Teaching and Learning made Easy with Twinkl Learning and Educational Resources.

Twinkl: home of unique learning resources.

In the past week,I have been engaged in reading sessions with some children at my daughter's school for about half an hour every afternoon as part of the build up to World book day. It is of course on a voluntary basis but I was happy to be a part of the sessions because of the initiative behind it. Myself and a handful of other parents who had volunteered to be a part of the exercise had been teamed up with teachers in each class within the school who arranged for us to listen to the children read.

Myself and the other parents had a bit of briefing session with the teachers in charge to tell us the aim behind the reading session,what they hoped to achieve out of it and of course what was expected of us  in the process,we were also provided with very helpful and easy to understand learning resources from Twinkl to guide us through the process. Some of these resources included Guided Reading question cards which provided ideas of  key questions to ask as it relates to the book each child read.

Guided Reading question Mat from Twinkl

There was also the Tricky word sound mat which looked something like this,

Tricky word sound Mat

Phoneme cards quite similar to image below,some record activity sheet and a couple more stuffs.

Phoneme Cards

It was a pleasant and eye opening experience. It definitely was an opportunity for me to learn lots of useful stuff which I could put to practical use during reading times with my four year old and honestly the learning resources absolutely helped me to confidently engage more with the kids during the reading sessions. I know now for future reference that being a teacher isn't a walk in the park!



So it was a pleasant surprise for me when the opportunity to talk about the Twinkl resource on the blog arose.

''Twinkl is your first choice for easy to use,trusted and high quality teaching materials for educators and parents world wide-professionally crafted materials with a personal touch''.

At Twinkl, you will discover an enormous number of useful and easy to adapt learning resources for the Early years Stage,Key Stages 1 and 2,SEN and even home learning as well. With over 196,000 resources specially designed by Professional teachers,designers and illustrators you will can be rest assured that there is no need to go anywhere else as with Twinkl its a world of very generous  resources at the click of a button.

Twinkl offers free membership that allows users access to a vast number of resources.
However, Twinkl also runs additional services that you can choose to subscribe to. There is the Gold membership which is a high quality but low cost option at £29.95 a year and there is also the platinum membership which is priced at £44.95 a year and gives you access to all Twinkl resources.
This premium service gives access to well over 29,000 exclusive resources which includes lesson plan ideas, power-point presentations,activities,worksheets,role play resources and so much more!

                             Twinkl Awesome Badge                              

I am absolutely excited to have been offered the opportunity to access the brilliant world of near endless learning and educational resources via a platinum subscription. More than anything else, its definitely an opportunity for me to be more aware and involved in my four year old daughter's learning journey and also an opportunity to infuse new and ingenious ways of learning to make it an enjoyable process for her.
There is an absolute wealth of resources at Twinkl and honestly if you ask me, choosing to subscribe to this service is a great idea. It means you not only optimise the use of the generous resources Twinkl provides but with your subscription you also help ensure that Twinkle can continue to make all the useful resources such as they ones they continue to offer.

Twinkl also provides an opportunity for you to create your own resources which I think is an absolutely brilliant idea.
With Twinkl Create you can bring your ideas to fore and produce some excellent educational resources as well to suit individual needs and preferences.

In addition to all the wonderful things Twinkl provides there is also an amazing community  forum on the website which you can find here . As you would expect of any good quality community forum, it is a meeting place for the continually growing educational community on Twinkl to discuss,share inspiring ideas and provide support to each other.


Please visit the Twinkl website to explore exclusive learning resources. Find out more for yourself at  http://www.twinkl.co.uk/



** Twinkl Premium Subscription offered for the purpose of this review**

   

My Mother's Day Gift Guide Featuring Avon Cosmetics and Jewellery

Mother's day should really be one of the most important and celebrated days in the world. I mean I am not being sentimental or trying to chip in any more emphasis than there really should be but with all due respect and honour , being a mother is probably the greatest sacrifice any woman will ever make. Its like the only job whose biggest rewards come from things as little as the gift of a squishy hug, a lovely heart melting smile and of course just the pure joy of watching the kids grow up into well balanced and happy adults.

Happy Mother's Day to every mother out there! Trust me you do nothing short of SUPER so well done!

As a Very Special Treat to myself, I ordered a few items from the Avon brochure via my friend who is an Avon Representative. I love Avon products because they not only come at unbelievably affordable prices but the quality of their products is amazing too.
 I have picked out four of my favourites and thought to share with you because I feel they would come handy as gift ideas.

Gift Ideas from Avon

1. Avon Far Away Collection.

Avon Gift Set
Image Source:Avon

Every time I see Far Away perfume, I smile to myself because it gives me fond memories. I recall the first time I ever saw this perfume was on my mother's dressing table,am talking about a very long time now. Out of curiosity I tried it on and its smell is one that has stayed with me since then. Many years on, a slight whiff when walking past someone and I can easily tell its Far Away. I love it.
The Avon collection is just like a perfume gift set and it includes :
-50ml Eau De Parfum Spray
-150ml Body Cream
-75ml Perfumed Body Spray
You Pay: £10(Worth £20)

2.Starr Necklace,Bracelet and Earrings Gift Set.

