Scratch Garden Shop Grand Opening!!!
Scratch Garden Has Opened Up Shop! Sound the trumpets! After much work, Scratch Garden has finally opened an online store. At the moment, the shop sells t-shirts and posters. The t-shirts feature a new ‘Team Salamander’ logo, and many of the posters were inspired from existing videos, so they really help to reinforce the educational […]
Fun Music for Kids Has Arrived: Vol. 2 From Scratch Garden
Music is a great addition to everyone’s life. Kids especially love the energy that music brings to their lives, not to mention the wiggle it puts in their toes. Music delivers so many wonderful benefits to everyone’s life! With all the positive effects of music, Scratch Garden is thrilled to introduce our new album of […]
What do you Need for a Summer Time Mind?
Summer is here and that means it’s time to delight in long hot days with plenty of bright sunshine. People prepare for relaxing times at the beach or some other favourite spot, while kids take a breather from arduous schoolwork. Summer seems to be the time when everyone breathes a sigh of relief from the […]
How to Teach Texture!
Texture may be a big word for learners of any age, and some people may not know what it means, but it’s an easy concept to teach. Every object around us has texture. It doesn’t matter how big or how small an object is, it has texture. So, how do you teach students to understand […]
Remembering Schoolhouse Rock!
Bob Dorough, the creative genius behind ‘Schoolhouse Rock,’ recently passed away at the age of 94. Schoolhouse Rock was a television segment that aired during the Saturday morning cartoons on the ABC network between 1973 and 1985. It was revived in the 90s, with both new and old episodes airing between 1993 and 1999. Schoolhouse […]
Pronouncing Digraph or Blended Sounds!
Consonant digraph sounds. That sounds a bit dull doesn’t it? That’s why we prefer to call them Happy Cheese Sounds. And we’ve got a happy, bouncy wedge of cheese to teach them to you in our Digraph Sounds videos. Digraphs are when two letters come together to form a new sound. As our Happy Cheese […]
How to Reach ESL/ELL Students with Learning Differences, Part 2
The English language can be difficult for non-native English speakers to grasp. For example, there are many rules to pronouncing words, but also many exceptions to these rules. The ‘ugh’ in the word ‘though’ is silent, yet the ‘ugh’ is the word ‘enough’ sounds like the letter ‘f’! Now, imagine you’re a new English learner […]
How to Reach ESL/ELL Students with Learning Differences, Part 1
It can be tough for non-English speakers to learn English! The language’s nuances, similar spellings with different pronunciations (think “snow” vs. “now’), inner contradictions within words (“pineapple” hasn’t any connection to pine trees or apples), and differences in word order combine to make English a difficult language to master. It can be uphill battle—even for people […]
The Value of Brain Breaks!
There you are. Sitting at your desk. You try to make thoughts turn into words—but it’s like someone turned off that faucet in your brain. You want to crack that equation—but you just can’t see the relationship between the variables and the constants. And so on. One thing’s for sure. When you’re stuck on something […]
2017 – Year in Review!
2017 is almost over and it has been a great year here at Scratch Garden. Highlights include: A brand new website that includes a new informative blog (that you are reading right now)! We released our first book! On our YouTube channel we released more videos and in turn received more views and subscribers than […]