Ash Tutors' Blog

Internet safety for kids

Allowing your kids to access the internet?  Of course you are! All of us parents are. And keeping young children and teenagers safe online is one of the first and main concerns for parents and teachers alike.

This is a very important issue, one that all parents would agree is becoming increasingly worrisome as the news throws more and more stories out about grooming and/or online bullying.

So we'd like to share some advice as well as a few links to useful free tools for online safety.

 
Child-safe search engine

When children need to research for school projects or just explore online for themselves, a child-safe search engine is an invaluable tool.

There are a number of search engines that are suitable for children which will help them find the information they are looking for, while at the same time, filtering the results so only child-friendly web pages and images will be shown.

Family Party Games [your guide to a fun time!]

The family that plays together stays together! Hands up who wants to play some fun family party games? And Christmas and New Year are just about the perfect time to start!

Here are some ideas for games that are both entertaining and fun for all ages. Perfect for Christmas, New year, sleepovers, rainy days and birthday parties. These are all games that the children can all get involved in and even help prepare. Best of all, the games are totally free, and don't come with a huge amount of packaging you have to dispose of afterwards!

SHOOT THE CAMERA

What you will need

A cheap camera
Music

How to say Merry Christmas in 18 Different Languages

Here's one for the kids! They love to say Merry Christmas in various languages - go on, ask them!

So, in no particular order, here are 18 ways to say Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas in different languages:

1- If you were in Denmark celebrating Christmas then you would say Glaedelig Jul.

2- In Finland, the greeting is Hyvaa Joulua.

3- Across the channel in France the greeting you would use is Joyeux Noël.

4- Heading to Germany for Christmas? Greet your friends with Frohliche Weihnachten.

5- If you were lucky enough to find yourself on a beach in Hawaii for Christmas it's Mele Kalikimaka.

6- In Italy Merry Christmas is Buon Natale.

7- Heading to Norway? Gledelig Jul.

8- Celebrating Christmas in the Philippines? Great your friends and family with Maligayang Pasko.

9- Polish is one of the most difficult languages to learn so you will be forgiven if you pronounce this one wrong! Wesolych Swiat Bozgp Narodzenia.

10- Portuguese is spoken in 7 different countries - Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe. Their Christmas greeting is Feliz Natal.

11- Spending Christmas in Spain or South America? You would say Feliz Navidad. (Thanks to Michael Buble, even I know this one!)

12- If you are in Sweden for Christmas, greet your friends and family with God Jul.

13- In Turkey, you will see yeni yiliniz kutlu olsun which literally translates to Happy New Year. Otherwise, you may see Mutlu Noel which means Happy Christmas.

14- In Wales, Merry Christmas is Nadolig Llawen.

15- In Estonia, the Christmas greeting is Rõõmsaid Jõulupühi.

16- If you find yourself celebrating Christmas in Ireland the greeting is Nollaig Shona Dhuit.

17- Celebrating Christmas in Malta, then Merry Christmas is Milied it-Tajjeb

18- Enjoying Christmas in Romania? Crăciun Fericit.

Easy Recipe for Christmas Biscuits

What better way to say 'Merry Christmas' to friends or relatives than with a tin of homemade biscuits? These delicious biscuits are best shared but if you want to keep them all for yourself, we promise we won't tell!

And if you rope your kids into it, then they'll make excellent (and cheap!) Christmas gifts for relatives.

If you would like to make the biscuits into Christmas tree decorations, before baking carefully make a hole in the top of the biscuit mixture using a straw.

 How To Find The Best Private Tutor

It'll be easy to find the best tutors, won't it?

Oh my goodness! Where do I start?

A few days ago I 'enjoyed' the experience of placing a small task I needed doing for the company on a 'freelance' website.


If you've never used these sites before, you simply place the details of your job, then wait while the bids for the job come rolling in from all over the world along with proposals from interested freelancers.


Within 20 minutes I had around 400 bids from people all vying to do this job.

Talk about overwhelm!


The result was that I didn't choose even one - just way too many choices. Rather than save myself some effort by hoping to pay a freelancer to do the task, I'd actually created one huge headache for myself.

You can get a similar effect when faced with a HUGE menu in a restaurant. How many of us give up on reading it all, and just plump for the tried and tested?


This has become one of the biggest disadvantages of the modern internet era - that of 'TOO MANY DARN CHOICES'!

A similar scenario is what will face any parent hoping to run a quick Google search to land the services of a tutor for their child, and very often this will end in failure, or like my freelancing experience, they will be overwhelmed by choice and simply give up, hoping things improve at school by themselves.


