St Aiden's Newsletter 08 October 2007


Hello Everyone!  Welcome to a new week.  For those of you in South Africa, a wet and cold week, with snow having been reported in the Cape.  Seems that the seasons are a little confused right now, taking into account that we should be in summer now.

New additions to our website are resources for the HS & WAHM, perhaps someone wanting to begin a web-based business.  In this new section of the site you will find software as well as free printables and eBooks covering a number of subjects, including seasonal activities.  It is a very new section and still being developed so additions will be made once they are screened and found suitable.  I won't update every time something has been added.  It is separate from the main website but you can access these at http://www.staidenshomeschool.com/catalogue/index.html

New additons also to www.staidenshomeschool.com/africa/african_animals.html - Although the units have been completetd already I have decided to "revise" most of them to include lesson plans and more notebooking pages as well.  It makes it more of a comprehensive African animal unit study, with a focus on animal conservation in Africa.  Children can watch videos of each animal on the pages, and there are other useful printable resources and links.  This was an interesting topic of research for me, and I found myself quite humbled and sorrowful when reading about specifically Chimpanzees.  Did you know that they are endangered?  I have only admiration for people like Jane Goodall who has dedicated her life to the conservation of these animals.  We visit another conservation group, Africa's Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue

Centre  by way of video, and see the life these people are leading in the name of animal love and conservation, http://www.staidenshomeschool.com/animals/chimp_vid_idafrica.html.  Truly an eye opener.  Education is the key to conservation and we can all do our bit.

A contributor to our pages is my dear friend Josie Whitehead, a world-renowned poet and children's book author.  I have uploaded some of her contributions, but would urge you to visit her site.

READ, LISTEN AND PRONOUNCE ~ JOSIE'S POETRY http://www.whiteheadm.co.uk/html/josies_poetry.htm

There are hundreds of new online poems with attached voice recordings for children on this website.  They are the original work of  Josie Whitehead and made at the request of local children who love her work.  They range from simple action poems for under 5's through to lots of story poems for 5 - 10 year olds (although older children and adults love them too).  To wean children away from just rhyming poems, Josie leads children through to blank verse, haiku, Petrarchan sonnets, ballads etc to demonstrate how effective this is.  There are lesson plans, ideas for bringing poetry to life in the classroom, games for the children and quizzes, and craftwork suggestions to link to poetry, including making birthday cards.  Josie is a popular poet and her poetry is well highlighted by leading educational and children's websites.  She visits children in her local schools, libraries and Literature Festivals and is available for Skype visits (see her website).

I hope that you have found some useful information and resources in this newsletter.  Please let me know if there is anything you would like to see and are not seeing quickly enough and I'll do my best to source it for you.  Any feedback, links to exciting sites and comments also are always welcome.

Have a safe and successful week
Blessings
Donnette