One day we will be a self-sustaining English language charity, dedicated to bringing education, free resources and teacher training to the disenfranchised masses, but for now we're just one little site on a big old web.
Probably Polly...
Educational philosophy...
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you
can use to change the world". Nelson Mandela
"He who opens a school door, closes a prison." Victor Hugo
Educational Philosophy and influences...
Choose a field, you may need to experiment with a few first. Don't rush it will come...
I chose to enter Early Years Education due to the great importance early influences and role models can have on the young brain, I feel honored challenged and inspired to be a part of fabricating the blue prints for lives full of potential. Early experiences and interaction with the environment have lasting effects on human development.
Have a peek at boundless to explore this concept further, get your geek on,
https://www.boundless.com/psychology/nature-genetics-and-nurture-the-environment/influence-of-environment/environmental-effects-on-the-development-of-the-brain/
Also a great site, if like me, you end up having to teach a whole host of topics to all the grades in school. A great tip is to keep your English relevant and fun, add some facts about stuff you really enjoy. The more you love it the more the students will. For me it's sciecne and the circus, a strange combination I know but it works for me. If you hate the topic don't teach it, how can you expect students to care about things you dont. (No I don't mean here skip whole chapters of your schools alloted books, I mean mix it up a bit and make it relevant to you.)
Influences...
I strongly suggest reading up on some schools of thoght that emulate your daily principles and taking advice from the greats, here's what worked for me.
I am a firm believer that a teacher must be a guide, an instructor and role model but not a dictator. A child should learn be doing, by experimentation and self discovery if the lessons are to stick. I am currently a self professed student of the Maria Montessori method and co-writer of a 'Montessori and ESL' to be published by the Sunbridge Institute of English in 2014. I am also an advocate of the Multiple Intelligences Approach (please see section 3 on history and theory.) I found creating Montessori Method Mornings to be a great aid to run alongside the traditional classroom approach. I am currently developing specific toys to aid the Montessori Method in teaching English as foreign language and am making steady headway here, however, when teaching language I find teacher interaction and instruction to be the very core of steady learning. From the point of understanding and decoding language my main intellectual influences spring from admiration for Michel Thomas as an educational innovator, Noam Chomsky as a linguist and also Benedict Anderson as an anthropologist.
Young learners in the daily classroom..
As I mentioned earlier teacher should not take on the role of dictator in the class rather aim to be an enabler.
Children need a routine...
Providing a stable working environment is half the battle won!
Have a routine for the children to memorize and gradually add to their role in daily tasks. This will help develop self discipline and control. In this environment a child can develop independence quickly due to personal motivation to complete every day tasks such as tidying away chairs and pencils. Instead of carrying out task merely because teacher says so to do so. One can achieve this simply by informing the children of your teaching timetable, first start with days of the week, let them know that today if Tuesday tomorrow is Wednesday and yesterday was Monday. Make them aware of morning and afternoon using key concept questions. Did you eat? Did you nap? If the answer is yes then it must be afternoon, if it is no then it must still be morning.
Show clear beginnings and ends to lessons, despite the may not yet understand the concept that they are now swapping from Social Studies to Science, yet you must be clear when one task has ended and another begins. If you fail to display this children may become frustrates as may feel they are following a constant stream of orders and completing tasks to no avail. You follow a schedule so let them know they must too, the earlier in life young minds understand their responsibility for their own time the better
Children do need discipline...
...Be careful how you dish it...
... sometimes at their naughtiest children can be extremely funny, being a disciplinarian may not come naturally to you, or perhaps the chaos of children is alien to you. The important thing is to find balance.
A successful classroom builds mutual respect without need for harsh discipline.
An naughty child is quite often a frustrated child, whether due to boredom, confusion or any of the other million ailments to a young mind, it is up to you to diagnose and treat the source of the behaviour in order to create a long term solution. (sometime surface behaviours are glimpse into a much bigger picture always bear in mind a kind word has potential to go further than a raised voice, even if you are at the end of your tether.) I am no stranger to the intense frustrations you can feel repeatedly barking orders to specific children who just won't listen. Particularly when you have other duties, all you crave is that quiet moment that never seems to come. The simple answer is, don't do it. Barking orders won't help your stress levels and it certainly won't calm the child down.
