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A Winning Tutoring Team: Parent, Student and Tutor Collaboration

A Winning Tutoring Team: Parent, Student and Tutor Collaboration

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Working together as a team to help your child succeed.

Rather than parents and tutors feeling that they are helpless and unable to do anything to get their children to do their schoolwork they should consider that they are part of a tutoring team.  If the Parents, Tutor and Student can work together this will help your child succeed.

1. Communication is the key to making the Tutoring Team work:

The first thing a team does is they get to know one another.  Spend some quality time with your child. Talk about things that they enjoy. Encourage your child’s Tutor to also spend the time to get to know your child.

Your child may not understand why they even need to be doing their homework in the first place.  Consider having a talk with your child and your child’s tutor to discuss why they need to do homework and how it will help them for the rest of their lives. Much of what we learn comes from repeated practice over time. This will help your child understand why doing homework is important.

2. Establish each member’s role in the Tutoring Team:

Each member of a team plays an important role. A Tutoring Team is no different. There is the need for supportive parents, who care about their child’s success. The student should try their best to work hard and to work with their parents and their tutor. Tutors also play a supporting role to help establish lesson plans that can be adapted to the individual student’s learning styles.

3.  Setting Team goals to work toward during Tutoring Sessions:

The next thing a team does is to establish a goal. What are you trying to accomplish as a team? You all are working together so that the student can master the specific skills that they need to learn and be able to advance to the next level. Establish specific goals with specific rewards.  Involving your child in this process will help them to take ownership of their schoolwork.

4. Consistency and Keeping up the Moral of the Team: Don’t set your child up to fail

It is important to find ways to help your child succeed at doing schoolwork. Try to set tutoring sessions during a time when your child is the most productive – this could be different for each child. Some children are able to do their homework as soon as they come home from school  while others may need some down time to play and release some energy. Others may work better after dinner. As long as you and your tutor are consistent and help your child stick to their scheduled homework and tutoring time- you will see your child is more likely to succeed.

5. Having the Proper Practice (Tutoring) Space and Equipment:

All teams need a place to practice and the proper equipment in order to improve their skills. Make sure that your child and tutor have the space and materials they need for their tutoring sessions. Your child’s Math Tutor may need to use a whiteboard or have access to a CD player or computer. Having the Space and materials can make all the difference!

If you view yourself as part of a Tutoring Team you will be more committed  and active  in your child’s learning process. When the Team wins a game or when your child starts to improve at school you will feel even more proud because of the part you played to help your child accomplish their goals.

Maximize the Benefit of Having a Math Tutor in Vancouver Island BC, And Run Errands at the Same Time!

Maximize the Benefit of Having a Math Tutor in Vancouver Island BC, And Run Errands at the Same Time!

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If your child is struggling with Math they will benefit from having an in-home tutor. There are local Math Tutors in Vancouver Island, B.C who are skilled at making learning easier. They create lesson plans and activities that will make Math applicable to your child and make learning interesting and exciting to them. Because your Math Tutor can only spend a few hours a week with your child, there are ways you can help your child learn and maximize the benefit of having a Math Tutor in Vancouver Island, B.C.

 

Can going grocery shopping help your math tutor in Vancouver Island BC? You bet it can!

Going to the grocery store can be turned into one of the most useful and practical educational experiences. Your Math tutor cannot take your child to the store with them, but this is a normal weekly or even daily activity for most families in Vancouver Island.

As adults, we use mental math and estimation each time we do our shopping. We are comparing prices, considering what brand of milk is worth more per gallon, estimating about how much chicken broth will fit in the crock pot for tomorrow night’s soup. Even quickly multiplying how much chicken to buy for your family and the guests coming over for dinner. You probably don’t realize that you are using Math skills because it is such a normal part of everyday life. As your children grow up, they will also be required to use these same skills.

Why not include your child in the grocery shopping process. It may take them a little longer to figure out what to buy, but it will be good practice for using Math in every day life- and they may even enjoy it and want to go shopping with you more often!

