Sunday, 29 May 2016

"I Have a Worry" by Tanya Balcke

I have seen this book come up a few times in my Facebook page but never took much notice of it. That was until I actually read the book. I was visiting my sister for afternoon tea and her 7 year old daughter showed me the new book her mum had brought, "I Have a Worry" by Tanya Balcke. I sat down with my niece and we read the book together. I was really impressed with the way the book portrayed worries and the strategies it provided to deal with worries. My niece loved the book. My daughter even came over to us and had a look at the book. The illustrations complimented the book beautifully. As a mum and a teacher I can see how this book can be helpful to teach children about worries and how to cope with them. However, i have to admit that my favourite part of this book would have to be the section at the back of the book that provides ideas and suggestions for parents and teachers to extend the conversation around the book. Different ideas for activities are also provided. The book even has a website with colouring pages from the book that children can complete and can even be sent to the author. I have to admit that i have always wanted to be an author and use my teaching experience to enhance the books contents, as Tanya Balcke has done. What an inspiration. I will definitely be watching to see if she releases any more books.

www.tanyabalcke.com/

Thursday, 5 May 2016

Connecting on Facebook


About 2 years ago I started a Facebook page for relief teachers in Perth. I was relief teaching at the time and found I had a lot of questions I wanted to ask others in the same situation, but could not find a group on Facebook to chat with. I created the page and it now has over 500 members. I love logging on and seeing that new relief teachers are asking questions and that seasoned relief teachers are providing them with helpful advice. It has also become a way to link up those looking for relief teachers with relief teachers looking for work.

Although I don't get a lot of time to these day, I also use this page to share relevant posts, articles or news that relate to education, and relief teaching specifically.

Check it out at PerthReliefTeachers on Facebook.

Play in Early Childhood


Image result for taking back childhoodI have been completing an assignment on the importance of play in Early Childhood Education and I came across this article which I found really interesting. This is a speech given by early childhood development expert Nancy Carlsson-Paige, a professor of education at Lesley University in Cambridge, Ma., when she won the Embracing the Legacy Award from the Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps (link below). What she says is so true. I don't think that the importance of play during childhood can be overrated. I might pop over to Amazon and have a look for her book.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/11/24/how-twisted-early-childhood-education-has-become-from-a-child-development-expert/