You'll often find in this instance the children are as frustrated as you are, where you will be aware of your frustrations, they may not be able to express theirs, particularly in an ESL environment. Instead of saying "no, no" and more "no" find a positive way to reinforce stable behaviors. Not only is saying the word no constantly a negative experience for yourself it wont lead to positive attitudes in the children. (Of course you will need to use it, just pick your battles wisely, if you over step the mark or get immediately cross, you'll have nowhere to go from there.) Don't be afraid to stop an activity before the end and have quiet time. This does not mean you or the activity has failed, it just means the children can come down from orbit and you can rub your temples for a second. Classroom control takes time and it certainly wont happen if you aren't calm. I hate to say it but a lot of the time a unsucessful lesson can be down to us as teacher
Take a look at the what occurred on the run up a stopped activity, where the children already hyperactive, was it too close to lunch or the end of the day? Where they tired? Was the activity too complicated? Did you explain clearly?
Try simplifying the activity and returning to it perhaps the next day. Children are comforted by the familiar, you'll often find the respond better a second time. Remember although some days you may feel like you failed or you're not cut out for it, the children won't be thinking like this. It's good to be your own harshest critic it keeps you on your toes, that way you'll keep improving. Let each day go when the bell goes and keep home time for yourself. Tomorrow is another day and it's important to be happy and energetic.
Children are creatures of habit you'll find that a sturdy structure and routine are golden tools in streamlining your day to day tasks.
Respect is compulsory for a efficient classroom but this is not something one demands. Respect for the student must be as present and evident as that for the teacher.
The following suggestions are designed to fit into the Montessori Prepapred Learning Environment however they are adaptable and accessable to all forms of education, if you're not sure how to do it or for lesson plans, please email. Before you read this have a look at the Montessori and Multiple Intelligences info on the corresponding page.
"Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each." Plato.
Where the Montessori method does not warrant praise for good behavior and enhances the independence in not solely carrying out task for merit of others, I find in an every day classroom it helps a child feel valued when they are congratulated for achieving and acknowledged when they are participating, guidance when they are struggling and consequences when they are misbehaving. However a lot can be said for Maria Montessori's ability to create independent free thinking minds, over praising can go the same way as angering.
A Montessori Style Suggestion for Calming an Upset Child.
The Peace Corner.
It works in a similar way to tried and tested methods in the home such as the naughty wall or the naughty step. Where the child is taken away from the stimulus and away from the area or activity in which the conflict stemmed. The key difference between the peace corner and the “naughty wall” is that all the stimulus is NOT taken from the child. The naughty wall or step is designed as a punishment. (“The naughty wall/step” is a process in which a child is sent for a time out either against a wall or on a step, the child is left on the wall with nothing to play with and ignored by all.) The lesson here is that if the child is deemed to be out of order nothing good will come of it, and attention seeking behavior that he is displaying will receive no rewards.
Now here lies a key point that in a Montessori classroom the child is less likely to display these types of behavior as congratulatory methods are not encouraged to be undertaken by the educator as the child is encouraged to educate himself with the sheer joys of education being the sole reward. The longer a child spends in this environment the less likely this irrational over emotional behavior is to occur however, with younger learners there is always the danger of being over stimulated (this again is something an experienced facilitator will take into account when planning the daily lesson and design the classroom accordingly).
In the event of a child displaying over emotional or frustrated behavior the inclusion of a “Peace Corner” is an asset to the classroom. The “Peace Corner” is not an area of punishment, nor is it a quarantine for “naughty children”. (Remember that difficult behavior in young learners almost always stems from difficult or changing in circumstances labeling a concerned child naughty will add to his preconceptions of self.) The “Peace Corner” is also not a place stripped of stimulus as this can be equally as frustrating to a tense young mind. The “Peace Corner” is place of calmness and tranquility a place to rest and reflect. If a very young child is tired and needs a nap the peace corner is also the perfect place to do this.
The purpose of the “Peace Corner” is to teach the concept of peace not to punish. So what to put in the “Peace Corner”? Well first this is an area where Maria Montessori’s concept of surrounding a child with beautiful real objects must be followed in order to generate respect and wonderment. Everything in here MUST be calming and relaxing and represent peace in some way, how the facilitator sees the concept of peace will affect the make-up of the corner. (and no it doesn’t have to be a corner, but the added support of surrounding walls are a great place for the child to lean and take on more relaxing stance, at this age the body is aching and growing constantly comfort is tantamount to calm.) Some may want to base the corner on an Ashram or shrine to peace, others like home environment.
