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A a stocking filler, a present wrapped and ribboned under the tree, a ‘snuggledown’ bedtime read, a story for the car, plane or train or to read to the class, a book makes a wonderful gift. There are so many seasonal classics to choose from but here are a few to add to Santa’s list.

Jan Homden.

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A a stocking filler, a present wrapped and ribboned under the tree, a 'snuggledown' bedtime read, a story for the car, plane or train or to read to the class, a book makes a wonderful gift. There are so many seasonal classics to choose from but here are a few to add to Santa's list. Jan Homden. Click on the book covers to follow a link to Amazon
Baby's First Cloth Book: Christmas Rag Book - 11 Sep 2018 by Nosy Crow (Author), Lisa Jones (Illustrator), Edward Underwood (Illustrator)

One in a series of soft, cloth books with a cloth-and-Velcro handle that can be strapped on to a stroller and pages that are just right for tiny hands. These appealing books combine vibrant images of faces and animals, high-contrast patterns, first words, and the simplest of stories, making them ideal gifts for babies.

Lisa Jones began designing and hand-printing her own line of greeting cards with the help of her partner, Edward Underwood, in their London studio in 2000. Drawing on their backgrounds in art and fashion, they've since stocked the world's finest galleries, museums, boutiques, and department stores with stylish wares. Lisa Jones and Edward Underwood live in the South Downs, in England.

Kipper's Christmas Eve Board Book Hardcover - 6 Oct 2016 by Mick Inkpen (Author)

Age Range: 3 - 5 years

Another Kipper musing: 'Which is best, Kipper wonders, Christmas Day or Christmas Eve? Presents, or expecting presents?" It's Christmas Eve and Kipper and his friends are preparing for the big day. Decorating the tree, exchanging presents and sharing in all the excitement together.'

Full of festive cheer, this charming story is perfect for reading together at Christmas time. A classic Kipper story in a chunky board book, perfect for little hands to hold.'

"Kipper has touched a chord with children and parents alike" - Practical Parenting

"The charmingly comical Inkpen, as always, hits the spot" - Guardian

Winnie-the-Pooh: Pooh's Snowy Day Paperback - 27 Aug 2015 by Egmont Publishing UK (Author), Andrew Grey (Illustrator)

Snow is falling in the Hundred Acre Wood, and Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet have a light-bulb moment - why not build a house for Eeyore? This heartwarming story is one of three festive stories and a perfect stocking filler for Pooh fans aged 2 and up. With beautiful illustrations by Andrew Grey in the style of the original artwork by E. H. Shepard.

Winnie-the-Pooh: Pooh's Christmas Adventure by Egmont Publishing UK Paperback

Winnie-the-Pooh: Pooh's Christmas Letters by A. A. Milne Paperback

Snow (Four Seasons of Walter de la Mare) Board book - Abridged, 2 Nov 2017 by Walter de la Mare (Author), Carolina Rabei (Illustrator) Age Range: 4 - 5 years

A magical book that is beautifully illustrated by Carolina Rabei whose artwork reveals 'a unique mix of practices as she explores the use of traditional as well as digital techniques in her illustrations.'

'Snow' is depicted in a palette of restricted muted tones that contrast with the warm pops of red to highlight the cosy indoors where the family are preparing for Christmas, and the crisp, snowy outdoors that is home to woodland creatures and a forest playground where the children go sleighing and build snowmen. With lots of lovely detail for young readers to notice and include in their enjoyment of retelling the story from the pictures.

For a taster watch 46 seconds of magic!

- Richard Johnson (Author). Once Upon a Snowstorm - Paperback 1 Nov 2018 by Age range: 3 - 6 years

This book was shortlisted for the World Illustration Awards 2018, Professional Children's Books Category.

'I quickly decided to remove any words from the book and concentrated on trying to tell the story purely through imagery, developing the characters and sequencing the sections together. The silent picture-book format also encourages a more personal interpretation of its story, perhaps determined by discussions between parent and child. It is my hope that children will enjoy the story as a magical winter adventure, a tale of friendship and discovery.' Richard Johnson

Join a boy on his memorable and atmospheric journey as he tries to find his way home through a snowy, forested, mountainous landscape to Dad and the cabin where they live. Although waylaid by forest creatures who befriend him and include him in their fun he still misses Dad and wants to go back home. Bear escorts him home where the boy and his Dad, thanks to the animals, no longer continue to live a lonely, isolated existence but enjoy the companionship of new friends. A story as magical as the enchanting snowflakes.

