Posts Tagged ‘OoberKidsRepublic’
A few months ago I was checking out a parents’ forum and saw a message from a very worried mother: her little boy was not a reading aficionado.
This mother had read countless blogs written by parents, whose children had shown a precocious interest in reading, but – try as she might – her little boy had steadfastly refused to follow suit and become a reading genius.
What was she doing wrong? What could she do to encourage her boy to read? She asked fellow parents. That message went straight to my heart: I could feel this mother’s anguish, but what advice could I give? I thought she was doing everything right: she was supportive, she was engaged and she encouraged her child to read.
I started reading at 4, because I wanted to imitate my mother, who is a voracious reader, but I could just as easily have copied my father, who does not care for books.
Now, I can finally provide relevant and sensible advice, courtesy of the author of the English modules at OoberKidsRepublic.
Dear mum, if you are reading this, don’t worry. You are not doing anything wrong, just give it time. Don’t take my word for it, listen to a former teacher, who has dedicated her life to education.
Enjoy!
DESPERATELY SEEKING CLASS (for free English subscription), Santa has been to town
Posted on: December 3, 2013
The Christmas season is in full swing, Thanksgiving has just been and gone and the shopping frenzy has started (sort of).
Meanwhile, Santa has just been to OoberKidsRepublic! We have just found our first Sponsor!!
A very kind person has just offered to pay for an English subscription to OoberKidsRepublic. This means class of 30 kids will have free access to our premium English material, prepared by a teacher with 30 years experience.
We have the sponsor, you may have the class. We are looking for a Y3 class in the UK.
Do you want to claim this subscription for your class? Your child’s/grandchild’s/godchild’s/neighbour’s child (you get the gist…) class? Apply TODAY, write to me: cecilia@oober-k.com.
If you don’t, but want to help: spread the message: re-blog, re-tweet this post.
FIVE OOBER-FRUGAL XMAS PRESENTS IDEAS – or how to survive the Season without breaking the bank
Posted on: November 25, 2013
In case you have not noticed yet: tis’ the season to be jolly! Come on everyone, SMILE, be happy, sing songs, ring bells, blow horns: it’s nearly Christmas!
We are getting excited here at OoberKidsRepublic and when I say we , I mean I!!!
I am an unabashed and unashamed Christmas fan: I love the atmosphere, the carols, the well-wishing, writing and receiving cards, advent calendars, the count-down to the big day, I could give any Puritan a heart attack, so merry I am!
Look at me: I am practically twinkling! I am very cheerful and I am short of cash too.
If the headlines my mothers is fond of regaling me with are anything to go by, so are many, many other people.
Sigh not yet, OoberKidsRepublic is not going to abandon you in your hour of need. Scantiness of finances notwithstanding, you can still have a merry Season and give your friends and loved ones nice present.
Here are my tried and tested oober-frugal but wonderful Xmas presents ideas:
1) Give time – Do you have a skill your friends and family need? It could be anything: video editing, driving, flower arranging, baking, maths…Now is your time: make a creative voucher for x amount of hours/lessons and watch the kudos count rocket!
2) Give relief – give your friends a chance to put their feet up, once in a while. Babysit for them, or do the school run x times/hours, or iron for them x times, or offer to help them with their gardens. You can unleash your creative genius by making very original vouchers, beat this for a stock filler!!
3) Bake – IT’S FASHIONABLE AND IT IS REWARDING. Last year a friend of mine descended on us on Christmas Day, bringing the best Stollen cake I have ever had. That’s the only Christmas present I remember… though not the only one, nor the most expensive.
4) Enter our Christmas comp! OoberKidsRepublic is giving away English, Science and Maths subscriptions suitable for children aged 7-11. Thousands od Key Stage 2 interactive questions at their finger tips! All you have to do is like, comment and share this link and you will be entered in our sweepstake. The winners of the prizes will be revealed on December, 19 – in time fort Xmas! Now, THAT is a Christmas present with attitude and it will cost a few of you exactly £0!
5) Give something meaningful – If you have a few pounds, why don’t you give a truly thoughtful gift? Forward the cause your loved ones care about: whether animal welfare or vaccination projects, or projects to alleviate poverty, fight injustice and promote equality. I have decided to give my mother, a retired teacher, a donation that will give a poor British child a breakfast for a whole term via charity Magic Breakfast. She LOVED her pupils and this £10 present will make a difference for her (or so I would like to think) and for a child.