What to add:
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Cushions, blankets and roll away mattresses. Cotton and silk materials help to enhance the feeling to peace and comfort. Avoid loud or brash colours; pastels and warm tones of sunshine and nature.
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Plants: Spathyphyllum or the Japenese Peace Lily is great addition,
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Stress Balls: something tactile and distracting for a child to calm all the senses.
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Baoding Balls or Rolling Chinese stress balls.
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Pictures: Not too many remember the “Peace Corner” is calming time. Suggest 2 sets of pictures.
SET 1: Figures and images of peace: Beautiful photographs, think about hanging a framing select few.
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Mahatma Gandhi
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Maria Montessori
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Photos of meditation
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Photos of Yoga
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Photos of calming landscapes.
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White Dove
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Tree of life.
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Balancing scales
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Buddha/ Siddhartha Gautama
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Jesus
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Mohamed
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Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (Not a brash colourful one)
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Baha’u’llah
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Socrates
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Martin Luther King
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Dalai Lama
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Nelson Mandela
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Confucius
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Mother Teresa
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Freda Carlos
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Catherine of Sienna
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Florence Nightingale
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Marie Curie.
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Baroness Bertha Von Suttner
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Jane Addams and Emily Greene Balch
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Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan.
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Alva Myrdal
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Rigoberta Menchu Tum
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Ken Sarrow Wiwa
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Irena Sendler
The beauty of hanging these historical figures in the “Peace Corner” is that children will grow up seeing these people and these images and naturally want to find out who they are, and why they see their faces when they feel tranquil and calm and great starting block to social studies and human rights projects in Erdkinder or even younger. A tip here, chose amazing women, and extraordinary people provide the children especially the young girls with better role models than Disney Princesses and boys less Cartoon Superhero’s who main jobs are to marry or kill. Yes the main plot in all of these TV shows is good versus evil but the emphasis is always on a fight, show children from day one that passivism is not weakness.
SET 2: Beautiful artwork. Make or buy a flashcards of beautiful calming pieces of art. Very young children will love to sift through these images and will covet their favorite cards. This is a wonderful activity that a child can do in silence alone. Beware of over stimulation have these works of art as nomenclature cards which are great for all ages, these paintings have been carefully selected due to their content and colour, it is important to keep the images here of calming and peaceful nature, no war or demons despite the beauty of some of the darker pieces this negates the point of “Peace Corner”, make sure they are readily available to the peace corner but easily storable and tidied.
Suggest works of art or artist:
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Monet: his entire collection is soothing in particular Nimphee
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Vincent Van Gough: The warmer pieces, some examples The Sunflowers, Wheatfield with Cypresses, The Old Tower in the Fields, Mountainous landscape Behind Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Encampent of Gypsies with Caravan, Starry Night, Almond Branches in Bloom, The Café Terrace, Olive Trees etc
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Bosch: Gardens of Delight. This is a more hectic painting however the detail will something for the children to study to open doors to their imagination.
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Michelangelo’s Sistine Chappell.
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Botecelli, Nascita di Venere.
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Rousseau, Sleeping Gypsy, Carnival Evening,
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Magritte: Specchio Falso
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Tansey: Triumph Over Mystery
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Rubens: Feast of Venus.
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Vermeer the Astronomer
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Seraut, La Grande Jatte
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Klee, Ad Marginen
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Renoir, Bal du Molin de la Galette, les Dejuneurs des Cantoniers.
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Salvador Dali: The Persistence of Mind
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Klimt: The Virgin, Melo, Avenue Schloss Kaven, Beechwood
Music: If you can add a quiet music option, where a child can put on headphones and sit quietly and enjoy music. Below is a list of suggestions:
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40 most beautiful Arias
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The very best of Chopin
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99 Most Essential Opera Classics.
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The Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo De Silos.
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Devotion: Rasa
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Chants of India: Ravi Shankar
ESL Reading and Phonics.
Learning to speak is a natural progression; submersion in our mother tongue results in ingraining language and communicative skills, we are wired to decode the sounds and symbols into spoken word however the case for building literacy is not the same. Learning to read is conscious effort that must be taught and learned purposefully; surrounding the illiterate with the written word will not result in literacy without the correct tools and efforts.
