The New Trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens! #StarWarsTheForceAwakens

To get us salivating! A new trailer has been released!

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is definitely one of the GREAT THINGS to look forward to in December!

Tickets are on sale now!!!

ABOUT THE MOVIE:
Lucasfilm and visionary director J.J. Abrams join forces to take you back again to a galaxy far, far away as Star Wars returns to the big screen with Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The film stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Max Von Sydow. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk are producing with Tommy Harper and Jason McGatlin serving as executive producers. The screenplay is by J.J. Abrams & Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt.

Because...

Star Wars!

Who is NOT looking forward to it?

Star Wars unboxing event - #ForceFriday happening already!

The whole family has been loving the Star Wars Pop-Up Channel on DStv Premium on M-Net Movies 109.
It's our go-to channel in the evenings, and it's building up to great excitement here. Unfortunately it's only on for two weeks until 13 September.

Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and all the other iconic Star Wars characters are on, as well as other programming linked to the franchise.


In anticipation of Star Wars: The Force Awakens on 18 December, unboxing of Star Wars toys is happening around the world!

The unboxing can be watched live from 15 cities in 18 hours: 
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Global Toy Unboxing Live Stream Event. 

Schedule: The Force awakens around the world

Even Cape Town had an unboxing event while I was checking in!

The products can be found at the Disney Store worldwide.

Check it out!!

Please pay it forward on this Monday and give these students a view

                       Millennium Lady: We made a video about Management in SA



The Student is doing a post-graduate degree in management. For one of their assignments, they had to discuss the three levels of management... (Yes, boring!)


The group with the most views on YouTube can win R10 000 in virtual money for their project due in March. So, please view their video and hopefully you find it a bit entertaining. (Spoiler alert! NO!)


But you will do your good deed for this Monday!

(And a big please from a mother who can't afford another year of varsity! The Student needs to successfully finish this!)

Gymnastic Championships - a first

Little Miss has been doing gymnastics since she was 18 months.
There has been ups and downs. We had to deal with a reluctant gymnast about two years back, but the next year she went back with enthusiasm, and she has been going weekly "without a hitch".

(Just sometimes, the sun shines too brightly, or there's a bump, or...
Little Miss does get emotionally sidetracked quite easily! A phase? A preschooler characteristic?)

She did not want to practice her routine, at all, but told us that she was ready!

We had to slot her in with the younger group since we had other plans for the afternoon. She could not compete with the group, but she still got a score and a medal.

Luckily they practiced with the children before the final rounds of the championships.
Of course Little Miss did better while practicing, but she did very well overall.

This was the floor routine:


She got 9.3 for this floor routine, and 8.6 for the jump.
Not bad for a first time.

The MC told us that it was the parents' job to deal with questions about why only some gymnasts get more than one medal...
(We also got the questions!)


For now we will continue with the gymnastics for next year. Little Miss is still enjoying it! We saw with the occupational therapy that the gymnastics has given Little Miss an extra edge!

Frozen still huge here

How cute is this party bottle "Melted snow"

Little Miss does not get tired of Frozen and everything that goes with it. Her friends share her enthusiasm, because she has attended two Frozen parties in the past month.

Little Miss also loves singing "Let it go!"



(I have to save this. It is very precious!)

Gr R speech practise

Speech preps

The preschooler decided on Sunday evening to practise a random topic for speech for the next day at school.
It is in Afrikaans about the earth, dinosaurs, meteorites and humans.
They are allowed to do a speech any time they feel like it! Mom just needs to send an IM to the teacher in the morning.


I would never have done this when I was her age. Even much older!


One more thing that makes me think she is definitely ready for school next year!


Related post:

- Two wheels' milestone and a report card

iPad in Education at Sacred Heart College #iPadLearningZA

Ipad being used at Sacred Heart College
(Photo: Core Group)

Sacred Heart College has implemented iPads 1:1 in their learning environment.

Colin Northmore, the Head of Sacred Heart College, says that for a device like this to have a transformative effect, it has to be everywhere and it has to be invisible.
"What you really want to do is to focus the children on the learning. They are getting better results because the children want to be engaged in learning!"

The success of the iPad project at Sacred Heart College is due to the following: 

• The Emmaius Centre caters for students with special needs at Sacred Heart College. iPad is a critical tool for learning here and allows the school to meet the needs of individual students who may have specifi c barriers to learning. In these cases, iPad is used as a remediation and reinforcement tool.
• The Knowledge Cafe is a session that runs once a week and allows teachers to share ideas, successes and their experience with using iPad in their lessons. This allows for knowledge to be shared across all areas of teaching and facilitates collaboration among teachers. 
• The 3 to 6 Project is an after school initiative for underprivileged refugee students who do not attend school. The iPads are used regularly to aid in depth learning and understanding of basic numeracy and literacy concepts during this time.
• Some students at Sacred Heart College have special requirements when it comes to writing exams. The iPad is regularly used as an audio tool so that students can listen to their exams. These students no longer need to have special venues arranged for them.
• The registration of all extra mural activities in the primary school is done on the iPads and attendance is managed through an app by the teachers.
• Sacred Heart College is the first school in South Africa to develop a course on iTunesU which is based on a successful project they ran with their grade 7’s. The course allows students to create their own interactive books utilising an app called “Composer” and teaches them to be creators of content, rather than just users. It has allowed them to develop critical skills such as time management, teamwork, creativity, music composition, marketing, problem solving and technical app development.