Come on now, let’s all start the countdown with a big smile, whether rich or poor we are spoilt for choice in the present department. Santa is coming to town!
Gentle reader,
are you too going through this truly miserable Wednesday, wondering whether this rain will even end?
Sigh no more, here’s my gloomy-weather-proof solution: LAUGH!
To get you started, here’s Kudos and Bonus’ latest comedy pearl!
Bonus: What happens to a letterbox, which cannot spell?
Kudos: What?
Bonus: It becomes a Litter box!!!
More Judos and Bonus jokes? Go to the FUN SHOP. Join today it’s FREE and easy!
- In: Cookery | Education | Entertainment | Humour
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Have you ever been to Berlin?
If you have, you may have noticed that Berliners know how to poke fun (at others, usually), love to come across as rough to tourists and play havoc with the average foreign student’s shaky German.
BUT they also have a wicked sense of humour AND know how to make snacks and cook with seasonal produce. We like both humour and seasonal food at OoberKidsRepublic!
PROVE IT! I hear you say. OK: I will, since I have also promised the recipe to two fellow tweeters.
FEAST YOUR PALATE ON ‘BERLINERIN’ OR BERLIN GIRL
It is simple, tasty and very good in autumn/winter. It is also cheap.
I adore the traditional version, which only includes pumpkin, bread and butter. But, as Berlin is home to a very large, vibrant Turkish community, I have decided to add a modern twist to represent the modern Berlinerin.
You will need:
1) Small butternutsquash/pumpkin cut in medium slices
2) Butter/soya spread
3) Pumpernickel bread
4) Feta cheese/ goat’s cheese – if you want to try the modern version
This will cost you: small butternut squash 80p/mini pumpkin £1 (market), butter/soya between £1.20 and £1.80, pumpernickel (rye) bread, £1.35 to £2.09, feta cheese £1.60, goat’s cheese £1.45 to £2.
PREP
Step One: Cut the pumpkin/butternutsquash in medium slices. If you are using goat’s cheese, make a hole in the biggest slice (you will choose this slice later, when it is time to add the goat’s cheese.) Wash the slices and pour a very small amount of sun seed/vegetable oil: enough to cover them, but the slices should not be drenched. If you want to try the original method, grease the slices with butter. Sprinkle a little salt and just a little pepper.
Step Two: Put the slices in the oven at 150 degree for 20 minutes, until they turn golden brown. Add the bread in the oven for the last 10 minutes, so that by the time the pumpkin/butternut squash is ready, your bread will be warm or even slightly crunchy.
Step Three: If you want to try the traditional version, just butter the bread and gently add the pumpkin/butternut squash on the buttered bread. If you are a vegan or prefer not to eat butter, use soya spread.
Step Four: If you are trying the new version, to celebrate modern Berlin, add some goat’s cheese or feta cheese. When I prepare the former, I make sure the goat’s cheese is in the middle of the biggest pumpkin slice, which will be right in the middle of the bread slice too!! I then put smaller pieces of goat’s cheese on the smaller spices of pumpkin.
When I prefer the latter, I cut the feta cheese in large cubes and sprinkle them all over the bread.
They are all delicious. Try the three versions and compare ‘n contrast them. Here’s to a wonderful snack! Guten Appetit!
More FREE recipes, in the Bakery section at OoberKidsRepublic. Register today, it’s FREE and EASY! We have also published a book of easy, value for money Mediterranean recipes, Pocket Money Cookery. Check it out, in the merchandise section, in our website shop!
Any thoughts on this recipe? Na, wunderbar! Get in touch: cecilia@oober-k.com.
‘Pocket Money Cookery’ for kids!
How to sell nature to kids – tips (& free cinema tickets) by Nature’s PR supremo
Posted on: October 24, 2013
- In: Education | Entertainment | Exercise | Health | Humour
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Ah, the joys of nature! Don’t you just love the subtle ‘crack, crack, crack’ as you walk on a carpet of yellow, brown, orange and red leaves, observing trees getting ready for less light and more cold, the swish of bikes whizzing somewhere close to your path… the feeling of communion with all that surrounds you… everything suggesting bliss!?