How you chose to teach this skill set depends on the individual teaching the individual learning and the policy towards favoured materials in the institution in which the process is taking place. In the UK at the moment Jolly Phonics is the leading competitor and is well worth sifting through, children undergoing this method will advance further and faster than in traditional linear schooling methods.
Jolly Phonics has made a clear distinction between reading and writing which is absolutely key in an ESL classroom, handwriting practice is important and a cultural must in a lot of Asian cultures, however I have witnessed many teachers make the mistake of not make a clear enough separation, copying symbols and sentences with perfect accuracy is not the same as being able to create them independently.
In a Montessori classroom a lot of the traditional phonetic activities may be deemed inappropriate for the methodology as the approaches, no matter how heavily child focused the learning pace and outcome is intended to be the teaching method is often very teacher orientated. This is an area where Montessori has received some criticism as aforementioned statement suggest learning to read is not a natural effort but a conscious one and in this the student will need guided focus. In the Montessori classroom if the child request aid then the teacher will comply with skilful guidance, in this scenario the teacher should have plethora of suitable phonic activities prepared in order to engage the child in sounding and experimenting with phonemes remember the name of the letter is far less important than its sound.
One way in which the teacher can introduce these types of phonics sessions is part of teaching structure outside of the 3 hour learning period. Making a phonic game or activity at the same time each day part of their daily routine will also help the children become accustomed to using phonics as part of the school day and also make the likelihood of a child wanting to continue down this learning path after the 3 hour session has commenced.
For a teacher new to Montessori the fear here would understandably be what if the child never asks? Rest assured this is a remarkably unlikely scenario, we are working with natural curiosity of the shaping mind, in order to spark a child’s creativity and interest keep a book shelf, most children by the time they are of school going age will have sat with their significant caregiver and enjoyed exploring the contents of a book, be it story or pictures, the natural reaction to seeing an interesting book filled with a splurge of messy symbols that ‘grown ups’ can decipher into fantastical stories and answers they will know to take it to the ‘grown up’ in order to find out exactly what it is they are looking at. Young children will often have a favorite book that they will want to hear many times, you can make the natural link between the stories they hear to the words on the page to the sounds of the letters. Have the child spot the vowels (for example) and then take them to the sand pit to trace the letters practicing its sound as they follow making shape and sound together, there is always a natural progression that the skilled facilitator will make the natural progression to.
A piece of advice here is whilst planning you lesson make a brain map, follow the natural progression of introducing the activity of reading to a child which does not differ from their point of interest at the moment, everything in the classroom can be linked to reading, when playing with mathematical numbers you can introduce the spelling of the numbers and have the children sound and math to the symbols.
Sand Tracing Phonics.
Aim: prewriting sounding and tracing.
You will need:
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A box or tray filled with sand for an individual or a sandpit for group work is also appropriate.
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Scissors or sharp scalpel blade. (In this case you will need a cutting mat)
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Pencil, rubber and Ruler, metal is best.
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Durable card.
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Measure perfectly and cut out the alphabet in capitals and lower case letters. Take your time here, remember make your materials as beautiful as possible. (These letters are also readily available to purchase online crafted from wood. These will become a corner stone of lower grade learning so it is work investing time or money in obtaining them).
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Fill the tray with sand.
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Have the student place the perfectly cut letter in the tray of sand and with a finger trace the shape closely in the sand learning the shape.
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Whilst the student is tracing the shape with their finger have them repeat the sound NOT the name of the letter so they create a physical memory of that shape and sound combination.
(This activity can be created using soft balsa wood, sand paper and varnish. The wood is cheap and malleable so it’s a relatively easy task for any teacher with time.)
Matching Labels.
Aim: Teaching students to correcting match a label to each thing in the classroom that is stationary (you can label absolutely everything anyway but this particular labeling exercise works much better with stationary items.).
You will need.
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Computer, paper/card and Printer
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Or paper/card and a thick marker pen.
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Laminator or clear plastic covering.
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Scissors
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Adhesive
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Adhesive Velcro.
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The best colour of paper or card is white with black ink for clarity. The recommended printing font for this is Comic Sans MS 24pt. Do not use capitals.
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Make each label twice.
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Cut the labels individually and laminate or cover with clear plastic. They will need to be durable.
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Permanently fix one set of laminated labels to the object they are intended to label and directly next to this fix a strip of Velcro and the coherent strip to the back of the second print of the word.