I love what the schools are accomplishing with these projects!


The link and information is supplied by the Core Group.

Ipad in Education - Transoranje School for the Deaf #iPadLearningZA

Following on the inspiring story and challenge by Abdul Chohan, "What would you do if you were not afraid?"on Friday, we were shown this video as one of the iPad in Education projects in South Africa that is transforming Education.

The Transoranje School for the Deaf, located on the outskirts of Pretoria, is home to 200 deaf and hard-of-hearing pre-primary to high school students.

The children are developmentally behind their peers because of a lack of language exposure.

Photo: Core Group

The iDeaf Project on the iPad originated out of a necessity to better equip the deaf students with the critical reading and language skills needed to accelerate their learning to desired levels.  The developers set out to combine a variety of visual and language elements because their learning are centred around visual methods.

Picsterbooks developed a series of locally relevant and interactive story books in both English and Afrikaans that would teach deaf students to read using South African Sign Language. The books are not only engaging but also enables a level of in-depth understanding that has surpassed previous learning methods.
It has transformed the way the school teaches students to read and communicate effectively.

The iDeaf app overview

"The storybook apps were designed locally to meet the needs of deaf students who use South African Sign Language.

• There are 6 storybooks which include folk tales such as 3 Little Pigs, Goldilocks and The Gingerbread Man, as well as uniquely created stories which are based on the local curriculum such as The Clever Plan and The Big Carrot.
• All the storybooks are based on the objectives of the South African curriculum and contain beautifully illustrated stories designed in a standardised format.
• The storybooks can be read in English or Afrikaans and contain various visual elements: simplified text and syntax, picture animations, highlighted words, finger spelling and SASL (South African Sign Language) interpretations and video.
• The highlighted words in the app are words that deaf children commonly struggle with. When selecting these words they are explained in 4 formats: text, an animation or an image, SASL and finger spelling (deaf ABC). By combining the learning elements into 1 place, the student is able to move through the book and develop a range of skills in an easy to understand format.
• The books also contain an audio element for only partially deaf children so that they can also hear the book read aloud, while reading the text and learning the sign.
• The storybooks were created using the Demibooks Composer app only available on iPad."

"We are working with children who are naturally language users with their hands 

and this was just an extension of their own language."

                                          Karen Hart, App Developer and Digital Publisher

I love the fact that the students AND teachers have already found new ways to use their iPads in their learning at the school, not only for reading and language skills!

Kellogg's Breakfast for Better Days - Hamper up for grabs

I received the Kellogg's Breakfast for Better Days initiative in my inbox.

Since I am a breakfast person (I cannot do a day without breakfast) and I get grumpy without my favourite meal of the day, I love that they are focusing on feeding the children. We are also always trying to get the Little One to eat something in the mornings. She struggles with breakfast, but can get ravenously hungry at ten... Unfortunately we have to drop her off at seven in the mornings, and we have to force her to eat something before she starts her day!

It makes me extremely sad to think that there are so many children who have to go without a proper breakfast each day. That's why I love this initiative by Kellogg's.

The Press Release states:

"Dishing Up 5 Million Breakfasts for South African Children 

On Wednesday 14 January, over 12 million learners headed back to school after the long summer break, but started their day on empty stomachs:  nearly one-fifth of South African children are not eating breakfast before going to school1. To help address this need, Kellogg is launching a large-scale Breakfast for Better Days™ Initiative, which will provide five million servings of breakfast to children throughout 2014, with 25 000 school children receiving breakfast every school day. 

With one in eight people around the world facing food insecurity each day2, Kellogg Company and its foundation, the Kellogg's Corporate Citizenship fund, have pledged to provide a billion servings of breakfast and snacks to children and families who need it most, through this global initiative. In South Africa, a breakfast of Kellogg's cereal and milk will be provided to children in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces. Partnering with Kellogg are FoodBank South Africa, the country's largest food banking network and Kellogg's international partner in the global initiative, who will distribute the food; and Parmalat, who will be donating the required milk." 

For more information visit www.kelloggs.co.za or follow @KelloggsZA on Twitter and www.facebook.com/KelloggsMomsSA on Facebook for regular updates.

I asked specifically about the schools that are targeted in Gauteng. The initiative is in its pilot year and will benefit 56 schools across SA, with the following 8 schools in Gauteng as beneficiaries. Kellogg is however hoping to grow the initiative to other schools in various areas across the province next year.

Letsha Primary
Duduza Primary
Michael Zulu Primary
Monde Primary School
Kabelo Primary
Mogobeng Primary
Thabang Primary
Ikwezi Primary

This little video of Mpho touches my heart.
(I would freak if my Little One had to walk in rain and on his own to school!)



Kellogg is providing one lucky reader a one month's supply breakfast hamper.

Please comment below: How can the power of breakfast give someone a bright start?

The draw will take place on Friday at 12 pm.
(Unfortunately only for South African readers)


(Photo on top: Swelihle Masuku from Gugulethu Primary in Kwamashu, KZN enjoying his first breakfast for the year - supplied by Kellogg)