Learning

May is Local and Community History Month, an annual awareness month founded by The Historical Association. The aim is get people involved in their local history and participate in events taking place across the UK. Local history is often overlooked in favour of famous people and international events in history, but it is the experiences of ordinary locals that really bring history to life. What kind of food did people eat? What were schools like? What did people do for work? These are the kinds of questions kids can really engage with through discovering local and community history.

Easter always makes me think of crepe paper daffodils decorating the Easter bonnet I entered in to our school’s annual bonnet competition. How proud I was of those little yellow flowers! With nature bursting into life all around us at this time of year, there’s plenty to inspire craft activities and lots of materials to be gathered. Spring is naturally a time of creation too, when the Earth’s fertility translates as a general quest to make and create at home. Here are some fun Easter crafts to get stuck in to during the holidays, sure to keep you and your kids happily ensconced with paper, scissors and glue for hours…

Many women find that becoming a mother is a catalyst for their creativity. Growing, birthing and nurturing a baby often connects women to a deeper sense of their creative power; the challenge is finding time to honour it. Many women report feelings of heightened intuition as they enter this phase of their lives, and experience a depth of emotion new to them. Writing is a great way to release pent up emotion or frustration that might come with the territory of parenting.

I’m sitting typing this in the warm peace of our local library. It’s a place that has a special place in my heart, as all libraries do. Every time I enter a library I still feel the thrill of the fact these amazing places are gloriously, deliciously free. That these great bastions of learning are available to all, regardless of age, economic background or religious leaning. Libraries have something for everyone.

Stories form the backbone of our lives. They integrate our understanding of self, of where we fit in the grand scheme of things. Through stories, we come to understand the lives of our ancestors in the form of history, and the social mores of the culture around us. Stories are a vital part of a child’s learning experience; from the earliest stage they begin to form sounds through storytelling. As they grow, stories teach children empathy, language skills, emotional intelligence, connection, reflection and resolution, amongst a whole gamut of other things.

We all know at least one. You know, the parent with the exceptionally gifted child. Everything said child does is amazing, indicates unparalleled genius and leaves us occasionally wondering if our own parenting is up to scratch or if maybe our children are even a little behind below average developmentally. If you’re lucky, that is. Most of us know about ten… thousand. Everyone’s child is a genius, these days. Such is the reality of everyday motherhood. It’s a little bit boring, and a whole lot crazy-difficult, so the bragging naturally ensues.

Recycling is the future, we all know that. But it can also be a whole load of fun! In our house we don’t get a recycling collection so we usually have piles of stuff ready to go to the recycling depot, and it’s funny how much our toddler prefers playing with a loo roll than with his many toys! Here are five items that can be recycled for a fantastic afternoon of rainy day crafting, with ideas for what to make:

What better way to get motivated after a big Christmas lunch and help the little ones burn up some of their exuberant energy than with a few Christmas party games? We have selected and made up nine fun and sometimes energetic party games to ensure laughter will be ringing out well into the evening. Have fun!

Each week, in the build up to Christmas, I’ll be sharing with you some of the crafts I have enjoyed with my little ones and how to recreate them at home. This week is the handprint tree. So far we’ve only done one of these with our eldest but the result has been something simple and yet memorable. I don’t know that I want her to do a new one, there’s something rather special about looking back at those tiny excited hands with each year that passes.

Bullying can be one of the most challenging experiences our children might face away from the safety of the home. And it can be incredibly dis-empowering for parents, who want to protect their children and despair at seeing them upset, but don't know what to do. Children can be cruel and, as books like Lord of the Flies show, are adept at spotting difference and weakness in their peers. Bullying often comes from a place of fear: the perpetrating child may have difficulties at home, or feel anxious themselves at school.