Turn shopping into a game instead of a chore. Formulate a story problem by asking your child to figure out how many chicken drumsticks to buy if every one will eat 2 pieces and there are 5 guests coming for dinner and also including the 4 members in your family. They will need to do some addition and multiplication to figure out that they need 18 pieces of chicken. Then follow up the question by asking them how many total kilograms the packages of chicken weigh or how many dozen pieces there are.

You can even incorporate some healthy learning into your shopping trip as well. Give your child the challenge of finding the yogurt with the least amount of fat and the one with the greatest percentage of fat. Then ask them how many grams less the lowest fat yogurt has. Then let them choose the yogurt they think is the healthier option.

When buying toilet paper most companies advertise the number of sheets in each roll. Ask your child to find the toilet paper with the best value. Even if it takes you a little longer to accomplish your regular shopping, consider it an extension of your Math Tutoring sessions.

Involving them in shopping for ingredients and choosing items at the store will keep your child engaged instead of bored and dragging their feet following you up and down the aisles. There are many more ways to incorporate educational activities into your daily life. Your Math Tutor will thank you!

How to help your French Tutor in Vancouver Island, B.C. by encouraging French Learning at Home

How to help your French Tutor in Vancouver Island, B.C. by encouraging French Learning at Home

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Learning a language can be difficult for a child if they are only studying it a few hours a week.  The best way to learn a language is to be fully immersed in it. If you moved to a French speaking country, your child would pick up the language in no time. However, there are ways to facilitate your child’s learning and help your French tutor in Vancouver Island, B.C. by encouraging French learning at home and in your daily activities.

1. Your French tutor may be teaching your child French songs. Try to learn these with your child so that they can practice the language at home. Singing is one of the best and most ancient ways of memorization. You can even ask your French Tutor to sing more songs to your child so they can grasp the subject easier.

2. If your child is learning about French culture, consider cooking French food with them. Ask your French tutor to spend some time introducing French foods and recipes during the tutoring session. You can also help your child use their French by using the French names for foods you eat regularly like fruits, vegetables, bread, milk, etc.

3. Do role playing activities together.  After making a French meal, set up the dining room like a French restaurant.  They can write a script with their French tutor. First they can practice being the server, explaining what the food is and how to take the orders.  Then they can also practice being the guest and learn the proper way to order their food just as if they were in a restaurant in France.  Take this a step further by taking your child to a local French restaurant in Vancouver Island and let them order their meal in French.

4. Play familiar card or number games (using French). Any opportunity to count in French will ingrain the French numbers into your child’s memory. Play games that require counting such as dice or card games. Cribbage is a game that uses counting as well as addition, so they can practice French and Math at the same time.

5. Find children’s books written in French that your child can read with you and with the French Tutor. Try to find a book that your child is already familiar with and that they enjoy reading.  Encourage them to read aloud so they can practice their pronunciation.

6. Turn your house into an interactive flash card. Ask your French Tutor to make labels for things around the house such as the window, table, refrigerator, closet, light, etc. and post them around the house so that your child gets used to seeing the French word when they look at the objects.

7. Let your French Tutor know about the subjects that interest your child, so they can use them as conversation ideas during their tutoring sessions.

These are just a few ways you can increase your child’s interest and practice of the French language.  You will see improvement in their skills and at the same time they will be enjoying the learning process with you and with your French tutor.

Top 10 ESL Tutoring Tools For Students in British Columbia

Top 10 ESL Tutoring Tools For Students in British Columbia

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English is a pretty daunting language to learn for beginner, non-native English speakers who grapple with all the contradictions and weird rules associated with the language. Thankfully, lots of online and offline resources or ESL learning tools are available for non-native English speakers who want to polish their usage, grammar, speaking and writing abilities.

Dave’s ESL Cafe – http://www.eslcafe.com/grammar.html

Dave Sperling is a renowned teacher of English as a second language. He has come up with an in-depth site providing hundreds of grammar lessons. The lessons include word usage, vocabulary, sentence structure, noun placement, verb tenses, conversational skills, phonetics, differences in the meaning of English words based on countries and nationalities and linguistic practices.

