My first guest post

My friend who has a blog over at http://www.aresidence.co.uk/ asked me for some tips on her little one starting school. So I rattled off a few tips to her , a bit nerve wrecking as I had never done a guest post before. I have to admit it was rather fun and its pushing my blog in a another direction that I wish to go .

So please go visit my guest post and comment and please have a poke around in her lovely blog as well, she wouldn't bite. Though she might get a little cross if she has just stepped bare footed onto some Lego (ouch)

You will also find her twitter and is not fruitless with her tweets, she tweets with reason and a purpose and that's really how it should be.

You can find her on twitter as @Aresidence

She is rather nice and her name is Penny , I however have not asked for her political view on fairies!

She has promised to come up with some secondary school tips which I shall be reading.

Back to School Reading tips.

 Getting your child basically to read can can be like banging your head against a brick wall. Here are some simple tips that may help in that situation.


1. Find a quiet spot to read with them, squeeze in to a little play tent with them, make it an adventure. No distractions ! Ten - fifteen minutes is long enough. So if you want to start to read them the entire book of ' The Hobbit' is going to have to wait.

2. If your child doesn't pronounce the word correctly- first allow them to correct themselves. Encourage them to sound out the  word using the Alphabet sound. This is basically Phonics but don't get hung up on this it will come in time. A good place to find the frequency word is here click on Literacy then go to phonics . Go right to the bottom and you will find 100 frequency words.

http://www.communication4all.co.uk/HomePage.htm

3. If you are struggling at first choose a book without words. It doesn't matter that it doesn't have words, the things is to get them used to looking at a book reading and being comfortable.  This encourages them to talk about what they see and helps the with their comprehension and understanding of the book. Also if they say an word wrong don't say its wrong simply  ask them to read that sentence back asking them if that sentence makes sense with that word in it.

4. Tailor the book to their interests. For boys it might me snot,dirt,cars,bottom noises ()! dinosaurs, football etc. Books like  harry and his Bucket full of dinosaurs are lovely. For the girls its probably going to be cats , horses and ponies, fairies,ballet,or princesses. Of course this is a bit stereotyped and each child will  have other interests !

5. Hug your child while they  are reading , it is a wonderful thing it makes you feel loved and instill your child with pride and confidence,. one of those many quality you need for reading.

6. Why not read out side outdoor? learning is very important , why not make a story shoe box up; recreating a scene form a book you are reading perhaps change the story around a little, you could invent a different ending. Of you could even create a story setting in a tray or in your sandpit ? I am sure there is a product you can buy to encourage this , I will try and find it for you.

7. Try and remember what you enjoy reading as a child and go re visit those stories.

8. If you have any problems always go and see the teacher its what they are there for, and they are always happy you help and suggest things for you.

9. Don't fret just keep trying if they don't want to read today , go back to  it another day.

10 .  Have fun they are only young once !.

Photo is copright free(author(AKARAKINGDOMS)and is free from http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=7980535829028668483&postID=2207412596963745666


And I sure that our local library will do story times for babies and toddles. Here is one I found for those of you in the leicestershire area http://www.leics.gov.uk/libraries_wriggly_readers

Rugby Protection

You ask my about rugby rules and I'll look at you a bit fuzzy ask me about rugby protection and I can help you.I cannot stress enough how important as a rugby mum the correct protection is for your child even in tag rugby., more so as they move from tag to contact.  My son J moves to under 13's this year this is an increase in team size ........

When my son was in a rugby festival last year as an under 12's he got injured, whilst he was in a ruck it collapsed.He unfortunately was at the bottom of this rook and got injured. An ambulance was called and he was rushed to hospital, frightening to say the least more so when you are only young.

The diagnosis in hospital was he had broken one of his ribs it is termed as a intercostal tear. Basically the rib is broken it heals but it heal above the break and below it. It was at the hospital that the doctors said the rugby protection was wearing had in fact saved his life. I am so glad he was wearing the protection, while we were there another boy was bought in. His injuries were head injuries , we later learned his life had been saved by wearing a scrum cap.

Despite all his injuries my son was still smiling he was more mortified that the opposition had been stopped from doing a collection for him.

Here is a quote from Kooga"‘In a high impact sport like rugby, protection is very important. Shoulder pads and headguards can shield your body from injury. Padding to the head, ears, shoulder, bicep, chest and spine protect the venerable parts of your body. A good set of body armour is an essential part of any rugby player’s kit’




A selection of body amour can be found in all good sports shops and on line.




So please ignore what you might hear about rugby being a mans game and you don't need protection , yes you do ., my son is tenamount to the fact you do.

#Silent Sunday

Zoe and Beans The Magic Hoop a book by Chloe and Mick Inkpen a review.

What a delightful book at first appearances from the Inkpens... My son lived Kipper books when he was younger. though at 12 he is a little bit old now. However I now keep a look out for wonderful and inspiring books especially for boys who are the hardest area to target. Again that involves 'doggy poo' has got be a winner for boys.... it won't put them off that the main character is a girl because in their eyes she will be well cool . ( typical six year boy speak, I assure you!)

You can't really see it on here but the title and pictures are glossy on the cover. This gives the look that the characters are ready to jump off the page. This is indeed what the story does for you and the children and you become enthralled with the words.  The size of the words brings the story alive as does the way the typeface is set . The words are engagely illustrative they portray the characters bringing them off the page, it is very very indicative of their book characters on the pages indeed.

The book tells of a little girls adventures after finding a hoop it isn't an ordinary hoop as you will see. Zoe's dog called 'Beans' is a  bit lazy but it will do any thing for a 'choccy teddy', like jumping through the hoop which turns out to be magical. That's where Zoe's adventures start Beans when he jumps through the hoop he transforms into Beans the rabbit, then Beans the mouse( I know I can hear you yawning already check the book out to see why ) Beans the snappy crocodile.....

The best as they say is yet to come in the form of 'Beans' the elephant , there is no way that an elephant is going to fit though a small hoop is there?... Well to see the end of the story you  will just have to either buy it or check it out your local library. My local library has a wonderful reading scheme this summer which centres round a circus theme .So this book is an ideal candidate to begin your life long love of books.

I am sure when I read this to a class of children they will be a fit of giggles. Lovely and endearing please check out and the other books in this series.