LEARNING QUOTE OF THE MONTH - DECEMBER 2015

The art of 

teaching 

is the art of 

assisting 

discovery.

Mark Van Doren

LEARNING QUOTE OF THE MONTH: NOVEMBER 2015

We learn...

10% of what we read

20% of what we hear

30% of what we see

50% of what we see and hear

70% of what we discuss

80% of what we experience

95% of what we teach to others

Willaim Glasser

TEN THINGS TO DO WITH A BOOK

TEN THINGS TO DO WITH A BOOK

Reading and sharing books with your child is very important to developing their reading, comprehension, writing and spelling skills.  As your child matures and gains independence in their reading they may not necessarily want to read aloud with you and consequently the opportunity to share in their reading experience and support them might become less frequent. The following activities are some of the ways that you can share both fiction and non fiction books with your child. 

•    Make a comic strip about the book, depicting the story line or the facts that they have learnt or found interesting about a topic.

•    Create a glossary of specific vocabulary or a dictionary of words that they were unfamiliar with or would like to use themselves.  Their glossary and dictionary could be illustrated.

•    Act out the important parts of the story or the key facts.  Some children will enjoy recording themselves and using their IT skills to edit and present their play.

•    Make a game board based on the story line or facts. The game could be based on traditional games such as Snakes and Ladders or one that they have invented themselves.

•    Write a list of the things that they have learnt and use them to make a quiz or even to write comprehension questions based on the text. 

•    Write an interview (real or imaginary) with the author or write to the author with questions about the text or topic.  Many books include ways to communicate with the author through social media.

•    Draw and illustrate the time line of events in a story or the step by step process of a non fiction book.

•    Create a poster that summarises and advertises the book.

•    Draw their favourite character or subject and annotate your drawing with adjectives, verbs and phrases.

•    Draw, paint or build a setting from your book.

 

Encouraging your child to discuss their reading, to make predictions, connections, to ask questions and evaluate the text, can clarify their thoughts and develop their reading skills.

LEARNING QUOTE OF THE MONTH: OCTOBER 2015

Play 

is the

highest form 

of research.

                  Albert Einstein

LEARNING QUOTE OF THE MONTH: SEPTEMBER 2015

You have not

FAILED

until you

QUIT

TRYING!

Gordan B Hinkley

KEY SKILLS FOR LEARNING

Key Skills for Learning

The way we learn and the skills we need to make learning effective have been researched intensively. Learning is not simply being told facts and recalling information; it is also about developing skills that allow us to apply, analyse, evaluate and to be creative. The skills listed below are from Bloom's Taxonomy (New version). 

• 

  Remembering. To learn we need lots of practise of recalling and identifying information. This  develops the skills of answering and asking closed questions (yes or no answers) and developing open questions by using who, what, when, where, why, and how?

• Understand. This skill develops the ability to comprehend, organise and select information.  With understanding we are able to ask and answer questions such as; tell me in your own words what this story is about? What does it mean when...? What is the main idea?

• Apply.  Practising remembering and understanding skills develops the ability to use the facts and principles learnt enabling us to answer what would happen if....? How would you solve the problem?

• Analyse. Developing this skill enables us to separate facts into separate parts e.g. recognising what is similar or different, being able to group information and being able to answer “What kind of person is ...?” questions.

• Evaluate. When we evaluate we develop our opinions and judgements and the ability to discuss.  Being able to evaluate leads us to ask questions such as; which is more important?  Which character would you most like to meet? Why?

• Create. To be able to create we are using all the above skills in order to combine ideas to create something new.  This could be writing a different ending to a story; designing a mode of transport; or offering solutions to a problem.

These learning skills take time to develop and all learners need lots of practise at remembering, understanding and applying in order to develop the skill to analyse, evaluate and create.   The time to reflect on learnings is essential as is learning in an environment where we can learn from our mistakes.

LEARNING QUOTE OF THE MONTH: AUGUST 2015

It is not what you do for your children,

but what you have taught them to do for themselves,

that will make them successful human beings.