Starr Necklace, Bracelet & Earrings Gift Set: Avon

This is a very pretty Gold- Coloured  plated Jewellery Set comprising of earrings,bracelet and necklace.
As Soon as I sighted this in the order brochure, I knew I just had to get it. I simply cannot wait to rock this gorgeous but simple enough for every day wear jewelry. My pictures did not exactly turn out well so had to make do with one from the Avon website, trust me these look really nice, I saw it on my friend who  refused to let me covet hers even for a minute but rather would have me take crappy pictures of her jewelry set and buy mine instead, haha!
You Pay £7 (Worth £10)


3. Prepare to Party Gift Set

Prepare to Party Gift Set from Avon

Excellent Bargain I must say. This set contains all you would need to create your perfect day or night time looks plus the perfect addition of a clutch bag. When you purchase this gift set, the clutch bag contents include
-EyeShadow Duo in warm Cashmere
-Ultra Colour Lipstick
-Glimmerstick Eye Liner in Blackest Black
-Supershock Mascara in Black.

Do me a favour will you? This product is currently on offer, so, check out the prices of the individual items and grab yourself a bargain as quickly as you can.
You pay :£10 (Worth £28)

4. Spring Blossom Diffuser

Spring Blossom Diffuser from Avon

You probably would have noticed by now how much I love fragrances and Scents. If you have not then please allow me to tell you all about my weakness for scents and fragrances! I just could not say no to this Fragrance diffuser. It comes in a lovely gift box containing the diffuser, fragrance oils and some other related stuff. Plus this also came at a bargain I definitely could not afford to miss, so I was happy to include it in my order. Cannot wait for those lovely smells to waft through my home!
You pay : £7.50(worth £15, spend £8.50 across mother's day gifts and get it for a bargain price of £7.50)


Inspired with my gift guide? Let me know what you think and do feel free to share your gift ideas with me too.

Peace and Love X

**Image Source via Avon website and Google**

Meet my new best friend! Spanx In-Power Line Super Higher power Shapewear.

First of all, I know I Joined the Spanx band wagon a bit late but for me its a case of better late than never!

I mean, why did it take ages for Spanx to locate me or is it simply a case of the other way round?

Spanx Shapewear: In-Power Line Super higher power

For quite a while now, I have been searching for the ''perfect'' shapewear to help do the needful. After two kids via ceasarian, my body has sadly refused to sync with my mind, haha! It now has a mind of its own and continues to grow in leaps and bounds! Lol. 

At the moment I am a size 14 and I would  describe myself as petite or small perhaps. Often times, when I am out with the kids, I get people asking me if I am minding them whilst their parents are away! I mean if anything, if people think I look too young to be the mum of my kids then it just means I am growing gracefully and I am very grateful for that.

To be honest, I am not going to push myself to do anything drastic in a bid to achieve a svelte figure and just as long as I am fit and healthy I am A-OK! So I absolutely love myself as a size 14 just as much as I love myself when I was a size 6.

Spanx Shapewear: Info Leaflet

Back to shapewear! Haha, typical me. So my search for that perfect shapewear has been a long and laborious one. I am not someone who would purchase an item because celebrities have been said to endorse it,Personal experience is key for me. Everytime I thought to try a new shapewear because the one I purchased had left me utterly dissapointed and had found a new home in the bin, I would say to myself to leave spanx to the very last option and try another brand and trust me I have tried quite a bunch.

However, my mindset totally changed two weekends ago. I had attended a reception dinner with hubby and I absolutely looked gorgeous in my lovely gown. Of course, I had a full slip shapwear on to help smoothen and hold everything in place. I found out very soon (and by this time, we were almost at the venue) that it would be an absolutely struggle to have the shapewear remain in place, it kept riding up and even worse was I spent the better part of the night struggling to keep it in place. Absolutely ruined my evening, total nightmare!  ...Enter spanx! I had tried on quite a few brands and I felt I had finally gotten to my last option. Time to experience what all the fuss with Spanx has been about.

I was really wary on just purchasing anything from the Spanx website. It had to be something similar to what I have had in the past to give me good grounds for comparison so I settled for In-Power Line Super Higher Power. Then choosing the right size was another challenge. The size chart on that website is not exactly the most helpful, thank goodness for google and reviews. I finally settled for a size C.

Spanx In-Power Super Higher Power Shapewear

Delivery was quite quick and I could barely wait for the delivery person to leave so I could shut the door and get to serious business. My initial reaction upon unwrapping the item was one of shock! It looked so small and definitely not the most attractive piece of underwear I have owned! My heart absolutely sank but I did not let it deter me, after all there had been SEVERAL times in the past  when I have had to squeeze my self into various clothing no where near my size just to give myself a reason to purchase it rather than giving up entirely because the store had run out of my size.

Anyways, so after much pulling,heaving,yanking and what have you, I was able to get it in place and it was absolutely worth it. I looked in the mirror and was absolutely pleased to see what it helped me achieve. Once I got it on, it felt comfortable, My slight tummy bulge was very well hidden and it held me firmly in all the right places. What is not to love about my new best buddie? I wanted to be sure, it would stay in place once I started moving around so I dressed up and went for a short walk and returned back home, I had to keep asking myself if I still had it on, it was absolutely comfortable I did not feel I had a shape wear on. I have worn it a second time after that and the experience was pure bliss! I felt no restriction or constriction in this shapewear and I am absolutely hooked on this so much I have now placed another order for a couple more different spanx shapewears.

As for me, the search for a ''perfect shapewear is finally over .I have found what I have always needed and it is indeed my new best friend!

Peace and Love X