Adele Jarrett-Kerr
Writing, thinking and parenting for compassionate living
Ten Charlie and the Chocolate Factory activities for younger children
Learning at home

Ten Charlie and the Chocolate Factory activities for younger children

This post was originally published in November 2015. It reappears here in collaboration with million eyez. We’ve just finished a happy romp through the wonderfully bizarre world of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Having realised from page one that this chapter book was going to be a hit, I gathered a few ideas for activities we could try alongside it. For my four-year-old, it was delightful to dig deeper into the experience of the story. For my 21-month-old, it meant she didn’t keep trying to pull the book out of my hand or take me some place else.…

May 18, 2017
This homeschooling life – What March looked like
Learning at home

This homeschooling life – What March looked like

It’s funny how you can feel like not much is happening when you’re in the middle of something but then look back and be blown away by just how much has happened. That’s one of the reasons I value recording these highlights of home education journey each month. March has been a tough one for me because I’ve been tired, irritable and struggling to cope with day-to-day tasks quite a lot of the time. I’ve seen the doctor and we’re doing some tests just to rule out the usual physical suspects that come up when pregnant. In the meantime, life…

April 4, 2016
This Homeschooling Life – What January looked like
Learning at home

This Homeschooling Life – What January looked like

January has been a strange month. I say that, but with regard to home education, all of our months have been different anyway. I spent half of it still feeling the heavy weight of pregnancy symptoms and the second half being stuck down with what I can only assume actually was the flu, because its still lingering. It’s meant that we haven’t been up to as much as we usually are and after the chaos of Christmas, I admit that I’ve spent a lot of time feeling guilty about that. I especially felt it last week when we got back…

February 1, 2016
Chinese New Year sensory box
Learning at home

Chinese New Year sensory box

Last year we got seriously into Chinese New Year. With it rolling around again, I thought I’d share the sensory box I put together for Talitha to enjoy when she was three-and-a-half. At going on one, this really wasn’t suitable for Ophelia at the time so I put it up on the table whenever Talitha wanted to play with it. I had some rice I’d bought cheaply from an Asian grocers, which I coloured with red and yellow ready mix paint by mixing the colours in separate bowls and laying it thinly in baking trays to dry. Then I added…

January 8, 2016
10 ideas for celebrating Epiphany with children
Christmas

10 ideas for celebrating Epiphany with children

I’ve been trying to observe the Christian calendar with my children a bit more this year. I didn’t grow up with it so it’s interesting delving into it myself and making discoveries alongside them. On January 6th, we celebrated Epiphany, the day the wise men found the child Jesus, having followed the star God put in the sky. We’d been talking about it beforehand and I gathered a few fun ideas for simple ways to celebrate Epiphany with our family. As it turned out, between our home education co-op meet and Talitha’s ballet class, we didn’t have much time but…

December 16, 2015
This Homeschooling Life – November
Learning at home

This Homeschooling Life – November

That time’s rolled around again to look back at what we’ve been up to as a home educating family. This has been a month of contrasts. At the start of the month, we got up to quite a lot of in terms of organised activities but things got looser as the days passed as I’ve not been feeling well and Ophelia’s going through a rough patch sleepwise. Actually, that mix suited us just fine. That’s one of the brilliant things about home educating, slowing down is not a problem when life calls for it. Time for the highlights: Falling in…

December 7, 2015
Coloured rice fireworks craft
Learning at home

Coloured rice fireworks craft

We’re heading into that portion of the year again where fireworks come on the scene. I’ll be collecting a few ideas for exploring fireworks with little ones, I’m sure, but for now I thought I’d share this craft we did last year. Just before Bonfire Night last year, I wanted to do a simple “fireworks” craft with Talitha. We were in Trinidad and Tobago for Independence Day that August so she got to see a hugely impressive fireworks display there and it was the first time we were far enough away from the action for her to admire the beauty…

September 15, 2015

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