Win two cinema tickets to see Project Wild Thing, read on…
Then you switch off your ipad, smart phone, laptop or game console or whatever you have used to watch the latest interactive nature show/game and get on with your life. Does this sound familiar?
I know!
Not many of us have time for daily walks through parks and calm contemplation of the changing seasons.
Why know an ash tree from a birch, when you can get an Ikea catalogue to do all the differentiations for you?
And why worry about squirrels? Are they not every gardener’s nightmare?
Enter Bond!
David Bond, director of ‘Project Wild Thing’, opening in cinemas this Friday!
I have so far left fun things to do with your kids at half term to the Fun Events space at OoberKidsRepublic; it’s free to access and easy, so I do not usually give advice.
But I am making an exception for this film, because:
1) it has been funded by you, the mighty public, via kickstarter and has been supported by the National Trust and Britdoc!
2) it is really, truly, utterly educational. It makes a case for nature playing a role in a child’s development. In scientific terms: a little adventure in an asymmetrical environment (read: nature) can help develop a child’s concentration and self-confidence.
3) it is entertaining but it also spurs you to think, and OoberKidsRepublic likes a clever laugh
4) it is the brain child of a man who has appointed himself Marketing Director of Nature with exactly £0 budget to publicise his message and the multi-billion games, toys and entertainment industry as rivals (and you thought your job was hard!!)
5) Last, but not least: David is offering free tickets to OoberKidsRepublic readers!! (For your bid to win, check the end of the post)
David, a maths teacher, turned UK-equity fund manager, turned film director and funder of production company Greenlions, is also a father of two. He was growing concerned about his children’s lack of interest in nature and their relative lack of outdoor experience. He started worrying about the long-term health implications of their life style. He was not alone. His business partner, also a father, was thinking the same, hence a “road to Damascus moment”: a film starring nature and children!
Over three years later, a few trips to schools and urban green spaces and (sometimes hilarious) exchanges with city kids, the film is out. And, David tells me, his two kids now know magpies and can identify trees.
So, what can oober-busy adults do to interest their gadget-loving children in sparrows, foxes, the seasons, the spectacular Mother Nature?
Here are David’s suggestions:
1) Be determined & be creative: switch off the TV/computers/games consoles, when you think they have had enough! Your children may have the lungs of Pavarotti, the determination of an Olympic athlete and the technical ability to bamboozle anyone over 30, BUT they responded well to David’s job title: Marketing Director of Nature. Suddenly, nature became a beguiling (not to mention free) product: an adventure, a way to make friends and a source of novelty! Perhaps there is a Nature Marketing Exec in you too! Try!
2) Be patient: results will not come immediately. Introduce nature awareness gradually. Be a long term-player!
3) Nature and technology can be allies: choose games/programmes that promote nature. [My own first and last plug: Attention Parent: at OoberKidsRepublic you can award extra points to kids leading an active, nature-oriented life! This feature is available whether you subscribe to the free or to the paid-for packages ]
4) Go with the seasons: no point in planning long afternoon outdoor trips in the winter. Children may just as well profit from a small excursion to their back garden to observe what animals/plants do to survive in different seasons. You can connect with nature anywhere you are.
5) Trust your instincts: you know your children and they look up to you. You are the best nature guide possible for them. Just do it!
Intrigued? Do you want to see Project Wild Thing? For a chance to win two free tickets in the cinema near you, send an e-mail to: promotions@oober-k.com.
Have I missed any nature-promotion tricks? Perfect: get in touch and let me know; cecilia@oober-k.com
- In: Education | Headline News | Humour
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Hello fellow adults, do you remember the times when the children you look after were quiet, obedient and sweet for hours on end?
No? Neither do I!
Children can be a handful, so hands up those of you who, like me, have occasionally put your foot down, donned a severe mask and told the littlens to be good, accompanying this message with something like: “I rule and you will do as I say. Any questions?”
Phew, I am glad to see so many hands up, I knew I was not alone.
I always recommend a healthy dose of sense of humour when dealing with kids, so my first reaction when I read about the teacher ,who threatened her pupils to bury them alive, was an odd mixture of laughter and horror.