But of course, that's unlikely to happen. So what do I suggest? How does your average (or exceptional!) parent find the BEST PRIVATE TUTOR for their child?

Benefits of a private maths tutor over classroom learning

So you've pondered long and hard about hiring a private maths tutor for your child. They've been having a few issues at school, and even though you know you could probably help them, there's that 'emotional' thing going on, and you'd prefer a calm household.




"But hang on!" says your husband. "What about the cost? It can get pretty pricey over time, and there's no guarantee it'll make any difference. Why aren't the teachers doing their job? That's precisely why our child goes to school, yet here we are, considering spending a large sum on the services of a private maths tutor!
"



And so the argument goes...




It's a valid argument. You wouldn't send your car for repairs, only to hire another independent mechanic to correct mistakes or to improve on the work already done. So what's the difference?




'Learning' isn't an exact science.


 3 fun and easy science experiments to do at home

Here are 3 very easy, safe and fun science experiments that you can do with children at home. No special equipment is needed and most of the things needed you will already have at home.

1. Make your own crystals

Probably everyone's favourite experiment and there are many variations on growing crystals at home but this one uses plain table salt and is probably the quickest and easiest.

What you'll need

Table salt - sodium chloride
300 ml tap water
Clean glass jam jar
Piece of string

Teach Your Child How To Tell The Time 

Teaching children to tell the time has always been considered to be a bit tricky. True, it is not the easiest skill to teach, but it is by far one of the most rewarding.

Why is it so hard learning how to tell the time?

We spend years teaching kids about our number system based on '10'. Everything from 'Place Value' to 'metric measurements' follow the reassuringly logical premise that things come in 10s, 100s and 1000s and so on.

Then we suddenly throw in a system based on 5s, 12s, 24s and 60s! Where's the logic in that?

No wonder they get confused. In addition, we use various methods for saying the same time, we use Roman numerals, digital clocks, and sometimes don't even have digits at all. The whole thing is a mess!

Short story ideas and writing prompts

Is your child often stuck for words and in need of some ideas? Sometimes it’s really difficult to start writing when you are faced with just a blank page.

Writing prompts are a great way to get the creative juices flowing again and even if they spend only 5 or 10 minutes on a prompt, it's often enough to divert their attention and get them back to working on their original piece again.

If they are using writing prompts, don't be too bothered about the direction in which they are heading or if what they have written is good or not. The whole idea is to get into the flow of creative writing.

Here are 5 writing prompts to stretch their imagination and help them put pencil to paper and write every day!

(These can be 'adjusted' depending on the child's age!)

5 top ideas for outdoor learning 

Whatever the season, outdoor learning is a brilliant way to get everyone outside in the fresh air as well as engage children who are not so much into pen and paper learning.

So, here are 5 top ideas for outdoor learning that all the family can take part in.

Let it snow!

Snow offers a real hands-on learning experience for younger children and building a snowman teaches a number of skills including balance, coordination, thinking, maths, science and motor control.

Before you set off outside, involve the children in the preparation and ask them to gather together items of clothing they think will keep them warm in the snow.

Give younger children the opportunity to create sentences with new winter words such as- crunchy, slippery, icy, chilly, crackling, frozen, sparkling and numb!

 List of favourite resources for exam preparation

Do you have important exams coming up or do you want to help someone with their studying? It's important to know how to prepare properly and set aside time for studying. With this in mind, we have put together a collection of some of our favourite and best online resources for exam preparation. However, before we get to the resources, we would like to share 3 top tips to help you on the way to achieving your study goals:

Tips for study success

1-Knowing how to prepare for exams is one of the key ways to manage exam stress. Bear in mind, as well as good exam preparation, always believe in yourself and remember that if you have prepared for your exams properly in advance you should do fine.

2-Start your revision early and don't leave it until the night before to study!

3-It is also a good idea to study in intervals and don't try to cram everything in. Split your study time so you give yourself a 5 - 10 minute break after you have studied for no more than 50 minutes.

Resources for exam preparation

The University of Leicester have put together an excellent study guide which includes revision and exam skills as well as memory techniques and how to test yourself.

Feeling stressed at the thought of upcoming exams? Check out this fabulous resource from the University of St Andrews which is all about managing exam stress and includes general exam stress-busting tips.

