of enthusiasm and determination to be better organised, get up earlier, work harder and happier, fit in more play and leisure time and ditch the stress. (ahem, that is not unrealistic is it?)

Natty has moved up into year 1 alongside her peers. New classroom, new teacher, new (slightly higher) loos. The few teething troubles of last year have hopefully been ironed out. The new class format is more table-based and formal, in a warm, colourful welcoming way. Gone is the role play corner and boxes of dressing up. This could go one of two ways, but I'll wager that Natty will thrive and soar with less distraction, freedom, (chaos even) and will don the more grown up hat of a year 1... we'll see. Maybe it was the exciting air that made it seem OK for Natty to push her classmates. I hope that this behaviour will also dissappear. We haven't seen it over the summer.

Also new for this academic school year is that I will be teaching Natty from home for one day a week. This wouldn't be for everyone, but I felt it was right for us.  I didn't want to Home Ed entirely, as Natty thrives in the school environment, a popular and communicative pupil. She has learnt so much from the daily routine of school and I cannot begin to compete with their resources, and quite frankly, I'm not sure my sanity would stand up to 24/7 education. But this particular balance feels right. Our amazingly supportive Head is behind us, understanding fully my reasons and thinking.

Essentially on our one 'playing schools at home' day, I will stir a mixture of what is going on currently at school with what is coming up in the following week. I will add a generous measure of life skills and a sprinkling of sporty fun.

Why can't you do all this in the evenings and at weekends? I hear you cry. Well, when the girls are at home I treat them equally. We play and bake and read together, but it's impossible to tell one to go away while I quietly work with the other. This way I can have undisturbed learning time with Natty without Mia feeling pushed out of the equation, or, as is more likely, feeling she wants to be the teacher.

Our Wednesdays will be fluid and subject to change, but tomorrow's plan looks like this:

Drop Mia at school

Do a short shopping trip, using a magnetic shopping list. Ask Natty to pint out the right shop then  encourage her to ask for the items such as apples and bread, help bag them up and pay.

Go home for a good 2 hours formal learning comprising:
Reading current school book - reinforce with key words and flashcards. Make sensory words, using sand glued onto card.
visit www.oxfordprimary.co.uk website for additional, alternative activities for the same book.

Finish summer scrapbook by sticking in photos, leaflets from places visited, adding drawings and labelling.

Begin our Days of the Week project, incorporating Makaton, pictures of what we do on different days, using our velcro calendar and wearing the appropriate socks and pants for that day! Make colourful shapes with each day of the week and blu tac onto kitchen window!

Then we will do some life skills in the afternoon.
Having collected eggs and looked after the chickens, I plan to make cookies tomorrow (constipation-busting ones of course). I have printed images of all the ingredients and we will do a matching game with them, then find the ingredients in the kitchen. When we've made the cookies we will glue the cards into our book and Natty can write 'and' between each one. Her first recipe card!

Then we'll get Mia, come home, run round the garden, plan tea, do homework, bla bla bla.
Don't expect to see me on Twitter on a Wednesday evening. I will most probably be tucked up in bed at a reasonable hour for once.