Yes, fellow adult: I actually produced a semi-stifled laughter. Hands covering my mouth, eyes shocked I was torn between different arguments: imagine a room packed with fans, a ring in the middle and two heavy weights beginning a boxing match.
On the left side of the ring, greet the non-chalance fighter: surely today’s kids are not easily scared, given the video games they play and the dark stories they read,
On the right side of the ring, meet common decency: a child is a child, and must be treated with tact and respect, period!
As the fans of common decency seem to be many, given the tweets and comments to the threatening teacher story I saw and, because playing devil’s advocate is easy, I will volunteer!
Prepare for war with a few clever threats up your sleeves!!
Here is my guide to threaten children in style, based on my own experience as a child in an arch-efficient school run by extremely educated nuns.
1) Make it real: courtesy of our bon-ton teacher, the exquisite (and aptly named) Sister Grazia –”If you do not smile and say ‘thank you’ and ‘please’ you will come across as silly and rude. You will not make friends and nobody will be at your bedside when you die.” Now, beat that for a chiller! Thank you Sister Grazia and please, continue on the path of graceful bonhomie.
2) Make it cultural: courtesy of my beloved teacher Sister Maria Ubaldina, a truly wonderful teacher (as good as my own mother, and that is something!) Take the opportunity of teaching something while you threaten the little brutes: “Stop or I will do to you what Florence did to Dante”, followed by a demand of an explanation. The threatened party had to explain to the whole class what on earth happened to Dante.
“Any more of that nonsense, and you pose as Michelangelo, for as long as it took him to paint the Sistine Chapel”. Again the threatened party had to explain 1) who Michelangelo was, 2) how he had to contort himself to paint the Sistine Chapel and 3) for how long
3) Make it truly dramatic- enter Madame, our ballet teacher, who occupies an entire unique spot in the Olympus of threats. You may think French is a musical language, but having been exposed to madame’s French for years, I beg to differ.
“Un, deux, trois, try to look like homo sapiens sapiens rather than apes, girls. Allez, allez, allez, les filles!!”
“Stand straight! Or is this a Picasso art class? Mais écouter!” was another favourite.
Add the booming voice of a sergeant major to this edifying messages and you will guess why I have studied German. Give me Goethe any day!
Merci madame, I have straightened my posture, the memory of your voice alone is enough…
I was threatened and I survived. So what’s the fuss about? Or is it that there are threats and threats?
I cherish the memories of those threats because they betray love and care. Sister Grazia and sister Maria Ubaldina cared about us. They wanted us to be the best we could be and thought we were mature enough to understand there was a comic undertone in their threats.
I do not remember a single school friend leaving in tears as a result of their threats.
As for madame… she still runs her ballet studio, so she must do something right. Plus, she has taught me the difference between apes and homo sapiens sapiens, I have learnt German thanks to her French and I tend to stand straight… so perhaps her threats served a purpose after all.
But I digress. The truth is: noisy, fractious, difficult, inscrutable as they can be, children are delicate creatures, who (begrudgingly) believe adults and credit them with infinite wisdom: whatever you say, it will impact them.
Have I forgotten anything? Marvellous, get in touch: cecilia@oober-k.com!
OoberKidsRepublic is the online educational portal for primary school children. Visit us today: registration is free and easy!
- In: Education | Humour | Uncategorized
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Value for money Maths, Science, English, yoga, cookery, stories, fun… we could go on for ever to describe our portal, but this is a busy, busy world, so we will let our new 1-minute video speak for us:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=430111160427760&set=vb.230468860334541&type=2&theater
OoberKidsRepublic, where every child is You-Nique
- In: Education | Humour
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To celebrate the launch of OoberKidsRepublic, the online homework centre for primary school children, we have decided to write the story of Mino the Hero Hedgehog, the flagship character. The whole tale is in the ‘Story’ section of the website, which is free to join for both parents and children.
We published the first part of the story on Monday.
PART TWO: So, here’s the story so far: Mino, a country hedgehog, has just arrived in the the Big City with a mission: to track down a little girl called ‘Silly Sausage’ .
He is already on the bus to Grovington Green, where a friend will pick him up and help him find Silly Sausage. Mino knows he must be careful in a crowded bus, but he has just spotted two strange kids, who whisper to each other TERRIBLE THINGS. One of them even said his mother roars!