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Do this for each label and keep the detachable labels in a colorful labeled box. (This is recommended due to the Montessori principle of treating things of beauty beautifully, another good motivation for laminating the words.)
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Have the student(s) take a word from the box and sound it out, guess what the word could be and take it to the item and check if the words match, if they are correct they may stick the word to the Velcro patch and come back to the box.
A few potential games to be introduced outside of the 3 hour learning period and then repeated if asked during.
Label the classroom incorrectly and have the children correct mistakes.
Teacher pick a label from the box and sound out the word phonetically, have the children run to the item they believe to be correct and then check the sound of the item they have chosen to the one in your hand.
Teacher to separate the class into 2 teams. Chose a representative from each team and then lays out 2 or more possible labels depending on age and ability. Teacher either sounds or says the word or gives the beginning letter then the first child to pick and hold up the correct label earns a team point.
Teacher to separate the class into 2 teams. Distribute the labels evenly between the teams, have the 2 teams line up and in a relay race one child at a time chose from the pile, stick their label and return before the next child begins. The quickest team to finish and sit is the winning team.
These are great activities to encourage phonetic and reading fun that children will emulate during lesson time, remember never to stop the children from learning however any running activity has to be policed properly and may not always be a safe option the Montessori environment is often misconstrued as a free for all this is not the case, It is up to the individual facilitator and institution to develop policies regarding boisterous educational play, one will not often not find this to be an issue but a good facilitator must train themselves to expect everything and once and have a progressive educational step.
Designing and implementing a Social Studies Ciriculum Part 1.
The key principles of citizenship and global understanding are at the very core of Maria Montessori’s philosophy. In the traditional linear schooling one would not yet expect a child of age 3+ to understand the significance of their role in the community or the physical make-up of our planet including the continental break up and the composition of the Earth and rightly so. The ability to explain physically and visually the complex and often seemingly abstract concepts children learn during their foundation years at Montessori is where the philosophy really comes into fruition. By allowing the child the ability to discover the composition of their Earth and independently sort tangible objects which clearly symbolize aspects of each of the Earths sections both physically and culturally allows for at the very least a sound foundation of knowledge that we are in fact part of a much larger pictures and there are people just like me and just like my family who have to work and live in different places all over our world.
Montessori’s spiraling curriculum makes for a slow yet solid level of progress. In an ESL classroom this offers a phenomenal amount of scope to impart knowledge and understanding beyond your level of verbal communication with the children. As you will often find during Social Studies and Science lesson children seem to be naturally aware of answers and laws they can not verbally communicate yet. Where they may not yet know the exact logic or reasoning of outcome of simple task they are able to consciously or subconsciously predict said outcome. This is due their having learned by their own natural curiosity which has inspired them to try and test theories repeatedly. Younger children learn well from repetition and also my mimicking of others so a solids demonstration teamed with enough experimental time allow a child to absorb the base of many global concepts which linear education may not deem necessary to teach at such a young age due to the complications is verbal explanation.
A word to the wise, these topics are no less complex for a young mind to grasp, remember patience and persistence is key. Prepare the advanced lessons well in advance, remember the golden rule is to have at hand whatever need be in order for the child to progress naturally and the right time.
Begin with the some traditional tried and tested methods of Montessori;
The sand paper globe
First introduce the globe, run a hand around the globe a god 4 or 5cm away from the globes surface and tell the children air, encourage them to repeat your actions making sure they do not touch they globe. Then point to the blue areas and inform them it is water trace a finger over the smooth blue surface encourage them to repeat this and finally again trace the same finger over the rough surface of land, finally allowing the children to run a palm all over the contrasting textures.
The 3 elements
The 3 physical attributes to our planet, this is a traditional Montessori lesson developed by Maria herself, in which one takes 3 large bell jars one filled with air another with dirt and the final water. Have the child aid you in placing the jars on a protective surface (perhaps newspaper or plastic sheeting) and have the child fetch him or herself an apron to wear. By all means label these jars (in an ESL Montessori classroom labeling each and every item is surrounding the children with symbolism they will become accustomed to seeing and curious about please see the language section for the benefits of removable Velcro in this.) and keep them at hand. Do not stop a child from reaching inside and playing with the content, this may in fact become a messy business for a 3 year old to have a giant jar of dirt. This then not only becomes a lesson in composition of Earth’s elements but also in responsibility. “If I throw dirt everywhere I will be dirty, the floor will be dirty and I will not be allowed to move on until I clean this up.” Here you are introducing the consequences to their actions, as another example the child can learn that if they tip up the water the water will stay with them and they will be wet until the water is gone and then they will again be dry. (Whilst introducing a social studies topic of elements in this station think about tying in sink and float in the science section as one can experiment further with air and water.)
