My Top 4 Educational Sites

Over the weekend I had a concerned Mum asking me where to start with her teenage son who has managed to slip through the cracks of the school system and is still struggling with his reading. His younger siblings are starting to pass him academically and his self-confidence is really low. The obvious suggestions that came to mind were private tutoring or talking to his school to see what support services can be accessed.

But being on a budget and looking for something that could be started immediately, these suggestions weren’t really suitable. So we began talking about some online options that are free or less expensive than tutoring, that could be started today and added to his daily routine. So I thought I would share them with you. There are hundreds of educational sites out there, but these are a few that I have used and think are great value.

Literacy Planet

The best thing about this site is that it’s free. But it’s great fun. The kids can sign up for an account which you can also access as a parent, they can make their own avatar and when they complete lessons they can earn points to purchase items for their avatar such as extra clothing and accessories. It’s bright and colourful and a lot of fun.  

Future School

Future School is designed around the Australian curriculum and has lessons in a variety of subjects. You pay subscription fees for each subject area for 6 & 12 month memberships and also get discounted rates when you sign up siblings. It has a great parent access point too, so you can get great progress reports.

The Ten Minute Tutor

This site uses a variety of delivery methods to really engage your kids. It is primarily aimed at children with dyslexia and related learning difficulties, but the principles and the learning style will suit lots of children, particularly those who prefer a more hands on approach. For a monthly subscription fee that is less than a 1 hour tutoring session, dedicating 10 minutes a day a few days a week will really help improve your child’s learning.

Reading Eggs

Reading Eggs is a great fun interactive game site from ABC. It’s bold and colourful and can be accessed on the web and a number of iPad / iPhone or Android apps can be downloaded for specific needs. The fees vary depending on what you want to use, but the apps give learning that hands on approach that is often lost when staring at a text book or a worksheet.

So head along to some of those sites and see which one you think will suit your children best, and remember that private tutoring can be really expensive, and although some of these sites require you to pay for a membership, the money could be well worth it. And when you think about it, they really need to generate some income so they can pay professionals to continue to update their sites and design good solid content for your kids.

If the kids are using the computer and the internet, and you tell them it’s a game and they can only have X minutes per day, they will be begging for more time! What better way to get them learning than having fun?

Happy Learning! Be sure to leave a comment and tell us about any other sites your kids love to learn from!

For more ideas like this one on how to make learning fun. Check out my eBook Learning that's Fun.



Music for the (little) Soul

Any of you who know me, will know that I love music! Always have, since my toddler years dancing to Boy George on the TV, to getting my first Walkman and being reminded that everyone could hear me singing along to my tapes through to playing drums in the R&B band at school! Today I have so much going on that I barely get time to just relax and listen or play to music, so my favourite place is in the car...turn the radio up loud and sing along, especially on long drives to the city and back. You will often see me at the lights singing my heart out.

But even though I get to sing along in the car, it makes me sad sometimes that as I've grown up I can't just spend half an hour playing my favourite CD and not doing anything else, or that I "don't have time" to play in a band anymore, or that I should be too embarrassed to dance or sing in the car when other people can see me.

As we grow up, life gets more serious, we play less, we laugh less, we get stressed, we have worries, we lose our creativity and imagination we had as kids and we have to be "professional".

But I think it's time we put the music back in our lives and got our little ones involved in it! Singing and dancing is an activity that nearly all kids love! They are inhibited by embarassment; they just move to the groove. They will sing along even if they don't know the words, and they won't care if you can hear them because they are having fun!

I have used music in my tutoring and found it works absolute wonders! Getting kids to read song lyrics from their favourite pop stars is so much easier than reading books they aren't interested in. And once they have learned the words, they get to sing along without mumbling! It's a real achievement, and teaches them reading and vocabulary where they would otherwise just hum over the words they don't know or understand. I have also used musical instruments like bells and tambourine to play along to Christmas Carols to again, learn the words they would normally hum. And the best thing about it? The kids don't even realise they are learning!

So put the music back in your life.

• Instead of bed time stories, why not try bed time songs? My Nanna and my Mum used to sing lovely songs to me and my siblings. Such sweet memories in our minds.
• When the kids are watching their favourite characters on TV, get in there and sing along and dance with them.
• Sing songs in the car together, especially nursery rhymes and kids songs that help teach them about life and learning.
• Get copies of song lyrics, or the teen music magazines that have lyrics in them and read the lyrics together to learn the words.
• Better still, have the kids sit and listen to the songs and write down the lyrics themselves. Have them decipher what the artists are singing and practice their writing and spelling while learning the words to their favourite songs.
• Put musical instruments into your kids toy boxes and encourage them to play along to their favourite songs, no matter how bad they may sound. If they are having fun and learning rhythm it will improve their motor skills and enhance their creative brains.
• Take them along to kids musical performances. There are many groups and performers out there who are tailored to kids and have so much educational benefit, all in the name of fun!
• If you're lucky enough to have someone who isn't too shy, have them come along to your child's next birthday party and sing and dance with the kids! Or volunteer to do it yourself...I can guarantee you from personal experience, it is an absolute hoot!

For more ideas like these ones check out our eBook Learning that's Fun.

Happy Learning!

