News, Reviews, and Recommendations!

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Maths is an entire subject devoted to solving puzzles. So why do so many students dread maths lessons? 

Well, it may not actually be the maths that they're not enjoying - it may just be the way it's being taught.

Here at Brain Spice, we believe that the brain loves learning. You just need to make it fun! And what better way to make maths fun than to practice maths skills through play!

The most helpful thing you can do to prepare for a moderator meeting is to take photos throughout the year and write yourself notes of all the activities your child has done, all the places you’ve visited, and any programs you’ve used.

You’ll be surprised how much you’ve done that you forget about! 

Then before the annual moderator meeting, I like to write a simple report, listing everything my kids have done for each subject, and making sure I’ve got proof of my child’s work from throughout the year. 

Then I go through it all with the moderator at my meeting. 

I've created some example reports below, which you can view if you'd like to see an example of the sorts of things that can be included in a home education report. 

When you have a large family, trying to homeschool all the kids at once is a daily struggle. This can be especially difficult when there are younger siblings involved. 

A technique for younger siblings which I used for many years is this: Have certain activities put aside for the younger siblings, which can only be used while you are homeschooling the older kids. This helps the younger siblings look forward to the lesson time rather than getting upset by it. 

If you teach subjects separately, you can make the activities for the younger kids relevant to what the older kids are learning so they feel that they are included in the homeschooling activity. This also gets them interested in each subject, in an age appropriate way. 

CLIXO is the perfect travel toy!

CLIXO is a safe, creative, well-priced exploration of "magnet magic" for children of all ages. The pieces are durable and high quality, and feel great in your hands - you can't help wanting to "click" them together in crazy ways. You are welcome to try them out in store!

And we've just added the new Jewelry and Tropical Birds Packs.

Explore CLIXO here!  CLIXO is unlike anything we've seen before, and I mean that in a good way. :-)

My educational pick of the week (coinciding with Homeschool Wednesday!) is a little book which we’ve used in our homeschooling program for years.

My Special Word Collection is great for kids who aren’t confident with spelling. Having their own, personalised list of frequently used words which they can access and look up any time they’re writing, can help build confidence as they don’t have to worry about drawing attention to their spelling abilities. Not having to ask for help, and not having to worry that they’re spelling a word incorrectly can give kids more confidence when putting their ideas down on paper.

This tends to help reluctant writers overcome a big hurdle, making writing much less intimidating.

The ShadowDark Role Playing Game (RPG) has become a massive hit - and we're stocking it! 

This week, my recommendation is a reading/writing/comprehension workbook series which I’ve discovered here at Brain Spice recently.

It’s not often I get excited about workbooks. They’re great, and they have their place, but “exciting” isn’t normally how I’d describe them. HOWEVER… this is a series that I was pleasantly surprised by - and I would definitely recommend! 

The name of the series is Reading For Me. It’s a fantastic and affordable open-and-go workbook for homeschoolers, or for parents wanting to help their kids with their reading/writing/comprehension skills.

It’s Wednesday! Which means if you’ve been wanting to learn more about homeschooling, today’s a great day to come visit Brain Spice! I thought I’d quickly also mention this cool new game which we’ve started stocking at Brain Spice. It’s such a clever way to help kids practice their reading. It’s great for homeschoolers, parents of school kids, teachers, and tutors!

Hi everyone! Janelle here again (the lucky homeschool Mum who gets to spend 11am-2pm each Wednesday at Brain Spice, chatting about all things education and homeschooling). Something I love about Brain Spice is that the store really encourages “Play is the brain's favourite way of learning”. So in that spirit, I thought I’d share an awesome little game we currently have in stock…