Coming Home - Hardcover - 23 Oct 2018 by Michael Morpurgo M B E (Author), Kerry Hyndman (Illustrator) Age range: 5 - 8 years

A determined little robin, sets out on a lonely, epic journey from Scandinavia to return to his mate in England in time for Christmas and to share Christmas bird cake. The urgency of the robin's longing to return home is portrayed in Morpurgo's beautifully poetic narrative.
I must be on my way, on my way. Safe in the shadows. Safe among trees. Darting, flitting, swooping and soaring. Onwards, upwards. Long way to go. Get there I must. Get there I will.
Coming Home reminds us of a relatively unknown natural phenomenon; while some robins do, of course, live in our gardens all year long, some migrate hundreds of miles just to winter in our gardens.

"Like them, so many of us make the long journey home for Christmas. So this Christmas, look out for a robin. We have more in common than we realise" - Michael Morpurgo
Listen to this beautiful story read by Michael Morpurgo
Christmas Truce: A True Story of World War 1 - Hardcover - May 2, 2017 by Aaron Shepard (Author), Wendy Edelson (Illustrator) Age Range: 9 - 12 years
One night of peace in a world of war.
'In this fictional letter - illustrated in authentic detail by Wendy Edelson - award-winning author Aaron Shepard draws from firsthand accounts of soldiers at the front to portray the truce in its true nature and spirit.
Christmas Day, 1914 My dear sister Janet, It is 2:00 in the morning and most of our men are asleep in their dugouts - yet I could not sleep myself before writing to you of the wonderful events of Christmas Eve. In truth, what happened seems almost like a fairy tale, and if I hadn't been through it myself, I would scarce believe it. Just imagine: While you and the family sang carols before the fire there in London, I did the same with enemy soldiers here on the battlefields of France!
The Christmas Truce of 1914 is one of the most extraordinary incidents not only of World War I but of all military history. Providing inspiration for songs, books, plays, and movies, it has endured as an archetypal image of peace. Yet much about the historic event remains shrouded in myth and legend.'

Listen to the story being read by The Chamber Readers.

Neal Layton (Illustrator) Emily Brown and Father Christmas - Hardcover - 4 Oct 2018 by Cressida Cowell (Author), Age Range: 3 - 5 years

It was Christmas Eve. Emily Brown and Stanley, her grey haired rabbit, were tucked up in bed reading each other a story, when from outside their bedroom window came the cry 'Ho-Ho-Help'! Father Christmas was hanging by a rope from the roof! It's Emily and Stanley to the rescue in more ways than one! The story line will appeal greatly to a young audience while award winning Neal Layton's cartoon-style characters just reinforce the fun of this festive tale.

Jan Homden, Consilium Education

An early years teaching specialist and designer, Jan has taught in international schools around the world. She has also worked with a leading architectural practice in Istanbul and is now responsible for design and research at Consilium Education.

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A a stocking filler, a present wrapped and ribboned under the tree, a 'snuggledown' bedtime read, a story for the car, plane or train or to read to the class, a book makes a wonderful gift. There are so many seasonal classics to choose from but here are a few to add to Santa's list.

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December stories for primary and the Early Years

12 fabulous video stories for Winter/Christmas all in one place, narrated by native English speakers, curated by Jan Homden.

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Published on 4 Feb 2016 - Playing time: 8.48

'Winter is approaching, and Old Rabbit wants to sleep for a while, but the mice are disturbing him with their fun and games. Percy persuaded the mice to play elsewhere, but the peace doesn't last for long.'

Age range 3 - 6 years

Published on 11 Jan 2015 - Playing time: 8.45

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Published on 4 Feb 2016 - Playing time: 8.48 'Winter is approaching, and Old Rabbit wants to sleep for a while, but the mice are disturbing him with their fun and games. Percy persuaded the mice to play elsewhere, but the peace doesn't last for long.'

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Seasonal activities for the Early Years

Celebrate Christmas in your classroom with lots of fun ideas and activities, stories to share, rhymes to learn and songs to sing.

Free to download PDFs compiled by Jan Homden.

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Seasonal activities for the Early Years
Celebrate Christmas in your classroom with lots of fun ideas and activities, stories to share, rhymes to learn and songs to sing. Free to download PDFs compiled by Jan Homden.
Part 1 includes: Decorations that will put a smile on your face. Designs for festive role play corners and ideas to encourage writing. Look at Winter Reading for a selection of favourite stories to read or listen to and enjoy reciting the poems/action rhymes; perfect to perform at a winter/Christmas assembly.
Click on the snowdog to download your free PDF for Part 1
Part 2 includes: Sing-a-long songs and activities for the tuff spot, sand and water trays (Frozen Foam Dough, Sugar Cube Dens, Snow Slime, Ice Balloons). Decorate sandy Christmas cakes and make Reindeer Food to sprinkle on the lawn. There are ideas for presents & cards and have fun revising/introducing 2D & 3D shapes with a Christmas theme.

