In Victoria the first year at primary school is now known as the Foundation year. When our five kids first started school it was known as Prep, but regardless of what it …
Engaging and Encouraging Reluctant Readers
I feel super lucky to be able to publish this guest post today from Megan Daley. Megan is the amazing lady behind the excellent website Children’s Books Daily. Megan is a highly …
Back to school 2019 – a collection of tips to help parents
I am not one to wish away school holidays. I love them and love having the kids around more. Yes at times they can drive me a bit bonkers, but on the …
Getting a plan of action for your kid’s health needs
This post is sponsored by Ask Your Pharmacist. Within only a matter of days of being back at school, one of the kids came home with a minor injury. A new synthetic …
My new school shoes feel weird and other back to school sagas!
Our kids are at an age now where back to school after the summer holidays is a pretty standard affair. There aren’t too many issues that arise and as parents we have …
11 steps for a calm back to school
Do you have kid/s off to school for the first time this year and you wonder how you are going to get everyone out of the door on time? With a number …
Book lists and audiobook lists for kids
Over the 10 years I have been blogging I have published many book lists for kids. To make it easy for you to find these book lists all in one place, I …
Making it simpler and easier – Collect for Anything by GroupTogether
This post is sponsored by GroupTogether. You might remember that last year I shared with you a great new Australian company called GroupTogether. GroupTogether is a start up founded by two mums …
9 things you can do now to get ready for back to school
Today’s post answers a back to school reader question. You can read previous answers to readers’ questions here. What activities do you do at the end of the school year with school …
Three steps to a more creative home
Creativity has been a core part of my single goal for 2016. Fostering creativity in kids is something that I feel passionately about so when Mia Northrop from riddle and Chance asked me if …
5 tips to make the school week run smoothly
A couple of weeks into the new school term and we are all starting to find our rhythm. This is something that definitely happens quicker as the kids get older. But regardless …
School starting age – 2015 update
Back in 2010 I wrote a couple of posts on school starting age as I received many questions both in real life and on the blog about this topic. You can read …
8 funny books for girls (6-12)
Master 9 and I have been eagerly awaiting the release of the third instalment in The Mapmaker Chronicles trilogy. It is a fabulous adventure trilogy written by Australian author A.L Tait. Aimed at children 10+ …
More school holiday activities to do at home
School holidays are almost here in Victoria and I have shared previously some ideas on activities for kids which you can find here: 5 Simple Kids Activities At Home Non technology related …
“I’m bored” lists of things to do
School holidays start next week for most Victorian schools. I have found that if we are going to be spending time at home, it is handy to have some “I’m bored list …
Packing for school camp
All of our kids to date have loved going on school camp. Fortunately we haven’t had any one who has found it hard to be separated from the family. I think having …
3 of the best educational iPad apps for primary school kids
Apps can be a great tool to use to support and reinforce kids learning. As noted in my post Homework help – managing it with multiple kids, I regularly use educational apps …
Managing after school activities
In the annual survey, many readers asked me questions about how to manage after school activities with a number of kids. I have written about it before on the blog in detail …