They were published by Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd as late as 1998.
Although I found a listing for them on Amazon UK they haven't been available for many years.
I'm told they sometimes come up for sale on Ebay and other similar sites, but at inflated prices these days.
I can remember when my son was at school he had a Funfax although I really don't know what happened to it.
If you were to put together an organiser for a teenager or younger child what sort of inserts would you put in it? I'm more than happy to host any files here on Philofaxy for people to download and use on a non-commercial use basis.
Names of the most common geometric shapes and angles; simple how-to guide for using a dictionary; a grid in which to write down which textbooks, websites and tools and vocabulary are needed for which assignments.
ReplyDeleteOh before google. I had dyslexia do you know how hard it is to find a word when you can't spell it, it's impossible to find it in a dictionary. I once cried with frustration because I spelt it so bad even google couldn't get the 'do you mean?'. I had to type it to a friend and they told it me.
DeleteI'm cynical parent, perhaps a set of instructions on how to put an appointment into their phone of choice's calendar app with appropriate alarm notification? I don't think my 11yo son would appreciate a filofax beca he's either on his phone or his computer or he's kicking a ball about. He'd only leave it somewhere and forget where.
ReplyDeleteMy teenagers use Filofaxes. 17 year old mostly has blank inserts for notes and drawings, and asked me to print her a week on page Philofaxy inserts. On top of that she has an old Timetable insert from 1980s for class roster and annother for birthdays and events.
ReplyDeleteMy 13 yo uses a compact saffiano zip with mostly lined inserts for notes.
I think Timetable, deadline tracker, in uni I had a page number column and quote taker/summary for essays.
ReplyDeletePositivity spread maybe. Positive quotes.
Gratitude page.
Maybe the print out of I've got these grades so I need to get this in my last exam to get this grade - in a page haha. That was my excel life at uni.
I think this is such a great ide! To not only help take the focus off devices but this would also help improve hand writing and spelling which I can say over here in Australia, seems to be on the decline with children. Timetable section for high schoolers, homework sectio . And sure maybe listing their games they own or would like to own. Maybe rate the game. We all have our interests in our planner 😉
ReplyDeleteI remember having a Funfax when I was a child. They were great and had lots of really good inserts, although they were rather expensive.
ReplyDeleteSome inserts I would add would be:
Health and Fitness: perhaps specialised but the general insert would have some basic facts on health, nutrition, and exercise. Some good mindfulness tips and advice would be good e.g. taking care of ones self and how to deal with stress, bullying, etc. A lot of health and fitness misconceptions could be dispelled at an early stage. Also why not put some bodyweight exercises in there with stages building up to LaSierra High PE.
Facts and figures: always an interesting topic, albeit prone to political interference (but with some good leadership this could be avoided.) It could cover areas from all aspects of life from biology, human biology, arts, space, and more. I do remember a number of the inserts were based on these topics and I do think I actually had this insert.
Country facts: This could be interesting and have various challenges e.g. memorising each county, national parks, and for the UK all the different regional variations bread rolls (that might run into a few 1000 pages.) This would require good leadership to stop this descending into the political dross that 'adults' tend to get engaged in regarding matters of nationality; it would be for an appreciation of the country.
Countries facts: a data sheet on different countries with interesting facts, info on the population, landscape, and perhaps a few interesting phrases spelled out in English phonetics.
Entrepreneur toolkit: guides, stories, and advice on developing entrepreneurial skills. I spent my pocket money on an inset like this.
Academic tips: Broken down to time management, different ways of learning self-care (especially for those struggling), and reading lists for fun and development e.g. 10 books on heroism.
Too many ideas really, I wish the Funfair would come back. It was great, perhaps a digital equivalent would work.