Thursday, July 26, 2012

Welcome to new parents for September 2012

The timetable is complete and I have contacted you with dates and times. Where changes were needed I have accomodated as best as I am able and again we have been in contact. So, if you were unable to come for a taster session with me, what do you need to provide for this coming year?

All of you will need a folder with a set of 5 dividers which we can sort out when we meet. For 11plus students I would advise one of the very large 'elephant' folders rather than a simple ring binder. You will need that extra filing room, and yes, they will fill it!

I would also ask that all children come with a memory stick of about 4GB so they have plenty of room for such things as Power Points, MP3 files and any worksheets that they may need to complete. It is also a good way of transering work from the computers here to the one they will have access to at home, and if they are part way through a piece of work they will be able to complete it or continue with it at home.

In terms of computers, what do they need? I run WindowsXP here, it is stable and is accessable by most computers including Apple as long as you are running the emulation package. They will require access to Windows Office, so they can use Word, Power Point and Excel; these are the 3 main programmes I will use. They will also require an MP3 player (either as an iPod or as a programme runing on the computer) so they can access any files I produce in that format. They will also require access to the internet as I do tend to use 2 closed sites for maths games; www.coolmath4kids.com and www.mathplayground.com

May I suggest you use this connection to bookmark both sites on your computer. Please keep abreast of things via this blog as information will be posted here at regular intervals as well as website connections and dates etc.

So to all of you, welcome aboard, let's get learning and having fun!


11+ tuition; specific information to this course

As part of the course I provide a full home work schedule of worksheets, test papers, games, and websites to explore. To take advantage of this, I ask that you bring along a memory stick so I am able to download it and you are able to start using it as soon as possible.
The work is split into home works, so it runs from homework 1 right way through to approximately homework 24; it is up to you how you monitor this, but I would suggest that you are looking at completing one every two weeks so that would be covering two a month. The worksheets written in Excel are designed to be downloaded into the program and become interactive; when students put their answers into the spaces provided it will then indicate to them yes or no whether or not they were doing things correctly. Copyright will not allow you to alter the worksheets by saving their answers, they will tell you they are ‘read only’, so print them off; this way your child can maintain a record of all of the worksheets that they have completed. Place them in the front of the folder for me to see and then I will file them in the correct area, once checked and any support given.
If they have struggled with something it is worth me knowing and seeing where in the worksheet they found things tough and I can work through these areas. If you notice a problem then let me know via a Post-it on the work sheet. It is always better done this way so you don't have to say anything out loud in front of the other child and perhaps knock your child's confidence, which will be tentative already.
When you get to start doing them, the test papers will have no answers,I have those. When they have finished just place them in the front of their folder and they will get marked and reviewed when I see them. I am not expecting youto work out the answers! So don't worry about them and leave it for me to do. That way I can go through the work with the children and become aware of strengths and weaknesses. 
Please do not do the test papers any earlier than they are laid out in the homework schedule.
Also, please do not help them with the tests either, as this will create a reliance on you which we have to deny them later. You won’t be able to go into the examination hall with them, so let’s start right at the beginning and get the lack of confidence out of the way early. They will try every trick in the book to get you to co-operate, but you must resist this and allow them to find their own way. This will be hard, and every parent has said they really wanted to help, but they quickly understood the wisdom of this, and saw their child blossom into independent thinkers and learners. I can hear the ‘yes, but... ’ and you must sit on this instinct to protect. I promise you, it will be rough to start and some will have tantrums and tears but they have to work through this and I have ways of teaching them to get through this themselves, so they will not be left defenceless and vulnerable for long. Promise.
When we start doing test papers, I do not expect any child to complete the whole test paper in one sitting, it is far too much to expect of a child who, as yet, does not have examinations techniques. So what I would suggest is that you print off the test paper, let them do 20 minutes, then stop them where-ever they have got to. The next day do another 20 minutes, and do the same, take the test paper away from them. That leaves 10 minutes which they can do the following day and that will be the last section. When they first start doing these test papers you will find they will not finish. 
I expect that. 
Eventually they will learn their own method of planning time, and I will teach them, so please do not stress if they seem to be doing things poorly, badly, getting things wrong, getting in a state, getting confused, getting in a complete and utter tears, to the point where they don't want to do it any more. This is normal, and this is as a direct result of something that is not only new but also frightening. By the time they reach the exam I promise you they will be calmer, happier, and they will enjoy the test. Yes, I know this sounds incredible, but I haven't as yet had a candidate who has worked with me, gone into the exam, and not coming out saying it was okay.
I would ask you not to share this work with other people outside of Jo Bell tutoring because obviously this is specifically designed for you with the input that I will be making during that time your child and I are together. Much of what I use is written by me and will eventually be published via Amazon for everyone to buy, so I would value your comments and suggestions on any products I get you to use over the course.

Catch That Pigeon

I was in town today and watched as yet another child chased a pigeon until in the end the bird flew away. Why a pigeon? Is it because there are so many of them? Is it because they are seen as dirty? Is it because they have dared enter our space and occupy it? Is it because they 'mess everywhere'? What is it about a pigeon that has lead parents to accept that this is OK?

Would the response be the same if it was a house martin or a robin? I would postulate the answer to that would be no, and the reason would probably be, these birds have been associated with a different set of values and beliefs. The robin is seen as something sweet and pretty and yet it is one of the most fierce birds in the garden and if you have been threatened by one they can give a series of nasty pecks. They will chase other birds out of their territory (your garden) and will harm them if they feel it is OK to do so, and yet we are so pleased when one of these birds settles and makes its home with us. What about a house martins? Harmless and very sweet, yet they produce large broods which will make just as much mess as the pigeon, and they still excrete in the same way. They come back every year and the mess they leave up against walls, the ground and everwhere around their nests is quite something.

