Category: Home Learning

1. Keeping fit and healthy - Part 1: Children’s Mental Health

   Posted on 4:00pm Friday 15th Jan 2021

   Keeping fit and healthy
   Part 1: Children’s mental health.

   
   Written by Sheila O’Reilly
   Www.instagram.com/rascals_and_rainbows

   
   Well it may be a new year but here we are back in another lockdown! Working from home, juggling parenting and homeschooling our children is quite a tall order for us all and no doubt the pandemic is taking its toll on our stress levels and mental health. We must remember too that this time is so challenging for our little people. They are missing their usual school routines, extra-curricular activities, mixing with their friends and getting out and about as a family. My own girls have accepted the changes in routine surprisingly well, but there have been tears and frustrations at times too when birthday celebrations have been cancelled, trips to the play park aren’t possible and swimming lessons or trips to the cinema are missed.

    

    

2. Developing Fine Motor skills

   Posted on 10:00am Wednesday 9th Dec 2020

   Developing Fine Motor skills

   
   Written by Sheila O’Reilly
   Www.instagram.com/rascals_and_rainbows
   
   There are lots of wonderful toys and activities for promoting and developing fine motor skills, but what do I mean by fine motor skills and why is it important to develop them?!

   

    

3. Phonics at Home

   Posted on 2:00am Sunday 13th Sep 2020

   Supporting children at home with phonics

    

   By Sheila O'Reilly

   @Rascals_and_rainbows on Instagram

    

   Phonics is based on the fact that man spoke before he wrote! Phonological skills refers to hearing sounds in words. When we are teaching phonics to children, we teach them to 'Segment' - The ability to access the individual sounds in words; and 'Blend' - The ability to push sounds together in words; and 'Phoneme Manipulation' - Changing sounds in words. For example, say 'Stop' without the 's'. Say 'ten'. Say it again and change the 't' to 'p'.

    

    

    

4. Outdoor Maths Play

   Posted on 8:00pm Tuesday 26th May 2020

   Outdoor Maths Play

    

   By Sheila O’Reilly

   Instagram: @rascals_and_rainbows

   8 weeks into Lockdown and Home Learning is still going strong (fuelled by copious amounts of coffee for mummy and some sweet treats for my little rascals!). It’s definitely a more successful experience when learning is activity-based and lots of fun. 
   
   

   

5. Wood Like to Play - Number Puzzle Review

   Posted on 12:00pm Saturday 21st Mar 2020

   Wood LIke to Play Number Puzzle

   We really enjoy playing with a variety of wooden toys in our house, and the ‘Wood Like To Play’ jigsaws really caught my eye when browsing the Wooden Play Den website. The bold colours and large shaped pieces looked fantastic for small hands, just what we needed when beginning to explore jigsaws.

   

6. Learning at Home

   Posted on 12:00pm Thursday 19th Mar 2020

   Learning at Home

   During this period of time where the schools are closed, I am keen to keep up with some learning with my little man and try and make some plans so our days run smoothly.

   Everyone will have a different approach and you will have to find the right solution for you. I know my little man likes routine so he will like to know what we are doing each day, he also needs regular activity time and down time, so for us I will need to factor this in.