Junior Blog: 13th July 2020

Welcome to the Katie Jayne Tutors Junior Blog, Number 11.

We don’t know about you, but we are thoroughly enjoying the slower pace of the summer holidays. We have been getting up a bit later, staying up a bit later and finding the time to do the things we love.

Thank you to one of our readers who has sent in a picture of their family clearing a beach close to their house, what a great job! Twenty five families took part in the clear up operation and apparently by the end of the day the beach was clear of debris, with over forty bags of plastic having been removed. We have also had a couple of pictures from you which have made us very hungry indeed! Some wonderful photographs of the afternoon tea’s that you have been enjoying and some great shots of the things that you have been up to. We will try and fit in a gallery of pictures to inspire all of our young readers.

So much to try and fit in to this weeks blog, we hope we manage it! There is a look at our first Book Club reads, something for everyone with three separate age ranges: “Everyone Got Wet”, “Disgusting Denzil” and “Storm Chasers” and of course our usual Walk On The Wild Side and Cook’s Corner.

Here we go and we hope you enjoy what we have to offer.

Thanks for joining us and see you in a couple of weeks.

Sam

What to do this summer – gallery of photographs from our readers, family and friends.

So Much To Do And Not Enough Time To Do It In!

Such great ideas of what to get up to this summer. There are so many activities that we cannot list them all this week. You can see just by looking at the gallery of photographs that have been sent in to us that our readers, family and friends have been up to so much: kayaking, cycling, baking, fishing, growing flowers, growing vegetables, beach cleaning, building hedgehog homes and rock pooling. Some really great stuff to keep you active and busy over the summer. Let us know what you have been up to so that we can share with our readers…. you may inspire them to do something different!

Competition Time!

Young Wild Writer Competition

You may not have heard of the Hen Harriers. They are a rare bird of prey. This years writing competition asks you to write a piece about British Wildlife or their habitats. There are so many amazing animals to write about: the lovely fox, our gorgeous badgers, cheeky squirrels or our colourful butterflies. You can write a story, a poem, a piece of prose, an article or a diary entry…

The judges are looking for originality, creativity, understanding of your subject and the ability to engage the reader.

We always talk about going wild with your creative writing but now you really can.

There are three age groups:

Young (5-8 years)

Junior (9-12 years)

Senior (13-16 years)

You must have permission to enter from a parent or guardian.

Closing Date

You must submit your entry by midnight on 24 July 2020 at the latest.

Katie Jayne’s Book Club

Many of you have been asking what books you should read; I know when I pick up a book I want it to be fun and imaginative, with great characters who will take me on a wonderful journey. So here at Katie Jayne’s we have been investigating a few great reads. Every month we will look at a few books that will keep you and your family entertained.

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin.

Age Group 5-6

‘Everyone Got Wet‘ by Roderick Hunt and Alex Brychta. This wonderfully illustrated book has some really great characters, we particularly liked the animals who were watching the family antics. See if you can spot all of the animals in the pictures and why not talk about the book with your parents or other members of your family. You can sound out words that you find tricky, get an older person to help you. We always love to chat about a book after we have read it. Talk to your Mum or Dad about the family, why they all got wet and what made them smile.

Age Group 7-9

‘Disgusting Denzil‘ by Tessa Krailing and illustrated by Mike Phillips. Think about what words you would use to describe Denzil. Talk to your Mum or Dad about how Denzil’s life changed and how he felt about Devora. Discuss whether you have ever felt like Denzil and why your are proud of your family.

Age Group 9-11

‘Storm Chasers’ by J A Henderson and illlustrated by Jonatronix.

Follow Dani, Max, Ant and Tiger as they chase storms. Discuss what you liked and did not like about the book. Talk about the children’s decision to disobey Dani’s orders, why they did it and did they have a choice?

Quick note to Mum and Dad, some of the books are accessible once you have set up a free online account, this is very easy to do and takes less than one minute.

Katie Jayne’s Interesting Fact

Did you know that going outside to get some fresh air is really good for you!

You will keep fit and active.

You will learn to understand nature and wildlife.

Every hour outdoors can help your eyesight.

Great for your well-being.

Helps you to boost your Vitamin D.

Thought For The Week

Why not take a picnic to your favourite park, beach, National Trust venue, friends garden or local wood? It’s so much fun packing up the food, making your way there, taking some games, being outdoors and enjoying the company of your family or a friends.

Cook’s Corner

Fruit Buffet

We love our fruit and we know you do too. We thought this week you could prepare a fruit buffet for your family or perhaps you could take your fruit buffet on your family picnic.

Choose fruit that the whole family loves.

We chose pineapple, water melon, grapes, strawberries, peaches and plums.

Wash all of your fruit.

Ask an adult to help you if you are preparing a fruit with a tough skin, like a pineapple or water melon.

Cut your fruit into manageable sizes.

Lay your fruit out on a beautifully prepared table, add a table cloth and place your fruit on some pretty summer bowls or plates.

If you want to add a little chocolate, why not melt some chocolate by placing a pan of water on your hob (not bubbling too much) place a heat proof dish over the pan and add some broken up chunks of chocolate. The chocolate will melt. You can now dip your strawberries or grapes into the chocolate, leave to dry and the chocolate will go hard. A great twist on your summer fruit buffet.

If you are taking your fruit buffet to your family picnic keep your fruit fresh by placing into air tight plastic containers.

We loved our fruit buffet and we hope that you do to!

Walk On The Wild Side

Following the theme of being creative this week and enjoying reading, we thought that you could tie this in with your weekly WOWs. When you are out on your walk this week, you can take it in turns to make up a story. You must include the things that you see on your walk, but you can be really creative with what you see and how you tell your story.

For example, our walk took us past an old bungalow that looked a little overgrown. In our story we turned the bungalow into the wicked witches house…..

“Our eyes widened as we approached the rickety old house, we knew that Gizelda the witch lived here but we had seen a small fluffy kitten trot along her front path and wander inside the house….. smoke was gently oozing through the gap in the front door and a smell that reminded us of popcorn along with it. We had to save the kitten”.

Good luck and let your imagination run riot.