Mino gets closer to these kids to hear more, but he also knows he must not get too distracted, last time he let his guard down, he ended up in trouble, here’s exactly how:
Mino had to go the Big City to return the scarf to Silly Sausage. But he needed someone to teach him how to get to the Big City in the first place.
Reggie the Rat had volunteered. He charged Mino all his chocolates, fruit, nuts and biscuits for an express Big City survival course, but when the animal police arrested Reggie, it turned out he was a crook who had NEVER taught anything to anyone.
So Reggie went to jail.
He is in jail now, but he is famous! He has written a book about his criminal life. Animals queue to visit Reggie and he charges them too, and his tweet, ‘ratster4eva’, has 1,000,000 followers.
Reggie was a criminal but he could make him laugh, Mino now thinks to himself, while he looks at these two strange children on the bus: the boy is talking, his chin is moving up and down and his hands are moving quickly left and right, up and down, across and about. The girl nods thoughtfully.
“I think she broke her record: ten minutes of telling-off without stopping!” the boy says.
“Nobody can live without breathing for ten minutes, not even Alfonsa,” the red-haired girl replies.
“Alfonsa? Again? Your new flatmate is strange!? Where did you find her? She looks mad,” the little boy says cheerfully.
“She is a bit mad, but she has been all over the world and swam in every sea, every pond and every ocean. Dad has given her the big room and I go and chat to her sometimes. I bet you three stickers even she can’t live without breathing for ten minutes,” the little girl says.
“Lame girls’ talk!”
“Alfonsa and I are not lame. Alfonsa has all sort of travelling books and gadgets and an armadillo skin camping tent that she is going to show me one of these days,” the little girl says, peeling a small orange.
Alfonsa is not lame
“Well, maybe she’s not that lame”, the boy says very quietly, thinking. Then he just starts talking again as loudly as ever: “Maybe this Alfonsa can’t go on for ten minutes without breathing, but my mother can! I was able to count up to 600 before she stopped and drew a breath.”
The little girl does not reply, so the little boy goes on: “There are 60 seconds in each minute, 60 multiplied by 10 makes 600. She scolded me ten minutes without breathing!”
The girl, who has been looking out of the bus window, suddenly turns to her friend and says: “You talk utter organic rubbish! Stinky organic rubbish; the one that gets hot because bacteria are eating it all up!”
“Ims, what are you talking about? Organic rubbish?” the boy with the roaring mum says.
“Your dad told me about it,” the little girl with the mother in Paris says.
“My dad is a scientist; he says weird things all the time. Anyway, I will prove my mother can have a go at me for ten minutes solid. I’ll get my father’s stopwatch and time her next time she has a go at me.”
“I bet you won’t .”
“I bet I will”
“I bet you won’t”
“I bet you are too slow to chase me to the next bust stop. The one who loses walks home, the one who wins, catches the next bus!” the boy says.
“Catch my dust”, the little girl shouts as she runs out of the bus which has stopped at the bus stop.
“Cheeeaaatt! The little boy yells catching up with her. As he runs off he drops a piece of paper.
Mino scuttles to catch it and looks at it: it is a drawing of a big lady standing proud and tall, a very small man with big hair and a big smile standing next to her, and a kid reading while standing in the woman’s shadow. ‘My Family, by Zaid’, is scribbled at the bottom right hand corner of this drawing.
“An alien family! I knew it! The roaring mum is very tall and the dad is pocket-sized! “Very weird family, very alien!” Mino says, shaking his head.
He quietly climbs up onto the seat, hides behind a paper bag and climbs nearer to the window. He sees the kids running nearly as fast as the bus, until one falls over and the other laughs but stops. As the bus moves away they look like two little dots now.
“Shame they have gone, they were fun. I preferred them to my bus map,” Mino says.
“The little girl looked familiar too. Call me crazy (as well as Mino), but I think I have seen that little girl somewhere before,” he mutters to himself.
Seeking Silly Sausage
MOST POPULAR BLOG THIS WEEK: Five things to tell kids about alcohol – a guide for smart kids’ parents
Posted on: September 30, 2013
- In: Education | Health | Humour
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Morning and a happy Monday ! Or is it?
