Homeschoolingmama

I've talked about the use of online resources in many of my posts. One of the online websites we use frequently is Education.com . This has been my go to for over a year now. The website is fabulous and very easy to use, and I love how all I need to do is search a keyword for thousands of resources!  For more information on how we use Education.com and why we like it, click here to read our previous post.  Competition I am thrilled and very excited to share an absolutely amazing competition Education.com are currently running. It is the first ever Little Learners contest for kids. The prize is an amazing $500 for college (imagine that!) plus a lifetime membership to Education.com for parent/educator.  The contest is open to all children from K-5th grade. A wonderful competition getting children to express what education means to them using art, writing and creativity.  Don't miss this fab opportunit...

I have often scrolled and flicked through books designed to offer brain training for kids. Some seem great, some too boring and others lack both colour and attraction. Children need stimulation, and in a world full of technology, they need something different with a 'wow' factor to pry them away from their gadgets....and that is where the 'Mensa Kids Brain Busters' book seems to have the answer!  I must admit, noting that this book is by 'Mensa' - the high IQ society, was already a hit! Who better to facilitate brain training, encourage logic and problem solving?!  'This book is packed with questions, tasks and puzzles to test your thinking skills and mental abilities. To solve them you'll need the ability to think logically, plus some staying power when the problems get tough.' I love this excerpt from the book itself. Not only does it give a wonderful summary of what the book is all about but I like the encouragement...

Recently I discovered a lovely box, full of wonderful arts and crafts activities for children. We chose the transport themed box, as little person enjoys anything transport related and 3 year happily joins in.  HelloBeeBox are 'beautiful craft boxes to keep little hands busy'. Our box certainly kept the kids busy! What's included HelloBeeBox have a huge selection to choose from, and after having a think about it, we decided the transport theme box was the one for us. Children love opening their packages, and I love how beautifully it was wrapped for the kids to unwrap (a real surprise).  The transport themed box came with 4 exciting activities: car hanging decoration Paint your own magnets Make your own car model Sew your own sailing boat Our adventure began with the activity involving painting your own magnets. The children happily shared out the magnets, little person decorating the...

Recently the children were gifted a lovely package consisting of kinetic sand and accessories.  I've been meaning to try to find the sand that appears in so many youtube videos the kids enjoy watching, but couldn't quite work out what it was, so we were very pleased with this lovely gift from a  family member!  What do we have? Our lovely package comes with 2lbs of kinetic sand, 5 kinetic sand moulds, 2 kinetic sand tools and 1 kinetic sand folding box. The kinetic sand we have is produced and manufactured by Spin Master. The box means the sand easily tidied up, and it also means the kids play using the box as the base, so no sand trails anywhere else! What is kinetic sand? If you're like me, the idea of kids playing with kinetic sand indoors probably gives you goosebumps as well as a few panic attacks! The thought of sand in their hair, socks and clothes, plus the added sand imbedded in the carp...

We recently purchased the ToucanBox to try, after having read so many 5* reviews. Having had a play, I thought it would be nice to share our experiences and what we think! Toucanbox is an arts and crafts box, aimed at children between the ages of 3-8. The box is carefully designed to provide hours of fun, learning and creativity. What's inside the box? The box generally comes with a ToucanBox magazine, stickers, a sticker wall chart, and two hands on crafts activities.  The magazine provides more ideas and activities for children to do. The magazine that came with our box includes items such as 'how to make your own ice cream', 'build a robot', and 'turn yourself into a toucanoo'. The instructions on making your own ice cream are simple and clear enough for my 7 year old to follow, making it his project (and that is what you like to see). The magazine is further full of activities such as mazes, fill in missing words, game (sequencing game, or ...

We received this brilliant jumbo airport themed colouring poster in return for an honest review Airport themed poster Did you know colouring is a relaxation activity that has been used widely in recent times, for adults as well as children? With that in mind you can imagine how much the children and I had been enjoying colouring!  What makes this poster different? The design is intricate, the illustrations are fabulous, but the added humour makes this poster much more fun! The poster we have is airport themed, so each section shows the different parts of the airport, from arrivals, queues at check-in, waiting areas to the airplanes and passengers. Each of the sections has a story, from taxi accident, sleepy sloths to pilots reading an upside down map (little person is convinced they won't make their desired destination!). The added humour has provided us with lo...

During our home educating journey I made it my aim to share all the great resources we use alongside toys we've found useful and kids enjoy. So, on this list (sharing and caring list!) are bristle blocks. If you haven't come across these, they're soft blocks that easily interlock. The name Bristle comes from their appearance, each block has many bristle like structures, and it is these structures that lock together. As well as the squares, rectangles, there are wheels, triangles, circles, what we call windows (squares without middle section) and 'sticks'. Our set also contains a lovely family with their pet dog, and a few other animals. The blocks are great for all ages and can be used for a variety of games and skills. 3 year old enjoys putting the blocks together and trying to build a large structure, and 7 year old tries to make much more complex structures, such as living room furniture. For younger children, these blocks are great for hand eye coordinati...