Meet Habiba

I actually came across this site by chance. I have a new blog called Passport, Tickets and a Suitcase, all about my travels, some overseas, but mostly at the moment, within Australia. Because of this love of travelling, I have spent quite awhile searching the internet for others who also share this passion. 

I found a travel blog by Bernadette Simpson, called Escapade through Egypt. I would recommend anyone who likes photography to take a look. The photos are just wonderful. From this blog, I found Habiba. Habiba is Bernadette's 'alter ego' and she is the star of Bernadette's picture books. 

The books are written in both English and Arabic. This is a very valuable resource if you have any Arabic speaking children in your classroom, but also to expose other students to other languages. I believe it is important for children of all cultures to recognise that we all communicate in different ways and that our words are written in different scripts. Lastly, anyone who has been looking for resources in Arabic would know how difficult they are to find. I really hope you find them useful. Personally, I plan to print them off and laminate them to hopefully make them last longer. 

Sensory Rice

I was searching the internet (yet again) for other blogs about teaching (There's a massive collection out there) and I came across A Woven Education. It's funny after years of teaching, you forget some of those really simple ideas and need a reminder. This is what this post was. There are some other wonderful ideas on the blog, so be sure to check them out.

The focus for Ruth from A Woven Education was to keep it simple. To have children play and experiment with rice, which worked successfully and is certainly needed in educative settings. You can however, use many different tools with rice. I have listed some below.

• Use utensils or cookware from Asian countries e.g. Japanese tea sets, rice bowls, soup spoons etc.
• Kitchen utensils e.g. spoons, bowls, pots, pans
• Bury 'treasure' (photos, toys) in the rice. You could make it match a theme e.g. Transport, Reptiles, School, Home etc
• Bury letters or numbers in the rice. Children can practice reading them when they find them. 
• Use funnels
• Bury photos (preferably laminated) of the students in the rice. You could also use laminated names so students can find their name.
• Scoops and bags of different sizes preferably material bags

The idea of using different tools with the rice, is still to encourage sensory play but also combine it with another skill, which you feel is important for your students to practice.