To explore and develop the concept of the learning family, NIACE is launching a new initiative called The Centre for the Learning Family, which will bring together those involved in diverse areas such as...

• health;
• cultural activities;
• intergenerational activities
• parenting; and
• community cohesion.

Whether you are a family learning practitioner or a parent, I'm sure you will find some useful educational resources on the Kindergarten Worksheets website.

It is no surprise that Kindergarten Worksheets provides visitors with numerous printable worksheets aimed at children. These worksheets span four areas...

• Maths;
• English;
• Learning; and
  
• Holidays.
  

Each category contains subcategories that include relevant worksheets.

Visitors to Kindergarten Worksheets can...

• view the...

Safe is a new programme of practical, activities to develop young children's skills, self-confidence and safety awareness when using social network sites.

Combining a safe, social network, downloadable materials and practitioner resources, the programme will enable any family learning providers to easily deliver fun activities which develop childrens' digital literacy skills. By completing the programme children gain a Safe certificate as evidence of their learning.

Visit http://www.digi...

ColoringPagesPlus is a colouring pages search engine that aggregates all websites together and lets users search them all at once.

Users...

• enter the name of the object or character they are looking for such as "tractor" or "dragon";
  the search engine will locate several colouring pages.
  
• Click on any of the thumbnails they wish to use
  the image enlarges
• can the print it out
• can also browse through the recently searched or the most popular colouring pages and print them.
  

Family Learni...

Looking for colouring pages? Check out TwistyNoodle.

TwistyNoodle hosts thousands of colouring pages and worksheets.

Users can...

• browse for colouring pages and worksheets by going into their separate tabs.
  Each colouring page also has its own worksheets.
  

• select an item by clicking on it; a customization page will open where users can change...
  • the style;
  • the font; and
    
  • the text of the colouring page;
    
• quickly print out the customized colouring page.

TwistyNoodle also has o...

Early Learning HQ is a new site offering lots of free Foundation Stage and Key Stage One resources for practitioners to use.

These include...

• Literacy;
• Numeracy; and
• themed resources

Early Learning HQ  also has a ‘photo and illustration' area where visitors can get clip art and pictures to use in their own resources.

A valuable resource for Family Learning Practitioners; check it out at http://www.earlylearninghq.org.uk/!

wickED is managed by the New Zealand Ministry of Education.

wickED provides engaging curriculum-based learning activities, many of which have been developed to reflect a

• literacy,
• numeracy and
• ESOL focus.

The activities are intended to support facilitated or independent use by learners.

wickED provides...

• interactives,
• online activities such as crosswords and quizzes,
• an online storybook,
• story creation tools,
• a student gallery,
• regular student-centred projects and
• mini-proje...

MeeGenius is an inviting site that is easily accessible by both parents (Guardians/Carers/Family Learning Practitioners/etc) and children.

This group of adults all want children to develop, from as early an age as possible, reading habits.

MeeGenius, a new online library, combines reading and playing in a way that keeps everybody happy - children will have their fun and parents (Guardians/Carers/Family Learning Practitioners/etc.) will be delighted that their little ones are spending tim...

I've no doubt that Children will have some fun while learning with the ten websites highlighted in this blog and, that Family Learning Practitioners/parents/guardians/carers/etc., can have fun teaching them too.

In the words of this blog entry...

"What probably helps today’s parents is the relative precociousness of the ‘digital age’ generation. They seem to be naturally drawn towards anything that’s interactive."

Read the blog to find out more and/or...

'Teaching Ideas' is mainly intended for practitioners working with primary-age children (i.e. ages 5 to 11). Although it has been designed with UK teachers in mind, all ideas can of course be used by teachers around the world.

The ideas, activities and worksheets are organised according to a number of subjects (those covered in the English National Curriculum). The "Early Years" section contains ideas for use with children aged 5 or below, and the "Foreign Languages" area has resour...

I know I'm pushing my luck, no more than the Met Office last year, but as the summer weather approaches, many family learning practitioners will be thinking about ways of engaging with parents/guardians/carers/etc. and their children about the importance of staying safe in the sun.

Sunwise Learning is a new website offering games and activities for children, as well as lots of lesson ideas and resources for family learning practitioners.

Practitioners can also register for a free newsle...

