Free-activity-a-week! Number 2-Make Door Hangers

O.k. this week it's Door Hangers. Whether your children want to make a sign to let you know they want to relax, or 'keep out' - and then invite other's in to play has more than it's face value of uses.

Door hangers can be used for your child to communicate their needs - perhaps for some time to wind-down or just to be by themselves. Their room is their space and its a good idea to encourage them to create a relaxing corner to retreat to when needed.

So colouring pens at the ready, here's some Door Hangers that you can print off and make today:

Printable Door Hangers

You can aslo use the outline to really customise your own door hangers - maybe your child can add their own words.

Create a relaxation space:

For a relaxation space, you don't need too much space. Make a place in your child's bedroom for a beanbag or cushions, find some relaxation music and a blanket, or a small tent if you have room.

Practise relaxing, deep breathing and visualisations.

Have Fun!

Times Table Town - Book Review

Here's a review about the latest addition to the online store at Hometrain.
'Time Table Town' was written by Sally Lomax, after she developed the stories and characters to help her daughter learn times tables.

If you like Letter Land, then you'll love Times Table Town.

Each character represents a number, and their adventures take you through each book:
Titles:

Long Lucy’s 1 Times Table Story

Blue Bunny’s 2 Times Table Story

Grinning Granny’s 3 Times Table Story

Marvellous Mummy’s 4 Times Table Story

Delightful Ducks 5 Times Table Story

Big Bugs 6 Times Table Story

Angle Man’s 7 Times Table Story

Grumpy Grandad’s 8 Times Table Story

Happy Holly’s 9 Times Table Story

Gorgeous Georgie’s   10 Times Table Story

I read the books with my 7 year old Daughter, Laura. As we read through the books, she enjoyed the interaction and personalities of the characters, and could work out the maths. Each page of the story contains two characters - the times table character meets each number in turn, adding to the story and finding the answer to the multiplication.

An example of how the stories work is: Marvellous Mummy in the 4 times table book, meets Blue Bunny on page 2. Their story works out 2 x 4 and the characters are setting the table for 8 guests coming to a dinner party. They need '8 knives, forks spoons, glasses, plates and finally 8 napkins,...then 2 lots of 4 chairs..'  After discovering 2 x 4 - Marvellous Mummy then meets Grinning Granny (3 x 4) at 12 o'clock, and the storie continues in the same way. Each page finds the answer to the next multiplication.

The pages are nicley illustrated and include the answer, so, if your child learns better visually, they will remember their times tables easier.

I think children who find learning times tables to be boring will enjoy these books, and they could prove very useful at homework time.

We are delighted to have Times Table Town in our store - to find out more, go to:

Times Table Town 

The books are available with free P&P - a great idea for a maths boost during the summer hols.

Happy Learning!





Free-activity-a-week!

Here's the first of my free-activity-a-week blogs.
It can be pricey enough to keep the kids entertained, so I'm adding an activity each week that costs €0 (apart from paper and pens at a stretch!)
A nature treasure hunt is an activity the whole family will enjoy - and has countless benefits.
Not only do you get the fresh air, but I also love the enthusiasm kids of all ages have for nature hunts.
You also get a new purpose for going to the local woods or park (which are free).

All you need is kids with buckets, pockets or bags!

Nature Treasure Hunt

Go outdoors and collect the following:

1)              A feather

2)         A bark rubbing

3)         Some Clover

4)        A buttercup

5)         A daisy

6)         Something a rabbit would eat

7)          2 things a bird might make a nest with

8)         A weed 

9)         Something a squirrel might eat

10)      Something that has pollen

11)          Draw a bird

12)     Draw a tree

For great free printables and pecs, go to our website:

hometrain.ie

Using Interactive Computer Programmes to Teach Social Skills

O.k. - I know it might sound odd - sitting a child in front of a computer to learn social skills??

But think about it for a while...
Children who have difficulties with social skills often really love their technology. I found as a home tutor, that I was spending an hour or two each week trying to teach social skills - which are not the easiet thing to teach.
I can write social stories, play games and develop role-plays. I use puppets and make mini-books. I use their friends and siblings where I can to encourage social skill development.

Over the years of home tuition, I noticed basic elements of social intreaction were missing.
They were the inspiration behind the 'Hello' game:

1. Many children did not reply with their name when asked 'What's your name?' 
2. Many children did not reply with 'Hello' in response to greetings
3. Many children did not respond with their age when asked 'How old are you?'

When you bring your little on to the shops, or anywhere in the local community, one of the most common questions other's ask is: 'What's your name?' and 'How old are you?' 
The reasoning behind 'Hello' is based on my experience as a tutor. If we teach children their response to those questions, we will be giving them a key to social inclusion.
Children who do not understand these questions will not understand how to make their response, and so withdraw from this type of basic social interaction.
SO - if we can teach that a cup is a 'cup' and a chair is a 'chair' then we can teach that Paul is 'Paul' and Paul's age is '6' - and that Hello is a 'Hello' response.
In 'Hello' - the CD-ROM game, there are 8 characters - four girls and four boys. They each have a name, a social interaction with the player, and something they like to do. The thing they like to do teaches children the reinforcing value of friends - such as a birthday party or playing cars.

For me, spending a lot of hours trying to get kids who don't enjoy social skills teaching, to work through a lesson, to then allow them 20mins on their computer started to not make sense!
Why don't I use the reinforcing value of a computer game - that they will want to play, learning social skills at the same time?
So we did. There are video narrations about each social skill, interactive characters and great games, including the Birthday Party game you can try for free here: http://www.hometrain.ie/hello/

'Hello' and 'How Are You?' come with a a great range of printable teaching resources too. I suggest printing off a couple of pages for each teaching session, encourage your child to do the worksheet and then get to play the game. What could be better!! 

 There's a summer offer too - with 20% discount in our online shop with this voucher code: htusacan1
Happy Days!
Claire.