Starting School

Is your child starting school in September. Are you getting a little anxious, does the thought fill you with dread? Remember these fellings are normal and you won't be on your own. Most of the other parents at the school gate will be having the same worries. We have put together a list of things you can do to help your child settle into school as pain free as possible and also help you with the transition.

• Plan Ahead - Get organised with uniform, don't leave it till the last week in August, sizes will be getting short and the shops will be crowded with other parents doing the same thing.
• Find out the school terms for the year ahead, you don't want to find out that you have booked a holiday when your child should be starting school.
• Talk to your child about starting school. Tell them what they will be doing, making new friends, playing with exciting new toys and learning lots of new things.
• Most schools offer a transition day, make the most of this. Show your child where to hang their coat, which will be their classroom and where the toilets and playground are.
• Encourage your child to get into a good routine by setting a bedtime. The first few weeks they may be very tired.
• Get organised with everything they will need the night before they start. Lay out their clothes, encourage them to help with this.

These are only a few things you can do to help your child in the first few days of their school life. There is lots more information on the internet. We have listed a few sites for you.

1. Parentscentre - helping you to help your child
2. Raisingkids - if it's about raising kids it here
3. Directgov - public service all in one place

Enjoy your childs first years at school, it goes by so quickly.

Fun Cubes From Zoobookoo

Fun Activities with a difference

We have now uploaded our new stock from Zoobookoo. Is it a book or is it a cube? You decide. Available in Time Tables, Human Body, Word Forming, Addition & Subtraction, Numbers & Alphabet. They make a great gift and keep children entertained, ideal for car journeys and getting them away from the television.

Jolly Phonics Hand Puppets & Jolly Stories

Jolly Phonics Hand Puppets

Jolly Phonics Puppets are plush, soft, full-size, hand-puppets of the main characters in Jolly Phonics, to bring life to the teaching. Inky who teaches her friends how to read and write. Snake who is quick to learn and always hungry and Bee who finds reading very hard but keeps on trying.

Jolly Phonics Jolly Stories

Join the adventures of Inky Mouse and her friends. Follow them through seven stories as they learn the 42 letter sounds. This beautifully illustrated board book has 40 spreads, each covering one or two letter sounds. A large letter is embossed on each spread, so that formation can be felt by little fingers. Each spread has a number of words for reading and for spelling, along with the Jolly Phonics action.