There is one thing that every single child has and which all children love to use. It is also the ultimate stimulus to creative writing.

It is their thoughts.

Thoughts can be set down in a Thinking Journal, which in itself encourages children to consider their thoughts in ways that they have never done before.

What we find is that almost all children love having their own Thinking Journal and want a personal book to record their thoughts and those of others.

The Thinking Journal thus becomes a place where children can write about their own thinking and learning in an honest and open way. The journal can also provide a means of structuring a really effective learning conversation between home and school as children can invite their parents to write in it and teachers to look at it.

The journal also offers an opportunity for children to express their opinions, fears, confusions, questions and concerns, as well as being a place of safety – there are definitely no wrong or right answers within a journal.

Finally Thinking Journals build self-confidence and give practice in self-expression – for as they write, the children’s concept of themselves as thinkers and writers grows immensely.

Thinking Journals are the obvious place to record the range of conversations that arise from thinking homework activities – a place of reflection, somewhere to ask further questions and to let children and families grow as thinkers and learners.

What’s more, when used in conjunction with the ideas in our Let’s Think Homework resource, children and their families will quickly enjoy capturing thoughts and conversations, and the progress in children’s thinking will become evident in the pages of their journal.

Let’s Think Homework is a volume that has been written to provide ideas that are engaging and meaningful, offering regular opportunities for children to practise a range of thinking and learning skills.

There is more information on Thinking Journals and Let’s Think Homework in the web links below:

Thinking Journals

Let’s Think Homework

You can order …

• On our website at the above web links
• By calling us on 0844 332 0123
• Email us at info@thinkingchild.org.uk

The common approach of travel companies is to load prices during the school holidays.

Being different we do the opposite. We offer luxury coach holidays across Europe, which incorporate a discount when taken during the school vacations.

Below is a selection of some of our forthcoming holidays, all of which attract a 10% discount for members of the teaching profession:

23rd August – Belgian Grand Prix

26th July, 9th August & 19th August – Beautiful Bruges

 20th July, 19th August, 24th August & 26th October – Rome, Pompeii and Picturesque Capri

9th August, 19th August & 23rd August – Paris and Versailles

Of course these are just a few of the holidays we have on offer – and in all cases you will receive a 10% discount on the quoted price.

To see a complete list of all the tours available for breaks in 2013 and 2014 just click here.

Our coaches run from almost 500 regional pick up points, and you can select from a vast number of tours which are available during school holidays.

To claim a 10% saving, simply call us on 0844 324 8557, quote the reference ‘TEACH’, and provide us with the name and address of the school that you work for and your position within it.

Of course, because we are offering discounts where normally there are surcharges, some of the holidays do get booked fairly quickly. But if you find the one you want is already full, do search on other dates or other destinations – we’re adding new teacher discount holidays all the time.

The most obvious answer to this question is that, for as long as most test and exam papers still require handwritten answers, good handwriting is always going to make an impact and help deliver extra marks.

But there is more. For there is also the issue of the relationship between the brain and handwriting.

Handwriting requires a greater level of hand/eye co-ordination than typing on a keyboard, and thus, as well as helping with exam scores, good handwriting gives pupils the chance to develop their essential fine motor skills.

Unfortunately, there is no doubt that many young people today are brought up in homes where handwriting is limited to little more than the production of shopping lists – and indeed many people are now even typing these into their mobile phones.

It is for all of these reasons that MSL produced the Handwriting Rescue Scheme for fully cursive handwriting.

The scheme, which is available as a photocopiable program supplied on CD or as printed sheets, contains over 300 structured exercises designed to establish complete cursive letter formation.

And there is a particular bonus here, for tests have shown that the use of such material encourages the development of an automatic response to frequently used spelling choices. In other words, by practising their handwriting pupils also learn their spellings.

You can order The Handwriting Rescue Scheme in any of these ways:

• On our website
• By phone on 01604 505000
• By fax to 01604 505001
• By email to info@msl-online.net
• By post to Multi-Sensory Learning, Highgate House, Creaton, Northants, NN6 8NN