Allow the class freedom to experiment calmly with the 3 elements for as long as it takes. Some children may choose to mix the elements, this is fine. Although you may feel it is taking away the purity of the examples this is not a point of concern as the child is experimenting with the properties of the elements and learning outcomes of his or her actions. “If I put dirt into the water the water becomes dirty. I can not take the brown out the water with my hands in the same way I put it in” When the child’s experiments have come to a conclusion take the child and wash out the jar and replenish the dirty water with clean.
Colouring the Continents.
Suggested Colour Scheme.
Africa Red
Europe Purple
Asia Yellow
North America Blue
South America Green
Antarctica White
Australasia/ Oceania Orange
When a child has gained an understanding of what the earth is made from, move on to how it is formed using simple colour coded maps.
One can quite easily take an accurate map of the world and make an activity from it.
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Print the map in pale grayscale.
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Using felt tip pens or pencils colour in each of the continents a different colour.
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Take this map and back it sturdily onto to a form of cardboard or future board plastic and then carefully cut out each of the continents.
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When creating the map be sure to outline in a colour not yet used for the continents the country in which your school is in residence.
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Here you have continental colour coded jigsaw of the world for children to assemble.
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Add your sandpaper globe and other 3D objects signifying the Earth to your physical geography station and encourage children to trace the sphere of the Earth with their hands, have them feel the spherical earth and compare it to the flat jigsaw they see in front of them. Tell the children both are Earth and both are the world in which they live.
A great way of creating the link between the spherical and flat representations in a tactile way is simple yet effective:
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Once you have cut out the jigsaw, lay the pieces onto fine sand paper and carefully trace the edges.
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Cut and stick the now rough surfaces of the continents to your jigsaw puzzle then paint with the same colour system as before.
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Sand paper can easily be painted with 3 parts poster paints mixed with a 1 part PVA glue. (alternatively mix sand in with your paints and skip the sandpaper all together add sand to your paints directly to give a soft surface, add an extra 0.5 part glue to this mix)
Here you have an inexpensive and highly effective tactile map of the earth offering concrete similarities for the young mind to independently discover. Here students can repeat the task of creating their own world over and over and spot the differences in colour which can be explained to them as they discover, when a child picks up the red continent symbolizing Africa whether or not he or she intends to place the pieces anywhere other than back down on the floor teacher can instruct “Africa!” and encourage them to copy teacher’s words and trace the edges of the piece and also the edges of the whole in which it fits. (Teacher can introduce the sand box and have them traces the contours here too.)
Expand this concept when child advances from the jigsaw of the earth as whole, by having the student create a jigsaw of their own continent (and or the remaining) which allows them to dissect the continent individually according to the same colours used on the world map. On the back of each jigsaw piece place the country’s flag, allowing the child from a very young age to be able to begin to comprehend the size of Earth and it’s physical and political make-up.
Expand this again by making a larger jigsaw of the country in which the school is located, enlarge the country and the flag on the underside, keep within the colour scheme and separate the country into it’s States, Provinces, Counties or which ever make up it has. Take care to us the same colour you outline the country of residence in the original map to outline the area of residence in the country map. Here the child can dissect the Earth then continents and also his or her homeland, explore the political boundaries of the world physically by touching and tracing and logically refitting the puzzle.
The colours you choose for the continents will remain as associations with those continents throughout the spiral of learning, beginning with simple sorting exercises and themes flash cards.
Land masses, landmarks, people and physical geography – volcanoes etc
Suggested Colour Scheme.
Africa Red
Europe Purple
Asia Yellow
North America Blue
South America Green
Antarctica White
Australasia/ Oceania Orange
Continental Boxes.
You will need:
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7 boxes (shoe boxes are a good size here.)
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Flexible card in the above colours, here you will need enough to cover the boxes inside and out and also to back photographs, an entire pack of card for each colour is advised.
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Scissors.
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Glue
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Scotch Tape.
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Computer with internet access.
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Colour printer.
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Laminator or clear plastic covering.
End of Part 1.