Christmas is a time for giving and as a school you may wish to raise money to support a local or international charitable organisation; there are links to follow and ideas for fund raising.
Click on the toddler to download your free PDF for Part 2

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Seasonal activities for the Early Years Celebrate Christmas in your classroom with lots of fun ideas and activities, stories to share, rhymes to learn and songs to sing. Free to download PDFs compiled by Jan Homden. Part 1 includes: Decorations that will put a smile on your face.

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Don’t take your strengths for granted

David Gregory is an experienced outdoor education and ski instructor, based in Australia. On a recent trip to Canada however, he  faced a new challenge on Whistler Mountain and realised he had become complacent, and this was undermining his skills as a teacher.

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Don't take your strengths for granted
David Gregory is an experienced outdoor edcuation and ski intructor, based in Australia. On a recent trip to Canada however, he faced a new challenge on Whistler Mountain and realised he had become complacent, and this was undermining his skills as a teacher.
Start of the season

Snow skiing is something I've done since I was 5 years old and an industry I've worked in for around 7 years. In terms of outdoor skills, I can safely say, snow skiing is my strongest. However, it's not until your skills are actually put to the test, that you realise just how important it is to continually up-skill, even in areas that you might be considered to be an expert.

Getting back on skis for the first time in a year is always an interesting experience. I love the sound of the boot clicking into the binding, fixing my helmet and lowering my goggles ready to jump on the lift. However, despite having skied many double black diamond runs over the years, I'm not going to head for the highest peak and fang it down the most hectic run as fast as I can, launching off everything I can find. That would be idiotic. Instead, I like to find a nice green or blue trail to run up and down to warm up and get a feel for everything again. I'll probably spend an entire day doing this.

When I've had a chance to get my balance back and regain the feel for my skis, I'm ready to start rebuilding my deteriorated skill set that time has eroded. With any outdoor skill, you'll reach a point where you're highly competent and things will come back to you quickly. However, without practice, similar to physical fitness, all these hard skills, deteriorate over time. For an instructor, this deterioration is not good and can come from both lack of practice, or only operating well within your comfort zone and at a much lower level of intensity.

To be a good instructor or teacher you have to keep learning about something you're already good at, otherwise you dull your senses to the wider challenges and risks of the activity that you're leading. You never know when you'll need to quickly switch up from being a teacher to a rapid situational risk assessor and responder.

Poor decision

I thought I knew all this, but during a recent overseas trip, I realised I had become subect to the over-confidence of expertise and had become a danger to myslef - and perhaps to others.

I was on Whistler Mountain in British Columbia and I made a casual decision about taking a "short cut". I wanted to get to the furthest section of the mountain and I could see the lift to where I wanted to reach. I'd been skiing along the top of a ridge line, on a bluehome trail.

However, I saw what appeared to be a nice descent into the next valley and onto the lift. It was soft and powdery to begin with, but suddenly, on my right appeared a cliff and in front of me was a massively steep chute littered with rocks. I suddently realised I was neither in control, nor on my home mountain (Thredbo), which I knew like the back of my hand. I had in fact taken a poor, uniformed decision and was just about to face the consequences.

Instinct

Instinct took over. As I stared down the incredibly steep descent, I was able to dig in and attack the chute, switching back and forth one sharp turn after another to control my descent and avoid the jagged rocks protruding from the snow. With a few crunching sounds from under my skis, I cleared the worst of it and glided out the bottom into a wide open section of deep soft snow. Glancing back up, I could now see the insanity of the 'short cut' in all its glory . . . .

Timely reminder

While this wasn't an ideal situation in which to find myself, it was a timely reminder against complacency and of the need to keep learning: good teachers are also good learners, even in areas in which they have real expertise. If we don't practise and test our hard skills outside of work, the chances are, your comfortable daily operations will become increasingly exposed to potential complacency. In short, you won't be the teacher you should be.

Continuing Professional Development

It is easy to become "expertly complacent", but in truth, we all need access to good CPD, and my escapade had brought this home to me. To help resolve my over confidence and need to rebuild my alpine skill set, it was time for me to go back to ski school and take some lessons again . . .
David Gregory David is an experienced outdoor education teacher from Australia who's worked on various domestic and international programs for over 16 years. David has planned and led outdoor education programs for students from primary age, through senior school. David's a keen snow skier and outside of the outdoors he enjoys museums and art galleries, his favourite being the V&A in London.
For more about his work, click the picture or see http://www.davidgregory.com.au/

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Don't take your strengths for granted David Gregory is an experienced outdoor edcuation and ski intructor, based in Australia. On a recent trip to Canada however, he faced a new challenge on Whistler Mountain and realised he had become complacent, and this was undermining his skills as a teacher.