 

Ann Landers

LEARNING QUOTE OF THE MONTH:JULY 2015

 

 

Give childhood back to children:

if we want our offspring to have happy, productive lives,

we must allow more time for play,

not less,
because when students spend all their time studying,

they have little opportunity to be creative

or discover their own pleasures.

 

Peter Gray

 

 

Avoid exclamations of boredom with these ideas

B.O.R.E.D

The summer holidays are near and you may be thinking how you can keep your child entertained and avoid their exclamations of boredom.  The acrostic below provides children with ideas of fun things to do.  In addition, many of the activities have great educational value, enabling your child to practise key learning skills, for example: maths and reading skills, creativity, resilience, fine motor co-ordination skills and physical activity.

BUILD, CRAFT, OR COOK.  If your child does not have building bricks, they could recycle empty boxes etc to build anything from castles to dragons. Baking, sewing, knitting and other crafts are popular at the moment.  Fabric, wool, paints, crayons and chalks, as well as craft kits can be purchased cheaply and you may wish to create a craft box for your child to use.

 

 

 

 

OUTSIDE PLAY.  Encourage your child to play outside in rain or shine.  Let them play in old clothes so that they can get dirty using chalks and paints, making mud pies or gardening, hunting mini-beasts (insects), or treasure hunting.  Challenge your child to find things in their garden that begin with every letter of the alphabet, or a particular sound or every colour of the rainbow.

 

 

READ A BOOK.  Many local libraries have workshops and reading challenges throughout the holidays which your child can participate in.

EXERCISE.  Exercise is obviously important; your child may wish to practise particular skills, for example, keepy-uppies, catch or simply play on their swings or trampolines.  Exercising as a family is great fun; whether it is participating in a sport, walking the dog, cycling or just kicking a ball around.

 

DO SOMETHING FOR OTHERS.  Ask your child to complete some household chores; you may wish to pay them for completing their chores satisfactorily. Your child may want to sell the cupcakes that they made (obviously they will need adult supervision) or organise themselves in a sponsored read to raise money for charity.

 

Specific ideas could be kept in a BORED jar so that your child is never at lost for things to do.

LEARNING QUOTE OF THE MONTH: JUNE 2015

 

 

The art of

teaching

is the art of

assisting

discovery.

 

 



LEARNING QUOTE OF THE MONTH: MAY 2015

 

The mediocre teacher tells.

 

The good teacher explains.

 

The superior teacher demonstrates.

 

The great teacher inspires.

 

William Arthur Ward

 

 

Taking a test?

Don't panic!

Revise!

 

Revising for a test can be daunting.  Particularly when faced with copious notes and the facts don't seem to be sticking. The following tips will help make any student's revision effective.  

 

Be healthy. Drinking water, eating healthy snacks and having a good night's rest are all important as is working in an area that is well lit and enables the student to sit comfortably.

 

Be prepared. Encourage the student to sit down to revise prepared with paper, pens and any equipment that they will need.  Mute phones and switch off monitors.

Working in intervals with short breaks in between, e.g.  30 to 50 minute   intervals with 10 minute breaks, is the most effective way to retain information.  Many students learn better when they move around. Simply standing up, provides the brain with an influx of oxygen.

 

Condense.  Turn pages of notes into brief notes using  key words.  Students can generate mind maps, focus on keywords, using  colour and pictures makes revising more effective.

 

Timelines.  Some subjects, such as history, are ideal for creating timelines to remember key facts and events. 

 

Flash cards.  Briefly write the key points, use colour pens and pictures. Create mnemonics or use existing ones.  For example: BODMAS  for the order of operations.

Brackets

Operations

Division

Multiplication

Addition

Subtraction

 

Ask a friend.  Students can ask others to test them or create the own tests and games. Use online resources to help you revise for the test. 

 

Practise past papers.  Students can learn how to pace themselves in a test. Use the mark schemes to mark and correct their answers, students develop their understanding of the subject.  This is also useful for practising good test taking techniques; e.g, reading the whole question; following  instructions; showing their working out; looking at all the choices before answering; eliminating any answers that they know to be wrong and checking their answers carefully.  (Many past papers can be downloaded).