If you, like me, woke up to the sobering news that about 300 children aged 11 or under were admitted to A&E units across the UK last year after drinking, you are probably doing a bit of soul searching.
If you, like me, snatch any opportunity to see the bright side, here’s a fillip: fewer children are drinking overall these days. The caveat is that those who do, drink more.
This is scant consolation even for the ever optimist out there, but before we succumb to gloom and doom, let’s put our heads together and see what we can do, to make this appalling fact history!
This is what I suggest you, parent or teacher of smart, clever kids, can do.
General rule: TALK, chin wag, chat, mention, say a few words: in other words, let’s discuss alcohol. We are not doing that enough. According to a EU study, more than 90% of parents with children aged 5-17 say it is important to talk with children about drinking, but significantly fewer have actually had that conversation. http://www.euractiv.com/health/parents-hesitate-speak-children-news-530618
1) Let’s not cloak alcohol in shroud of mystery. Let facts speak for themselves. Alcohol has a bitter taste, which children do not like and it smells. On top of that, tell them it kills cells in your head and makes you less clever, which means less able to play well, think well, and make friends, see if they like that.
2) Cook with alcohol and get the children to help you add it to fish, risotto, pasta sauce, let them have a sip if they ask. It may sound counter-intuitive but I know it works well.
I grew up in a house where wine was used every day in the kitchen and was served with meals, I once asked to have a sip, I got it and thoroughly disliked it. Because I saw, smelled, and used it every day, I never saw it as an object of desire (unlike Coca Cola, which made me ravenous for that drink, but that’s another story) If this tactic makes you nervous, in case your children, unlike me, find alcohol tasty, here’s a very useful interactive role play, to help you stock up on other alcohol-conversation tricks: Drink Aware has a few more tips, so check out the whole website, it’s worth it.
3) Put alcohol in context. Here’s how my mother, a teacher, presented it to me: it is a chemical reaction, like tea. The alcohol we drink is the result of hops’ or grapes’ fermentation.
If your kids retort (as I did): “Great people like the Romans, the Greeks, kings and queens used to drink it, so why not I?” Just reply, unfazed and with a smug little smile, that they had to drink it because water was not always safe and could kill, wine and alcohol was the solution to an emergency. This emergency does not exist anymore, water is safe now. So, we are luckier and greater, because we have solved the problem and we have many, many more alternatives to alcohol!
Your kids are probably really smart and may say that wine, beer, spirits constitute a global industry that gives hundreds of thousands of people jobs, and that for some producing alcohol is continuing a family tradition, or a passion, either way: it’s a lot of hard work and we should support it.
Fear not, adult, here’s a winner reply: “So is the books’ industry. Shall we encourage and support that industry too?” Caveat emptor!! If your child is a book worm, this answer does not work, use a similar reply including an industry your child does not support (vegetables/greens maybe?) and watch the result!!
4) Alcohol is neither good or bad, but it can be dangerous. No point in demonizing alcohol. Kids see though hyperbole. Let’s tell it as it is. Adult can drink a little alcohol once in a while, children cannot cope with it. If you drink on the sneaky: you could collapse and then feel sick and vomit may go the wrong way, straight into your lungs. Not a pretty image, but true and children must know.
Even if you do not collapse, you are not yourself when you are drunk, you could be hit by a car, or be taken advantage of. Not everyone out there is a careful driver or a good person. Again, not nice, but true.
Alcohol, on the other hand, can help us. Scientists use it to purify their labs (70% solutions to be precise) and get on with their experiments, which allow them to make progress and find cures to illnesses, solutions to problems or just make our life easier. Alcohol helps research.
5) Show them the alternative: people call them mocktails, but I prefer to call them ‘funtails’. You can have dozens of different, colourful, sweet smelling drinks without even using a drop of alcohol. Try our ‘Thirst Crusher’ today (it is so cool, you will fall in love with it). Make a big deal of it, share it after dinner or in the afternoon, drink it with them and keep telling them it is fun.
Thirst Crusher- the ideal family cocktail
ANYTHING ELSE? Have I overlooked a trick or two? GREAT, let me know. Send your suggestions to cecilia@oober-k.com or join the parent’s forum at OoberKidsRepublic www.ooberkidsrepublic.com. It’s quick and free.
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