Silly Books have been included in the eMagazine in the past but. now many of their books have a "click through" option which allows switch users to turn the page. Just set the switch to "mouse click" and place the mouse arrow over next.

This doesn't just aid inclusion it also make these books much better for Family Learning Practitioners to use on an Interactive White Board (IWB).

Take a closer look at http://www.sillybooks.net/Catalog.htm.

"Use this reader's response activity to analyze the characters in any book then, print and collect the scrapbook pages."

Character Scrapbook...

• allows learners to analyse characters in books;
• could be an excellent resource for...
  • collaborative work, using an Interactive White Board (IWB) - (a wireless keyboard & mouse would help considerably), and/or
  • individual work.
    

Users...

• type in the name of the book;
• type in the name of one of the characters (If working in small ...

Yet another website, in fact a scholastic game, where visitors can create a creature.  Creature Creator can be used for writing or art activities.

Visit http://www.scholastic.com/underlandchronicles/creaturecreator.htm to try it out.

P.S. Here is my first effort...

GRABBA BEAST lets users build their own Beast from a huge, ever-growing library of body types and parts —

• some scary,
  
• some cute,
  
• most are ridiculous
  

Hitting RANDOMIZE will generate a random creation, or visitors can view other Beasts in the BEAST GALLERY.

The resulting images can be used to encourage learners to...

• write stories
• improve their vocabulary - listening skills (describing a given beast or identifying a beast from a descr...

Internet Safety With Professor Garfield provides Family Learning Practitioners with an engaging set of lessons that learners and their parents/guardians/carers etc., should remember. Practitioners will also find a teaching guide and printable certificates of completion for their learners.

This engaging and useful site for web safety ...

Renault's Safety Matters website can be used to support Family Learning practitioners with their work on road safety:

Safety Matters...

• is designed for and aimed at 7-11 year olds (and their teachers / parents) and offers free and interactive resources.
• provides Family Learning Practitioners with...
  • lesson plans,
  • assembly plans,
  • student worksheets and
  • interactive whiteboard tools which deliver road safety messages whilst supporting...
    • Key Stage 2 PSHE,
    • literacy and
    • numeracy curriculum.
    ...

Practical Action are a development charity who are offering lots of free resources that are ideal for Family Learning Practitioners and/or Initial Teacher Training. The resources are linked to their work in helping some of the world’s poorest people to transform their lives for the better.

The Education area of their site has a wide range of content for practitioners and learners, including:

• Videos showing how designers make their sustainable products (useful for Design Technology);
• A su...

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Foundation has produced Storyline Online, a streaming video site where SAG members read a wide selection of children’s books.

Children can...

• follow along in their own books; or
• just watch the video, which includes the illustrations.
• Toggle closed-captioning; or
• to make it even more book-like, turn off the sound as well; this kind of defeats the purpose of watching the videos, but, I suppose, it’s nice to know users could do this.

There are additional acti...

A Maths Dictionary for Kids has been updated for 2010 to include...

• more terms;
• definitions; and
• visual aids than ever before. 

A Maths Dictionary for Kids provides simple, clear definitions of math terms. Each definition includes a small diagram or simple activity to illustrate the term's definition.

A Maths Dictionary for Kids is a great resource for learners for homework assignments and/or individual course assignments. The visual clues provided by in the dictionary are useful for tho...

If like me, you love the art of paper folding, (I blame the Rupert Bear Annual) then you will definitely get hooked with the Origami Club Website.

Origami Club is a free comprehensive online resource for paper art lovers and origami enthusiasts full of free and easy origami diagrams and animations.

With Origami Club, users can browse through various origami creations and watch and/or find directions on how to create them.

The activities and resources on You Are Here are free to use. The site is ideal for use in Family Learning and/or as an Initial Teacher Training Resource.

In the Parents and Teachers section You are here has provided a brief description of each store in the mall. They have also provided...

• fact sheets,

• lesson plans and

• classroom activities that complement the site.

The site can be used to support lessons in...

• critical thinking,

• language arts,

• writing,

• media literacy,

• business, ...

James Ratcliffe, a Design and Technology Teacher at Milton Abbey School in Dorset, started making PSHE and Tutor Time PowerPoint presentations while working at 'Rossmore Community College'.