 

When revising or taking the test, students need to remember to relax and breathe deeply; think  positively and to do their best. 

LEARNING QUOTE OF THE MONTH - APRIL 2015

Tell me and I forget.

 

Teach me and I remember.

 

Involve me and I learn.

 

Benjamin Franklin

 

LEARNING QUOTE OF THE MONTH: MARCH 2015

 

SOMETIMES YOU WIN;

SOMETIMES YOU LEARN!

 

 

TEN FUN WAYS TO LEARN SPELLINGS

TEN FUN WAYS TO LEARN SPELLINGS

“My spelling is wobbly.  It’s good spelling but it wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places.”  Winnie the Pooh

Your child may have spellings to learn at home and find themselves feeling like Winnie the Pooh when, despite practising the spellings, they do not do very well in the spelling “test” or generally spell the words inaccurately.  It may be possible that your child simply dislikes learning the spellings.  These alternative VAK (Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic) activitiesmay be more effective and enjoyable strategies.

1.     Use fancy writing to practise the spellings: for example, bubble writing, typing the words in different fonts, or use letter stamps to print out the words.

2.    Write the words letter by letter to form a pyramid so that the words grow or disappear.

3.    Colour code the spellings, for example: alternating letters in two colours - spell, highlight a letter string - spelling or write the vowels in red and the consonants in blue - spell.

4.    Sing, chant or rap the spellings.  Try this simple rap – “To the S, to the P to the E to the double L “or chant – “Give me an S,” etc.

5.    Spell the words out aloud with a partner, alternating turns to say the next letter.

6.    Think of words that rhyme with the spellings; discuss any homophones (words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings, for example, road, rode; write, right, etc).

7.    Build the word in building bricks, pipe cleaners or modelling clay.

8.    Use letter beads, stones with letters chalked on them, sponge letters or stickers to write the words.

9.     Place sand, salt or shaving foam in a tray for your child to write the words in.

10. Play games.  There are many games, activities and resources that can be purchased, played on the internet, or made at home, such as word searches, unscramble the letters, find the pair, or treasure hunts to find the letters to create the word, all of which can support your children in learning their spelling.

LEARNING QUOTE OF THE MONTH - FEBRUARY 2015

To live a creative life,

we must lose
our fear of being

wrong.

 Joseph Chilton Pearce

 

 



LEARNING QUOTE OF THE MONTH JANUARY 2015

Children must be taught 

HOW TO THINK, 

not

WHAT TO THINK. 

 

 

Margaret  Mead

IS YOUR CHILD MONEY SMART?

IS YOUR CHILD MONEY SMART?

 

"Save your money and your money will save you" - Jamaican proverb. 

You can develop your child's understanding of money and finance so that they are money smart throughout their lives.

 

Explain to young children how we use money to buy things and how it can be earned. Let children know that things cost money, sometimes a little and sometimes a lot, so that when you buy something you have to consider this.

 

Involving your child with the shopping encourages them to compare prices.  Consider bargains and discuss your reasoning behind the choices you make.  If your child enjoys playing shop, up cycle empty food packets for them to price, sell and even create special offers.

 

Explain how banks work and how credit cards are a different way of spending.  At the same time discuss how banks may offer you a loan for buying very expensive things such as a house and how you have to pay them interest.  Help them to understand that a taking out a loan has to be a very deliberate and considered choice.

 

You may decide to give your child pocket money, which they could earn through completing chores at home.   Help your child research and compare prices on the items that they are saving for.  Another activity could be to plan a party (real or imaginary) or a day out with a given budget.  For this you can research and make informed decisions together.

 

The following strategy may also support your child to be money smart and make good choices with their money:

 

Don't let your money melt away - SPLIT IT!

 

Save

Prioritise

Live within your means

Impulse buying is bad

Track

 

Whilst helping children to understand that money does "make the world go round" it is also important to develop their responsibility for managing their money sensibly.  "Do not educate your child to be rich.  Educate him to be happy so when he grows up he'll know the value of things, not the price." Anon.