Welcome to the Blog!

Thanks for coming over to see what’s happening on Susy Bryceland Books!

When I created this website last year, my main purpose was to promote my children’s books and to produce some free, fun activities for dinosaur-loving kids, that was all.

I had written and published two children’s books - ‘Old MacDonald’s Dinosaur Park’ and ‘The Dinos on the Bus’ - which I had written as a

stay-at-home-mum-project to learn some new skills while my son was at preschool and my daughter was still napping twice a day.

In the beginning I had mainly written these books for my kids, and to gift to family members, but once they were finished and on sale, I felt it would be a shame for them to stay hidden away in the depths of Amazon, so I I thought I should really make an effort to promote them.

But now my focus has changed a little…

Due to the current circumstances we find ourselves in, most friends and colleagues I talk to are busier than ever, for all sorts of reasons, but homeschooling being number one. Even for teachers like myself and my husband, this is no easy feat. We know how to teach, but juggling schedules and teaching our own kids, is a very different story from our everyday jobs. This experience is overwhelming for many of us, not to mention the pressure we feel for being responsible for our children's education.

So I’ve decided to combine my passions of teaching, writing and a love of reading to share some ideas that I hope might help parents to support their child's reading development.

I’ve been working (as a teacher) from home and also homeschooling my son who is in Kindergarten (with a preschooler at home too), so I definitely have not found myself with bundles of free time, however, this unusual period of time has made me rethink my schedule and how I use my free time.

I’ve always loved using my spare time to write.

So I decided that writing a blog was something that would give me a focus during these uncertain times. I’ve tried to switch off from social media as much as possible, apart from keeping in touch with family and friends, so I’ve found that when the kids go to bed I’ve got an hour or two to spare.

My main passion as a homeroom teacher and as a learning support specialist, has always been literacy. Inspiring students to love reading and writing is one of my main goals as a teacher, whether supporting elementary students who are developing their skills and beginning to read chapter books, or teaching pre-k’s who are learning emergent literacy skills through play.

So that’s my focus right there.

As a teacher and a (temporary) homeschooling mum, I’m going to share what I know works when it comes to teaching your littles ones to read and motivating them to pick up books, whatever their age and stage.

Oh and also lots more dinosaur activities...we’re just a little obsessed with dinosaurs in this household (...and unicorns)!

Thanks for taking the time to find out what this blog is all about.

I'll try to keep my posts short and sweet - hopefully getting to the point without taking up too much of your time.

Feel free to get in touch if you have any literacy-based topics you’d like me to write about. Happy reading!