ESL Movie Guides – http://www.eslnotes.com

For a rather novel way of learning English, as an ESL tutor or ESL student, you can use the help of the site English Learner Movie Guides to brush up your ESL skills. If you are fond of movies and Canadian or American culture, you can learn English usage with the help of this website. Popular movies and their plots/plot summaries are used to discuss and teach the English language and idioms.

English Conversations for ESL students – http://englishconversations.org

For ESL students who prefer podcast instructional tools, these downloadable audio files can come in really handy for practicing English speaking and listening skills. You can either stream or download the audio files to listen to English conversations. You can learn vocabulary, word usage, proper tone and word pronunciation via ESL audio files. Many of the audio clips are bilingual as well, helping people of non-English speaking countries to decipher a new language.

Grammar Exercises – http://www.english-4u.de/grammar_exercises.html

Learning fluent English grammar is a difficult and challenging proposition. If you wish to acquire grammar skills, you can take the help of this online tool to practice your reflexive pronouns, plural nouns, adverbial clauses and verb tenses. This site carries an exhaustive collection of quizzes that cover the A to Zs of English grammar.

507 Most Misspelt Words for ESL studies – http://www.esldesk.com/spelling/misspelled-words

English can be a very confusing language for non-native speakers with its strange spelling that bear hardly any resemblance to their pronunciation. So if your ESL tutoring client feels confused by English spelling, you can take the help of this tool to improve their English spelling knowledge and to avoid the pitfalls of common spelling errors.

Offline ESL Resources

There are many offline learning tools for ESL tutors and ESL students such as downloadable PDF files that offer instructions in basic and advanced interpersonal communication skills, cognitive academic language proficiency, listening comprehension, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar and word order, speaking fluency and pronunciation.

ESL University Courses

You can also enrol in online or offline business English courses or ESL courses offered by Canadian universities, American and Australian universities as well as by British universities through the British council. Most of these ESL courses can be taken online and last for three to four months. They concentrate on improving your reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.

You can choose from basic level or advanced level courses depending on your proficiency level.

School is Easy Tutoring can then help guide you through these courses with an ESL tutor, including TOEFL tutoring and preparation.

Educational activities to do with your kids in Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada

Educational activities to do with your kids in Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada

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Vancouver Island offers a range of recreational activities for your family. It has lots of museums, parks, gardens and animal tours to keep your kids enthralled. If you want your kids to learn a bit about the culture and history of the place in a fun way, you will have various options of doing so in Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada.

Outdoor Education and Adventure trips

Take your kids along with certified naturalists on a whale tour. Whales are one of nature’s most majestic creations and a glimpse of them in their natural surroundings is sure to capture your kids’ interests. There are a total of more than 80 whales in Vancouver Island’s waters and you are sure to spot one.

A nature trip in Vancouver Island will include a visit to Race Rocks Ecological Reserve near the southern part of Vancouver Island. Plan a trip to the ecological reserve and show your kids the entrancing marine world of colourful fish, sea lions, and gray, humpback and mink whales.

Next, give your children a glimpse of the city of gardens. Vancouver Island has a bloom count of over two billion flowers and the hanging flower baskets make an absolutely beautiful sight, aside from being an educational experience in biology and plant life. Take your kids to the famous Beacon Hill Park, which has a multitude of exotic flowers, manicured grounds and wonderful fauna like wild peacocks. Point out the special features and characteristics of the animals at the petting Zoo
and give your kids a nature lesson they won’t forget.

You can then get a wonderful view of Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic mountains. If you are visiting in the summer, don’t forget to take your family to the Luminara Lantern Festival.

Wild Play amusement park is your next destination where your kids are going to experience the wonders of deep forests while learning about ecology and environmental sciences. The Shaw Discovery Centre will give them a taste of local marine life, complete with microscopes and other educational instruments.

Don’t forget the famous bug zoo specially designed for kids with all kinds of creepy crawly bugs designed to enrapture kids.

History, culture and local cuisine to educate children in Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada

After the invigorating outdoors, it’s time to explore Vancouver Island’s rich culture. The first place to take your kids is the B.C. Royal Museum. The extensive and interesting history of B.C is depicted in this museum with detail. There is an interesting interactive area for kids to help give them a tutoring lesson on history that is much more fun than text book learning.

