Thursday 5 April 2018

April Inspiration

The sun has come out! The last few days of grey and rain have seemed so long but today is spring.  I took the children out to Walthamstow Wetlands which is new to us. By the way, I seem to be running out of ideas for places to go or things to do in London for my 9 and 11 year old and the Summer holiday isn't far away. Any suggestions? 

This is an amazing list of maths resources for children who struggle with maths but don't let the title put you off; this list would be useful for most children. It does include Sum Swamp which is a brilliant game for young children learning number bonds. We used to play Sum Swamp daily! 

Again, about maths, Jo Boaler talks on this podcast about fear of mathematics, worth a listen.

Frugal Girl published an encouraging post about how to make your house lovely for $0.

I have been reading Sarah Mackenzie's new book, The Read-Aloud Family: making meaningful and lasting connections with your kids. This is a book that I will probably return to again and again. The book lists and questions to use to discuss books with children are particularly worthwhile as well as the chapter around having a book club atmosphere at home. I think that Sarah goes too far about the moral benefits of books but otherwise the book is worth a read and a place on the bookshelf.

The current read is about sleep: Matthew Walker's Why we Sleep. Reading this has taken a little while and I haven't finished yet, partly, because it keeps reminding me about the importance of sleep and that takes away from reading time! This book runs through what is known about sleep and its importance as well as scary stuff about sleep deprivation. Most of the latter isn't new to me but having it in one place does pull a punch. 

More book recommendations are always welcome! 


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3 comments:

  1. I sometimes wonder why God made us to need sleep - and often I conclude it is because it makes us trust Him more, rather than in our own strength. But some days, I just wish I was one of those people who could regularly go on 2-3 hours sleep and function well!

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    1. Yes, I have wondered too. The author of the sleep book is sceptical about most claims of being able to manage on very little sleep and cites Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan as people who supposedly needed little sleep but developed dementia in later life. However, there is apparently, a rare genetic variant whose possessors can manage on six hours sleep with no impairment. It is a bit scary to think about what we must have been doing to ourselves as junior doctors on a 1:3 with internal cover!

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  2. I read your post on Instagram about the book & your experience as a junior doctor. I had to do quite a bit of night shift when I was nursing & found it almost impossible to sleep any more than 4 hours a day. 7 nights in a row nearly killed me but it was common to be be rostered on for that many nights running.I knew RNs who did permanent nights and they always looked a good ten years older than they were.

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