Mended Teacups

Teaching a child to read can seem daunting; some take to it like a duck to water, most fly when the time is right, but for a few it is an uphill struggle. One of the joys of home ed is that we can follow our child’s lead. Pour yourself a cup of tea and join us as we share some practical, fun tips we and others have used to help our kids learn to read and write. If it’s not an easy journey for you, we hope you’ll be encouraged and reassured as we share honestly about our journeys to reach this milestone.

I wonder if the thought of teaching English to your child fills you with delight or with dread? Do you have language-loving children who are vociferous readers and copious writers? Or would your child far rather be outside, playing with Lego, doing just about anything else but reading a book? Is your child dyslexic? We’ve experienced just about all of these between us, so come and join us as we share some of our experiences as well as lots of practical tips on teaching English to our children.

As we look ahead to an unusual Christmas, Molly and Helen discuss some of their family traditions and think about how and whether to review the year that's past.

Check out our blog - www.mendedteacups.wordpress.com - for more information and links to the books and movies we reference.

This year Christmas will be different. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it will not be as good. While there are many things we will miss, especially all those fun parties and spending time with family and friends, can we redeem Christmas 2020?

Join us as we share our joint love of the season of Advent and how an understanding of this might help us to not only make the most of, but also be thankful for a 2020 Christmas.

Life with small children has its own set of demands and wonders. As mums of older children, it’s easy for us to look back on those days with rose-tinted glasses, but if we prod a bit deeper we can remember the exhaustion, the sleepless nights, the sheer physical demands of a baby’s complete dependence and the non-stop chatter of toddlers.

They are such precious times, too, and the season really is a short one, though it can seem like eternity some days! So, if you have little ones this is for you, in recognition of the wonderful, unseen work you do every day: wiping noses, washing hands, putting on wellie boots, clearing up milk spills and tending to sibling squabbles. You are laying the foundations of their lives. Well done! Keep going!

We will no doubt all feel differently towards this second, winter lockdown. For some, it might be a welcome respite, a time with a slower pace in an often hectic life; for others it may hold huge anxiety with concerns over finances / increased pressure at work / family tensions. For many of us, we may feel somewhat heavy hearted at the thought of not seeing family and friends for yet longer.

We were not made to live in isolation and part of the life blood of home educating is the fun and learning we do with others. However, as home educators, we are by nature a resilient and resourceful bunch of people, strong enough to live life daily against the general flow and creative enough to educate each of our our children individually. We can, to a certain extent, set the tone of our homes for this next season.

So, come and join us as we share a few ideas as to how to lift the atmosphere of our homes during the next few weeks, and encourage each other to make the most of this time.

Geography is such a fun subject to share with our children. As we often say, our aim isn’t to teach our kids everything they need to know before they leave home, but rather to inspire a love of learning, nurture their natural curiosity and enable them to become self motivated learners.

Our world is so vast and beautiful, with so much to explore. We hope you catch some of our enthusiasm as we chat through some of the ways we have enjoyed geography together from pre school through to GCSE.

For more information and to find links to resources mentioned, see our blog: mendedteacups.wordpress.com

Two of Molly’s children are dyslexic, so they have had plenty of opportunities to explore all the complexities wrapped up in this particular learning challenge.

It does present some big hurdles but also can be seen as a gift, a way of seeing the world which is unique. Grab yourself a cuppa and listen in as we try to unpack dyslexia, offer some practical tips and reflect on a positive approach to our “out of the box” children.

With the covid pandemic, lockdown and now schools restarting the issue of friendships seems to be particularly pertinent.

Good friendships don’t just happen, and as home educators we need to be intentional about helping our children develop and maintain good friends. Come and join us as we go back to basics... What makes a good friend? How can we be a good friend? How many friends do we actually need?

It can be a difficult one to navigate so we hope you feel encouraged by the end of our honest chat!

Find links at our blog: mendedteacups.wordpress.com

Easing back into a term time rhythm after the glorious freedom of long summer holidays can be hard any year, but this time around it may be especially tricky... Or you may be longing for some sort of structure and so are raring to go!

Come and join us, maybe with a cup of tea at hand, as we chat through some tips from veteran home educators which may help us all to begin the new academic year smoothly and with the assurance that we are giving our children the best possible foundations in our uncertain world.

Check out our blog to see the links to resources mentioned: mendedteacups.wordpress.com