Money and Headlines

Relief - ds2 has finally settled down to do some work. Admittedly, I had to add to the "no learning, no Neopets" by saying "no friends around" if he didn't do anything today.

I knew that once he started, he'd be fine, so it felt right to press him harder.

As he loves playing shops and restaurants (he wants to be a chef in his own restaurant when he is older), I suggested that we tackled maths in the form of dealing with money. I have a great resource, "Making Sense of Money" from The Children's Mutual. It contains a series of learning games (with suggested background outcomes) aimed at 4-8 year olds. I figured that it would be easy enough for him that he wouldn't get upset at himself.

It worked. We spent exactly 30 minutes (his first target) covering coin values, change, budgeting, keeping money safe and solving problems.

Meanwhile, ds1 went on to the computer. He covered several topics on MapZone, then went onto Nick 2015, finishing up on Headline History. He loves that site! It allows the children to find out about important historical times and events, by becoming a reporter. They chose what goes into the stories, interviewing key witnesses. Today he covered World War II and updated a story on the Victorians.

When I told him that he had done his half hour, he asked to carry on as he was in the middle of something! Fabulous! In the end, he worked for 45 minutes.

The target by the end of this week is an hour a day, and 2 hours a day by the end of next week. Watch this space!