December 16, 2021 / Ben / 0 Comments
Reading is one of the most important
things your child can learn to do. Reading books helps with not only their
reading ability but also spelling, writing and emotions and understanding.
Lots of primary schools have cut
down on the amount of homework they give to children and have instead asked
them to read ideally every night. Your child may be given a book from school
that they need to read but it may not be one that they would normally choose.
This is good as it makes them try new genres of books but they may also want
other books to read at home.
Finding books that are suitable
for your child’s reading ability can be tricky but there are a number of places
that sell books that are split into levels based on ability or age. New books
can be costly, but you don’t always have to buy new. You can often grab
yourself a bargain by buying second hand books either online or in a charity
shop. Even some pound shops sell level
based reading books and many of them as based on well-known children’s tv shows
or characters. Finding an author your child likes will help you find other
books they may be interested in.
November 2, 2021 / Ben / 0 Comments
Christmas is likely to be a big
deal for many people this year following on from the disappointment of last,
when we were very restricted as to what we could do and when. The shops are
already full of Christmas decorations, gifts and foods and many people have
already started to buy what they need for the festive period.
If you do not want to get caught
in the Christmas rush, then you may wish to start buying your gifts early this
year. Many people have already started and if you leave it too late not only
may you find that the items you want are not available but also that you have
hours of queuing to contend with.
To avoid spending too much or
coming away without everything you need, why not make a list. You may decide to
make several lists such as one for food, one for gifts and one for decorations.
Decorations are likely to be bought first followed by gifts and then the food
last. If you are wanting got get a turkey for Christmas, then you may need to
put your order in at your local butchers soon to ensure you get one.
October 11, 2021 / Ben / 0 Comments
If you have recently done up a
room in your house, you may want to go out and get some accessories to go in
it. Accessories definitely do have their place and they can make a room look
more homely, but you do need to consider how much extra it is going to cost you.
Buying cushions, table clothes,
kitchen storage cannisters, rugs and mats can very quickly add a couple of
hundred pounds on to the cost of the renovation of the room.
IF you want to buy next accessories
then why not have a look on your local Facebook marketplace. You may be surprised
as to how much you can save by buying second-hand items. Often people even sell
new items on there but at a fraction of the cost.
Make a list of what sorts of items
you want for your newly decorated room. Then put them in a priority order of
what you need and then what you want. You can then budget and start off by
getting the items you need. Once you have gotten all those items you can start
to buy the item you want. You can spread the cost over a few months so it is
not such a big outlay all in one go.
You may even be able to upcycle
items you already have such as recovering chairs rather than replacing them.
September 27, 2021 / Ben / 0 Comments
Maths word problems are used
commonly in primary and secondary school. It is a way in ensuring that children
can only do mathematical sums but also work out how to extract information from
a question to do the correct sum. This is useful as in life you may be
presented with a problem or situation where you first need to work out the
correct sum to do before doing it.
Word problems is something that
many children and some adults struggle with. You need to find ways of working
out what is the important information and what information you don’t need. If
your child is struggling with this then the best way to help them is with
practise. Very often the maths activity books you can buy have a lot of word
questions in them but you can also find examples online.
Your child needs to find a method
that works well for them so it may be underlining all the information they need
and writing the sum out first before trying to work out the answer. Some
children can do this step in their heads where as others may need to see if
written down. If you are concerned then do speak to their teacher as they may
be able to advise you on other techniques you could try.
August 10, 2021 / Ben / 0 Comments
This year we have been very lucky
to have a few nice blocks of hot and sunny weather. There have even been a few
heatwaves where the temperatures have reached in to the low thirties! This
weather can make people flock to the beach or pools in desperate need of a dip
but sometimes people also choose to venture to lakes and rivers. This can be
dangerous especially if you are not a strong swimmer.
It is very important that all
children are given the opportunity to learn how to swim from a young age. It is
a life skill and one that they may well need a number of times throughout their
life. Not only can it help to keep them safe when in the water but also possibly
help them save someone else.
Often schools only take the older
pupils such as years five and six swimming, so until they are around 10 they
may have little or no experience in the water. Some schools have started to see
how important it is for all pupils to be given the opportunity and therefore has
started taking the whole school swimming for a set number of weeks usually
through the summer.
Giving these children the
opportunity to get confident in the water and to learning to swim small
distances can be a lifesaving skill.