The Oak Bay and Panorama recreation centers have activities and facilities designed to capture the interest of kids with a range of interactive games. If your kids are slightly older, take them on one of the guided Architectural tours and watch them take in the structural beauty of the place while the guides explain the building types and architectural features. This would be great for boys who like to build with Lego and blocks, and may spark educational interest in building.

Lastly, don’t forget to round off your visit with a trip to Vancouver Island’s local food market. This food market is teeming with fresh produce especially in the winters. Take your pick of the brightest tomatoes, juiciest oranges and the creamiest cheeses and take out your kids to a delightful picnic lunch or treat them to the famous food harvest festival. But be sure to sneak in a science tutoring lesson on nutrition, explaining vitamins, minerals and perhaps even why these foods are good for human digestion.

Educational Activities to do with Your Kids in Vernon, B.C. Canada

Educational Activities to do with Your Kids in Vernon, B.C. Canada

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As the largest city in the North Okanagan Regional District, Vernon is bestowed by three lakes, verdant grasslands and the Monashee Mountains. An idyllic place, Vernon also offers children an interesting range of educational activities so that they can learn while having fun.

Education does not just mean museums and libraries. Education also means exploring the diversity of culture, scenic beauty of nature, eventful moments of history, playfulness of water sports and enthusiasm of outdoor activities. Being aware of the surroundings is an essential form of education, and Vernon offers a vast range of options for children to learn something new and exciting.

Learning about art & culture while tutoring in Vernon, B.C.

The Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre offers three forms of entertainment – theatre, dance and children-oriented performances. Every year, there are local talent shows, musical acts as well as community events that would serve as a window to the art and talent world for children.

The Towne Cinema boasts of an over eight-decades-long history of not only showing documentaries and films but also staging plays and presenting live entertainment shows. Your children will appreciate the invaluable experience of arts and culture.

Tutoring lessons in the library – yes reading can be fun in there!

For the book lovers, there’s the Okanagan Regional Library. Established in 1936, the library has free children’s programs like storytelling for preschool kids and book clubs for teenagers. Activities like this are essential to developing good reading habits that your children will learn from. Instead of forcing them to read, they will be motivated if they are learning to enjoy reading with their peers.

History lessons – a great way to tutor in Vernon!

The Greater Vernon Museum and Archives is the main attraction for those inclined towards history. Apart from showcasing exhibits, collections and research, the museum is home to educational programs, events and exhibitions and heritage fairs too.

Next, take a tour to witness the history of Vernon within 26 downtown murals that tell the story of the origins of the city and its people. Your children, while learning will definitely like the unique combination of history and art, and learn how the two often blend together.

Learning about nature in Vernon

Nature lovers can visit the Okanagan Science Centre and the Allan Brooks Nature Centre for a close encounter with nature’s beauty and enjoy nature’s bounty in Vernon with hiking trails and nature hikes. This can be a great way to teach about the environment and plant life, including a small biology tutoring lesson.

Outdoor Activities for learning physical coordination skills in Vernon

Physical activity and bodily coordination is a great skill set to have, and can keep the brain focused for ‘book learning.’ Kalamalka Lake is a popular spot for water skiing and Ellison Provincial Park is famous for snorkelling and scuba diving enthusiasts. Other water sports for families are canoeing and kayaking and beach volleyball. Children can also learn the art of patience by fishing here.

You can introduce children to paragliding, rock climbing and even mountain biking in Vernon, Kalamalka and Ellison provincial parks and the surrounding mountains. Apart from trails that house varied species of plants and wildlife, children who like outdoors sports can also enjoy winter sports like snowmobiling, tubing and skating.

Vernon, B.C. offers breathtaking views and informative avenues to maintain the interest of the entire family, especially the children. Little minds can connect with nature, learn something new, take off on adventurous trails and revel in the performing arts. From preschoolers to toddlers and teenagers, children can relate to the beauty of Vernon spanning the ancient and present times. There’s a lot you can learn in Vernon, B.C.