On Monday 24 August, readilearn will be four years old, and what an amazing four years it has been — one day, one week, one month, one year at a time. We haven’t been without our hiccups, but we haven’t been without our successes either. I express my sincere gratitude to everyone of you who has supported me along the way. Rest assured, the journey is not over yet.
About Norah, founder of readilearn
For those who don’t know, below are #12 things about me that preceded and contributed to the establishment of readilearn, a collection of teaching resources to support teachers of the first three years of school.
- Education is my life, my passion, especially literacy development and the education of young children.
- I decided at age 10 that I wanted to be a teacher. That desire has never waned.
- When I left school, I went straight into teachers’ college, and from there back into the classroom, but on the other side of the teacher’s desk.
- I wasn’t always happy with everything that was expected of me as a classroom teacher and read widely about education and alternatives to schooling.
- I undertook further study into language and literacy development.
- I worked for some years as what was then called a remedial/resource teacher, supporting children with literacy learning needs and teachers with their literacy programs.
- I spent a number of years attempting to establish an alternative school and was thwarted only by town planning issues and a decision by someone in power with a conflict of interest who should never have had the say.
- I educated my daughter at home until she was nine years of age.
- I taught for over 20 years in the classroom, mostly in year one (my favourite) but all in lower primary.
- I constantly wrote lessons and teaching materials to support children’s learning.
- I have been employed by a variety of educational publishers to write teacher and student materials and still write freelance for some.
- Alongside my passion for education, is a passion for reading and writing. While much of the reading and writing I do, and have done, is related to education, I also have a great love of reading and writing fiction. While some of my stories are included in the readilearn collection, embedded in teaching resources, I look forward to being the author of a (at least one) traditionally published picture book one day.
I loved my years working with children and miss them dearly. If I can tell you one thing about teaching, it is this:
The most important thing in the classroom is the children.
Everything we do must revolve around them, their interests and their needs.
I also loved creating resources to make my lessons more interesting and inspire the children’s learning. But I spent hours upon hours doing so. My wish to provide other teachers with quality resources that support their teaching, saving them some of their own precious time, was my motivation for creating readilearn.
A birthday gift for you
It’s readilearn’s birthday but we are giving you a gift.
We have collected 8 of the birthday-themed printable resources into one easy-to-download Birthday Bundle. Purchased individually, these resources would cost $8.50, but you can download them free until 24 September.
These resources include:
A birthday card to personalise
Little Koala’s Invitation Notepaper (colour)
But wait, there’s more!
We have also uploaded a new free jigsaw puzzle Little Koala’s Party.
The jigsaw supports the interactive problem-solving story Little Koala’s Party. While not specifically a birthday party, it could be.
Happy Birthday — an interactive resource to personalise
In addition, you may ‘purchase’ the interactive birthday card to personalise free for the birthday month until 24 September (usually $2).
We hope you enjoy these birthday gifts.
We always love hearing about the resources you find most useful, and we are interested to know what types of resources you would like added to the collection. Please contact us with any feedback or requests.
Thank you for your ongoing support. It is greatly appreciated.
Remember to check out the complete readilearn collection of
over 430 teaching resources for the first three years of school
Resources beyond worksheets – lessons for teachers made by teachers.
Let readilearn lighten your workload.
If you haven’t already, follow @readilearn on Twitter and readilearnteachingresources on Instagram and like the readilearnteachingresources Facebook page.
I appreciate your feedback and comments. Please share your thoughts below.
Happy Birthday to ReadILearn! And I admire your commitment to education, particularly at the lower levels. And thank you for all the materials you provide to support the learning process.
Thank you for your wonderful support, Jim. Appreciated.
Happy Birthday, Best Wishes and Thanks for all you do, Norah! <3
Thank you so much for your support, Bette. Appreciated.
Happy Birthday to Readilearn! Your “one thing about teaching” is an all encompassing philosophy; you are an early childhood educator through and through. I’m proud to know you and wish you success in all your endeavors.
Thank you, D. I appreciate your support and encouraging comment. I also am proud to know you and wish you success in all your endeavours.
So much heart goes into everything you create, Norah! Love what your resources, even though I’m not a teacher. They spark my imagination, too.
What a wonderful comment from someone who is not a teacher. Thank you so much.
Our backgrounds are so similar, Norah, though not our roots. I never wanted to be a teacher (or writer), got into it late and fell in love with it.
And you offer teachers so much that is of value, Jacqui. You can’t escape the love once it grips, can you?
Happy 4th Birthday for your amazing blog! Your passion for teaching shines through.
Thank you so much, Darlene. Even if I tried, I couldn’t shake it. 🙂
Happy Happy Birthday. Such a useful resourceful blog and the work you do and provide, Norah is nothing short of amazing. Such dedication and self-motivation is not easy to find let alone harness in such positive ways so as to benefit our youngsters. Brava!! The cake btw, looks delicious!!
Thank you, Dimity. Your words of encouragement mean a lot to me.
It’s a virtual cake – no calories. Have as much as you like. 😊🎂
This is so fabulous Norah and happy Birthday! Here’s to so many more creative educational and fun years. I was imagining that pull and passion you had when you were 10 to become a teacher – how great to follow your dream. Have a wonderful weekend!
Thank you so much, Susan. I appreciate your support. You’ve been with me and encouraging me from the beginning.
Nice to learn a bit more about you, Norah. I did know you home schooled your daughter which is wonderful. Happy birthday to Readilearn.
Thank you so much, Robbie. I’ve appreciated your support every step of the way.