Pawprint Badges

2020 is proving to be an extraordinary year thanks to Covid 19. School ended abruptly in mid March as we entered lockdown to try to slow down the progression of the Coronavirus. As a result parents all over the UK were left having to home educate their children.

Rosie was in Year 6 at school and in the verge of taking her SATs before finishing her primary education. However she also was bored of all the tests and revision. I saw little point in continuing with the Year 6 curriculum as she was doing fantastically well; but I also didn’t want to start her on the Year 7 curriculum either. A friend introduced Pawprint Badges to us and Rosie hasn’t looked back.

Pawprint badges are high quality embroidered badges which are awarded for achieving tasks, life skills, games and fun activities. Each badge has several pages of possible tasks to choose from - some are achieved in seconds and others may take weeks or even months. They raise money for Girl Guides and Scouts to go on trips and adventures.

I decided to use the Pawprint badges as a starting point for extended education. So for example one task was to cook with yellow foods. We used eggs as one ingredient and I asked Rosie to research how and why eggs coagulate and to write it up as a science experiment. Another task led her to research her family tree which involved developing her telephone and communication skills to her grandparents whilst learning to record accurately.

Across the months Rosie has travelled a journey through history, geography, science, space, languages and art. She has become an accomplished cook and learnt DIY skills which will stand her in good stead for her life ahead. Most of all we have had huge amounts of fun. Notable highlights were the snorting contest; IQ quiz; decorating cupcakes like teddies, building a den and doing magic tricks.

In total Rosie has acquired around 30 Pawprint badges across the last 4 months. She was delighted to find that two new badges have been added since we started in March to celebrate lockdown and the increased use of technology through this time. Not surprisingly she has already worked on and achieved these two as well.

Rosie is a Girl Guide and these are being sewn onto her camp blanket as a colourful lasting record of her unexpected extended time at home in 2020. First published on 1.8.2020