Category Archives: Reference And Education

Homeschooling Preschoolers – What Your Child Needs to Know

Posted on January 25, 2011 by admin| Comments Off


Although many parents feel overwhelmed at the thought of teaching their own children, homeschooling preschoolers is as easy as 1, 2, 3. If you read to your child daily, teach basic math concepts like grouping and counting, and plan simple activities that build fine and gross motor skills, your child will know everything he or she needs to be ready for kindergarten. Here are some guidelines for teaching preschool reading, math, writing.

Preschool Math – In order to be ready for kindergarten, your preschooler should know how to count to 10, identify colors and shapes, identify numbers through 10, group items by shape or color, use mathematical words that describe distance and size, and complete patterns. Preschool Writing – Get your child ready to write by using activities that strengthen fine motor skills. Teach your child to hold crayons and scissors correctly, trace lines, cut and paste, draw basic shapes, and write his or her name. Preschool Reading – To be ready to read, your child needs to know how to hold books correctly, listen to stories, tell familiar stories, make rhymes and identify some letters and their sounds.

In addition to the above, your child should know his or her full name, parents’ names, address and telephone number. You will also want to make sure your preschooler is mature enough to dress himself, use the bathroom by himself, obey the adult in charge, and interact well with peers.

When homeschooling preschoolers, make sure you stay on your child’s level by moving forward or slowing down as needed. Put away the curriculum if it becomes frustrating or overwhelming, and let your child learn by helping you with chores, errands and other responsibilities.

Make time to talk to your child and answer questions thoroughly and patiently. You don’t need a degree to successfully homeschool preschool. All you need is a few good books, time and a lot of love!

By: Carletta Sanders

About the Author:
Here are some additional homeschool preschool guidelines, along with information about specific activities you can use to teach preschool.

Carletta Sanders is a homeschool mom of 3. Visit her website to read more about homeschooling preschoolers.



Comments Off

Posted in Reference And Education

Tagged

The Three Mathematical Stages Your Child Needs in Order to Succeed in Math

Posted on January 12, 2011 by admin| Comments Off


If your older child is struggling with math, or your younger child just doesn’t seem to understand a math concept, it may be because they skipped over a mathematical stage. There are three mathematical stages that follow the natural development of a child’s thinking. If a stage is skipped over while learning a mathematical concept, your child will start to have problems.

The first mathematical stage is the manipulative stage, and as the name suggests, it involves having children use real objects to learn mathematical concepts. The manipulative stage is foundational to everything else a child does with math, so it is very important to teach your child math using real objects. If you skip this crucial step, your child may have problems with math down the road. Don’t require memorization of math facts at this stage, just let your child acquire as much practice as possible with physical objects.

Within the manipulative stage, a child will observe and learn about:
o the number of things
o the size of things
o the shape of things
o the pattern of many things

Once your child has had enough practice and experience with real objects, he will be able to imagine objects mentally without seeing or touching them. This next mathematical stage is the mental image stage which is often used along with the manipulative stage until the age of twelve or so.

If you are teaching a math skill and your child says they don’t understand it, the most likely problem is that he can’t imagine it mentally. The way to solve this problem is by providing your child with lots of manipulative experience so that he can naturally make the switch from the manipulative stage to the mental image stage in a particular math skill.

The last stage, the abstract stage, is where children don’t need a mental picture to understand a concept (i.e. they can understand the number eight without seeing eight things in their mind). This stage is more common in upper mathematics courses like algebra and geometry than in elementary mathematics.

Although children go from the manipulative stage to the mental stage to the abstract stage in that order, they can always go back to a previous stage. Where you can start seeing problems is when math workbooks combine several stages in one lesson (i.e. a child is shown pictures of objects (mental image stage) and then asked to use abstract symbols). You will achieve more and go faster if you stay within a child’s stage strengths, especially for a child who struggles in math.

You can help your child transition between stages. For example have your child use manipulatives when they are learning to use abstract symbols like 5+5=10. Have him do this until it becomes easy to use the standard arithmetic notation.

If you work with your child’s natural mathematical thinking stages, your child’s frustration level will drop and math will seem much more doable. When learning a new mathematical concept, just remember to focus first on the manipulative stage, then the mental image stage, followed by the abstract stage. If you do this, your child will succeed at math!

By: Isa Skrobola

About the Author:
Isa Skrobola received her teaching degree at the University of Michigan. She has taught in various settings and has studied the best methods of education for over 10 years. She is currently homeschooling her seven children, and wants to offer you part of a free ebook, math resources and more at http://www.childfluency.com.



Comments Off

Posted in Reference And Education

Tagged

Does Your Child Need to Attend Tuition?

Posted on January 2, 2011 by admin| Comments Off


When your child is bringing home low grades you have to determine whether they are struggling despite their best efforts or if they are struggling because they are not fully applying yourself. Whatever you think the issue may be, attending a tuition centre can help.

Failing Despite Their Best Efforts

A child who continually puts their best effort out and tries their hardest but doesn’t get good results is a very frustrated child, and that is understandable. Imagine trying to do something you wanted very badly over and over, and failing every single time. It wouldn’t feel very good, would it?

Over time, this type of failure can bring a child’s self esteem down. They start wondering what is wrong with them, why they can’t learn like other children do, or why they continually fail themselves and their family. This is the worst thing a child can feel because the low self esteem will further deteriorate their abilities to learn. The problem becomes worse and worse and school grades follow suit.

As a parent of a child suffering from this type of defeat, it is heartbreaking. You don’t know what to do for your child because you don’t know what the problem is. It may be that your child has some type of learning disability or it may be the teaching methods that are used in the school. Not all children learn the same, so just having things presented in a new manner will help many children.

Children who continually try their best but still get low grades or who get decent grades but want to do even better benefit from a tuition centre in the following ways:

1. Learning disabilities can be diagnosed and dealt with, if they exist.
2. Material that confuses the child can be presented in a new way that clicks with their minds.
3. They achieve small goals, which will boost their self esteem and puts them in an open mindset to learn easier.
4. They get extra practice on the school work that is causing them the most trouble.

It is not uncommon for children who are receiving poor grades while applying themselves fully to completely catch up to their peers just through attending tuition sessions. It really works!

Failing without Applying Themselves

Now, what if your child is failing school and you know they just aren’t trying their hardest? There seems to be something holding them back, they don’t focus on their work very well, or perhaps they just seem completely uninterested in learning. In this case there are still a variety of benefits that can be gained from sending your child to a tuition centre:

1. Learning will be fun so they will want to take the tuition again and again.
2. The material is presented differently, so your child may find it easier to focus on.
3. Any potential learning disorders will diagnosed, if necessary.

Sometimes children can improve their grades just by doing tuition in a different learning environment. They don’t feel the pressure that they may feel during their regular studies and the new approaches to learning may suit their personalities better.

Whether you feel your child is fully applying themselves or not, you can turn their grades around by immersing them in tuition studies.

By: Charles Cheow

About the Author:
Premier tuition centre in Singapore that consistently produces excellent results. Check out Raffles Eduhub now.

Feel free to publish this article on your website, or send it to your friends, as long as you keep the resource box and the content of the article intact.



Comments Off

Posted in Reference And Education

Tagged