In London one of the pest birds, and I think this is the real cause, is the green parrot which has made its home in the trees of London and is breeding at an alarming rate. Yes they are very sweet to look at, and we laugh at the way they walk on the ground, tip their heads to one side and squawk; would a child be encouraged to chase them? Probably not, they too sweet and funny.

So what am I eluding to? The way we view the natural world, and what that do to our children in their relationship with it. It may just be a pigeon but it is still teaching them to disregard the animal, to take pleasure in chasing it. Is that what the natural world is for? Will it stop at a pigeon? Will they feel it is OK to chase and harrass other animals? Animals on the river banks get harressed because children chase them, is that right? Is that fair? Is the river bank our home or theirs?

Let's go further and look at the way litter is dealt with. Do parents encourage children to put their rubbish in a bin? Do they expect them to eat and then dispose, not eat, and ignore? I would suggest there is a tendancy for children to believe it is OK to eat and then discard; how many of you have looked at the trail of litter which follows the exit route of children from school? I have the dubious priviledge to be on the way home for two secondary schools and that is via a chip shop and a small supermarket. It is normal to find chip wrappers, cake/biscuit packaging and empty cans left on the walls of the front garden in this area, and what does that encourage? Two things, pigeons and seagulls.

If we wish to have less 'mess' in our towns and cities then we have to accept we are the cause of their re-habitation. We have taken their habitats, built our own and expect them to go elsewhere and not take advantage of all the goodies we leave around. The presumption that animals 'know' the discarded litter is ready for someone to come and sweep it up ( after all what are litter pickers for?) and not for the exploitation of dis-placed animals and birds is short-sightedness and lack of thinking. And how do they thank us? Well, how else, they increase their numbers to take advantage of the rich bounty these strange humans leave for them all over their newly converted habitats.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Literacy sub levels - primary to lower secondary


If you have ever wondered what it looks like in simple terms, then this is the listing I used with the children themselves. They found it very useful and mapped their work against what it said here. If they used part of the level they became more aware of what it was that was still missing. If you are interested in a word list which is used by 11+ students, then go onto http://www.11plus.co.uk/ and look at their resources. Many are free and will give you an idea of what grammar schools expect as their standards. If your child is in the last 2 years of primary school, these are useful resources as they give your child the opportunity to reach the top levels in secondary school even if your area does not support the 11 plus.
Level
Spelling + punctuation
Sentences
2b
Punctuation correctly used in at least 2 sentences.

Some sentences are using connectives other than ‘and’
Interesting sentences are used; interesting words too.
2a
Most punctuation is correct
Writing is interesting with descriptions
3c
Spelling and punctuation and grammar usually correct
Sentences contain detail and are descriptive.

3b
Spellings and punctuation correct
Varied and interesting choice of words
3a
Handwriting, spelling, grammar all correct.
Fluent and imaginative writing
4c
Using a variety of words, using commas and ‘?’ correctly
Beginning to use grammatically complex sentences
4b
Vocabulary is very wide now.
Some grammatically complex sentences used regularly
4a
Vocabulary is adventurous and words are used for effect
Consistently lively and thoughtful work, using complex sentence structure regularly.

5c
Mixtures of simple and complex sentences are arranged in paragraphs. All forms of punctuation are used correctly.

A more formal set of styles are being used where needed


Sunday, July 22, 2012

Potential: a state of latent excellence



If we look in a dictionary and we researched the word ‘potential’, it would first of all tell us that it can be used either as a noun or as an adjective. If we first, take a look at this from its noun perspective we are told it is a latent excellence or an ability that may or may not be developed. It also tells us it is someone or something that is considered worthwhile; a worthwhile possibility. At this moment everything is still latent, it hasn't grown, and that is exactly what a child is, a latent package of possibilities that can do or be anything, what it becomes being a direct result of what is experienced throughout its life. It is this which makes those first five years vital in laying down the basis upon which the child can grow.
Moving on and exploring it as an adjective it says that it means it is possible, as opposed to actual, in other words it is ready to explode, and as soon as it is activated it will become all that it can be from the experiences it has now stored; until it is triggered it cannot and the child remains in that cocoon stage of almost but as yet not completely.

The archaic meaning for potential is potent, and to me that is the crux of the whole thing, because it is that latent power we as parents and guardians can unleash through the inputs we expose our child to during those critical periods which come and go during this time. Being me, I went to the Latin dictionary and found its root, potentia or potentialities. Linking these two words I understood ‘potential’, it is the possible power of the mind, the body and the spirit of that individual; it is the horizons they have in front of them when they start school and it is the ever growing horizons which express themselves through their talents in music, sports, the arts and science.
When we look at a baby in our arms, we are holding the sum total of all of that, and it is our responsibility to release that giving our children the very best of what they can be.
Throughout those early years, as expectations and limitations which surround them in their families, society, and peer groups, impacts upon the child, it can begin to close that original horizon of opportunities, narrowing it down to a set of expectations experienced by their family, their friends, and the society in general. This can be far less than they are capable of being, but the biological desire to remain one of the group, will prevent them from stepping too far outside the box of ‘normality’ and hold them fast in whatever tier of education and expectation they sense around them.