Get Crafty

With only a few days left of the school holidays, you might be running short of ideas and trying to think of some activities to occupy the kids, or those overseas readers might just be looking for some indoor activities for a rainy day. So why not get crafty?

I have yet to meet any kids who don’t love arts and crafts, getting in there and making things with their hands, putting their personal touches on items that they have created, letting their imaginations run wild with ideas for decorating and designing pieces that they can display and keep for years to come.

But have you ever thought about adding a “learning” twist to your arts & crafts? Here are 7 fabulous fun ideas for art & craft time at your place that are really simple to do using things you would generally find in any child’s home (no need to go out and buy expensive supplies, but you can get extras from your local discount store if you like).

Coins & Pouch (All Ages)

Great for playing shops, you can set up your own mini mart in the kitchen and enjoy watching the kids learn to count, add and subtract playing with their home made coins.

Paint bottle tops with gold or silver spray paint and to write numbers on the coins in permanent marker (plastic milk caps work well, as do metal bottle caps when flattened with a mallet).Use numbers relevant to your child’s needs, e.g. numbers 1-10, 1-50, or currency such as cents and dollars.

For a pouch, use an old clean handkerchief, cut it into a circle and either sew a seam around the edge, or cut some nicks around the perimeter and thread some ribbon or string through. Place the coins inside, pull tight and tie to close.

Board Games (Upper Primary)

This is a great one that can keep the kids occupied for hours, you may have even done this yourself at school.

Grab a large piece of cardboard and have your child draw the path around the board with individual squares adding snakes or ladders, perhaps “pick up a card” squares, “go back” squares, “miss a turn”, or whatever type of spaces you can think of based on your favourite games. Use small items around the house as game pieces such as cotton reels, lego pieces, small action figurines or bottle caps. And use small pieces of card to create the “pick up cards” with questions, challenges, dares, or any other activities that the player must complete to make their next move.

Make a cube dice from paper & glue (search google for patterns), and write the rules on an A4 sheet of paper.

Once they have their finished creation, sit down and enjoy some fun playing their home made board game that has helped them practice their thinking, logic, reading and spelling, hand writing and design & creativity skills.

Learning Clock (Pre School to Primary)

For this one you will need two different sized disposable plates, a split pin, some glue and some coloured card to cut out numbers and hands.

Punch a hole through the centre of both plates and cut out your hands, pin them all together with the split pin and ensure the hole is big enough for your hands to turn.

On the inside plate glue on your regular clock numbers 1 – 12, and on the outside plate glue on the minute numbers 0 – 55 (showing how each number on the clock represents a number of minutes, e.g. 3 represents 15 minutes on the clock.

Decorate the clock with whatever you have in your art supplies kit, glitter, feathers, googly eyes, paints etc. and spend time playing with the clock together.



Write & Illustrate a Book

This one is really easy, but really effective to get the kids involved in story telling and letting their imagination take over. In story books, anything is possible!

Staple a few sheets of A4 paper together, with some coloured pieces on the outside for a cover and sit the kids down with some pens, pencils, felt tipped pens, crayons or whatever else you think they’ll need, and let them create their own story book!

This will be a treasure for years to come, you can read it together and proudly keep it on display in your book shelf for visitors to admire.

Having difficulty getting started? Try some ideas to start the wheels turning in their minds like fairies, pirates, favourite cartoon characters,

Letter / Word Blocks

This is where you get to recycle some of your old children’s old toys. Using lego, duplo, wooden blocks or whatever other items you can find in the toy box, glue on coloured card that has letters or words written on them.

Depending on your child’s needs you might choose to use the alphabet to learn the letters and sounds, or write difficult words on the cards. Use the blocks to then play games such as floor scrabble, or make sentences with your words, or I Spy.

Again, get creative, use leaves or petals glued onto card to make the words, finger paint them, or cut out letters from magazines. This is a fun way to make old toys new again.

Posters

Everybody loves to make a poster of something they like! So why not make posters about things your children might be struggling with. Create their own times tables poster for the back of the toilet door or the backseat of the car, create a poster of shapes or colours for younger kids. Paint a picture of them in the centre and surround with positive adjectives that describe them or make a collage of a subject they have researched from the newspaper or a magazine.

Use paints, glitter, glue, feathers, items from nature, coloured markers, colours cut outs, magazines, stencils, ribbons, wool, wrapping paper, stamps, or anything else you can find about the house for decorating and creating.

Greeting Cards / Post Cards

Christmas is fast approaching and greeting card season will soon begin! So spend time these holidays making your own Christmas cards with the kids, or perhaps they could make cards for their friends’ birthday parties, or their grandparents wedding anniversary. If you are going away on vacation make your own postcards.

This activity is great fun, but encourages children to use their best handwriting, and focus on their spelling. It also helps them learn about locations and addresses when you pop them in the post.

For Christmas cards you might like to use lots of glitter, sparkly stick on decorations and metallic pens, but you can also use every day household items like tin foil to cut out shapes, paper lace doilies, ribbons, or cut outs from left over wrapping paper.

Whatever you do in arts and crafts, it can be lots of fun! Get messy, get creative, make something to learn and something to love!

Post your ideas in the comments below, or share pics with us of your own creations. We love to hear from our readers.

For more fun learning ideas check out our eBook on Amazon, Learning that’s Fun.

Happy Learning!