Between study periods you will most certainly need to relax. Here are 10 quick and easy ways to relax and reduce stress

 Top 10 things to do with kids in North West England

There is no shortage of fun and interesting things to do with the family in North West England and in no particular order we have listed the top 10 things to do come rain or shine in this wonderful part of the country.

1-Turbary Woods Owl and Bird of Prey Sanctuary

...in Preston is home to a unique collection of more than 90 birds of prey including falcons, owls, hawks and eagles as well as a few more unusual bird species.  This is a fabulous day out for all the family and well worth the small admission charge. Try to catch the flying displays which take place daily weather permitting.  Check the website for more details and times.  Do bear in mind Turbary Woods is run by volunteers and is non-profit making so all money raised from entry keeps the sanctuary open.  They don't accept credit or debit cards so make sure you take cash with you.

Address:  Access to the owl and bird of prey sanctuary is through the garden centre at 92 Chain House Lane, Whitestake, Preston PR4 4LB

Official website: Turbary woods owl and bird of prey sanctuary 

2-Merseyside Maritime Museum

How To Get Your Child To Love Reading

Some children are obsessive readers, while others are more than reluctant to even pick up a book. 

The question is, how can we get children interested in books in the first place?

Here are 5 proven techniques to help children fall in love with books and become greater readers:

GCSE English Language and English Literature Exams

A Modern Parents’ Survival Guide!

By Rachael (Ash Tutors ref: 181), Secondary School English Teacher

“Help!” I hear you cry, “Why is GCSE English so much different, harder, confusing, befuddling and downright mind-boggling compared to when I was at school?”

Teach Your Child To Read At Home
-A Parents’ Guide

These practices will improve reading comprehension, phonics acquisition, spelling and ultimately the whole quality of their writing and general language work. Read on for a parents' guide to getting the most out of reading with their child...

You can download the gorgeous infographic version here! Totally FREE! It makes a great A4 wall poster - handy for busy parents to glance at during your reading sessions with your child! Just click the link below.

Click Here to Download Now

How frequently SHOULD your child be READING at home?

67% of Children Read Weekly for Fun – But Is it Enough?

A recent survey of Mums with children aged 2 – 12 revealed that two-thirds of children in this age group still read books at least once a week for fun.

Perhaps reassuringly, more children read books weekly than play on an iPad or other tablet/mobile device. But is two thirds enough? Should we be worried that not all children from 2 – 12 are reading a book at least once a week? How frequently should your child be reading at home?

5 Steps To Independent Learning For Your Kids

A Private Tutor such as myself fills those client-free daylight hours in the garden pruning, planting, weeding, grass cutting and various other tasks requiring more muscle than brain power. I find these simple jobs stress-free and a wonderfully refreshing tonic for the mind. You should try it!

During a particularly glorious gardening afternoon, I questioned myself as to why more home-owners don’t fill their outdoor spaces with slow growing evergreens that change little over the seasons, or indeed don’t just smother the whole lot with gravel or concrete. Some do, the majority don’t. Why not? It was Autumn time. The flowers were going over to coloured berries; leaves were putting on their final show; seed heads spilling their contents everywhere.

A lot of work for a gardener – yet we love it. It’s the change you see. We purposely choose plants according to the often short-lived display they put on. Maybe it’s Autumn leaf colour; perhaps it’s summer flowering; possibly it’s one of the first flowers of Spring, or it has Winter-long coloured berries.

So can we conclude that people like change? Of course not! People hate change. People are strongly resistant to change, so what’s going on?

The truth is, people only accept change when they are the authors of it. Not so when it’s thrust upon them.

What does this have to do with learning?

How Parents can teach their own kids. Secret revealed!

I have a confession to make: as a paid, employed teacher, I had far more patience and time for the 30 plus children I used to teach on a daily basis than I used to have as a parent teaching my own daughter.

I know this to be true for many other teachers who are also parents.

Ever wondered why this is? I have, and I think I’ve found the answer!

Treat it as a job.

At home I was always finding something else to do, always looking to complete another domestic chore. Until that is, I began to see that time as another job to complete. 

Once I changed my attitude, and made myself available  - totally 100% committed to giving up a chunk of my time – it was a problem no longer.

Parents’ Evening went badly. What next?

You sit there at the annual Parents’ Evening, all smiles, waiting for your child’s teacher to agree that your child is the most wonderful creature ever to grace this Earth. But wait. He/she doesn’t agree?!

It happened to us. Five minutes allowed in the interview, and rather than focus on all the lovely things we know are true about our gorgeous, funny, caring, talented little girl…

“She’s struggling with her reading comprehension…”