The shared presentations are free for download, modification, sharing and use in teaching.  They are designed to be projected using a digital projector on to a whiteboard, wall or anywhere where the whole class can see.

The presentations are not designed to simply 'show' the class. Practitioners shoul...

Carex have created a set of educational resources, called ‘Hands up for Hygiene’, which aim to enhance children's understanding of the link between good hand hygiene and the prevention of the spread of germs.

The site has resources for...

• pre-school,
• primary and
• secondary schools,

...as well as tips for helping children to think about hygiene at home.

There are also songs to download and sing. Family Learning Practitioners working in/with schools can even take advantage of a free...

Those of you who work with young learners, Family Learning Practitioners, and those engaged in Initial Teacher Training, may well find the interactive Facts of the Day Calendar an invaluable tool; produced by Mandy Barrow, fom Woodlands Junior School, the first three months of the year are already available.

In her words...

"This is a new calendar for 2010. I hope it will stimulate lots of thinking and discussion in classrooms."

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History has three excellent interactive activities about dinosaurs.

There is a virtual tour in which learners can tour the museum and see close-ups of exhibits. The interactive time line provides learners with an overview of the...

• Paleozoic,
• Mesozoic, and
• Cenozoic eras.

The highlight of the interactive activities is the virtual dinosaur dig where learners use a variety of archeologists' tools to unearth fossils and then assemble them.

Visit ...

Paper Toys are an inexpensive way of keeping children both happy and busy.

If you are a Family Learning practitioner looking for activities that involve cutting, folding and gluing? Paper toys from Toy-a-Day could be one answer. Parents/Guardians/Carers etc., and their young charges, can print, fold and glue them together, to create any number of toys they want. Children (and Adults) will have a great time making the toys and costs are minimal. 

The resulting toys could be used in a 'Toy...

Learn English Kids has...

• many activities that learners can do individually which is great for differentiated instruction.
• a long list of activities and lessons that practitioners can do with a whole class.
• some articles and reports, in the teacher section, that will be of interest to ESOL/ESL/EFL practitioners.

Learners can visit the website to...

• play educational games,
• listen and read along with short stories, or
• listen to and sing along with English songs.

Learn English Kids also...

Train Time <http://www.mathsyear2000.org/magnet/minus3/trains/index.html> is just one of the many interactive resources available on the Count On website; it reinforces time telling skills (elapsed time) in a fun, semi "real life" scenario.

Learners...

• read statements on the left of the screen and
• then click on the train with the correct answer.
• If correct the train will move on the tracks and they will be given the chance to complete another problem.
• Incorrect and it will tell them t...

Back in February 2006 SparkleBox.co.uk was launched as a means of sharing useful downloadable resources with other teachers around the UK (and beyond).

Since then the SparkleBox has grown dramatically but the fundamental aim of sharing resources remains. Every resource on the site is FREE to download - no payment required at all!

The main sections are...

• Literacy
• Numeracy
• Topics
• Signs & Labels
• Class Management
• Miscellaneous
• Sharing Zone
• Photo Gallery
• Books
• Welsh and
• Parents

The Great Grub Club has plenty of free ideas and downloadable resources to get family learning practitioners and their learners learning about healthy living.

Encourage Parents, Guardians and Carers to find out more about the work of World Cancer Research Fund UK and download free recipes and activity sheets to enjoy with their child/children.

The Great Grub Club includes...

• Games
• Quizzes
• Fun
• Food facts
• Olivia's Garden
• Cook it! and
• Fitness Fun

Plus sections for...

• "Your stuff"
• Parents and...

Fruity words is from the Birmingham Grid for Learning.

There are 3 Levels...

1. Matching Fruit: Match the fruit to its picture by dragging and dropping it onto the matching one; names are under the fruit in English.
   
2. Counting Fruits: has three numeracy activities...
   
   • Making 10: Put 10 pieces of fruit into the bowl by dragging and dropping the fruit of the users choice; watch the counter change from 0 to 10
   • How many fruits? Count how many fruits are in the bowl, choose the correct number fro...

Date Chart is an Interactive White Board resource (IWB), from ICT Games, that reviews the...

• weather condition,
• day of the week,
• date and
• month.

An interactive resource ideal for Family Learning and/or Initial Teacher Training - Take this "Rules of the Road" test for learners to earn their official PBS Kids Web license!