Saturday, October 30, 2010

How to become a GREAT teacher

Many still believe the old adage that "Great teachers are born, not made" to be true. To an extent this philosophy makes sense; generally the world's best teachers belong to two broad categories: those that knew from an early age that all they wanted to do when they grew up was to teach; and those who stumbled upon their teaching talents and passion by accident and later in their career paths.

However you came to join the ranks of this noble profession; you too can be a great teacher overnight. These teachers share a few common characteristics which separate them from the average and competent teachers of the world. Great teachers inspire a passion for learning, for achieving, for taking the world to pieces and viewing the findings with ever-increasing curiosity; in their charges.

When a class moves on to the next grade, the true teacher's influence will go with the students. The students will continue to apply the skills they learned and will approach all new problems with confidence; because they have learned how to ask the right questions and where to find answers to their questions. These students will move from grade to grade equipped with study skills and methods that they can apply across all subjects in order to attain the highest marks and grades possible.

Great teachers start with great passion for their subject and profession. They are often idealists who have resilience and are able to face that the reality of teaching isn't what they expected it to be. Their positive attitude towards "life, the universe and everything" enables them to look for and find the good in even the most ill-disciplined child. A born teacher will view every setback as an opportunity and look for the lesson contained therein. These professionals seldom repeat their mistakes: they learn from these and adjust their approach accordingly.

The greats in the classroom are also empathetic people, sensitive to body language and other non-verbal communication forms. A great teacher instinctively knows when a hurting child needs a good hug or to be left alone for a while. These essential soft skills will be played out in the staff room too. No great staff member ever sat in a corner gossiping and criticizing school management teams. Great teachers embrace change and react positively to new ideas that have the potential to improve a system or the whole school. Only the whiners, the barely competent teachers will be heard to say, "That will never work in our school."

Great teachers are flexible and are unfazed by unexpected interruptions or changes to the daily school program. An unexpected evacuation drill or fire drill during a test won't cause an uproar. Setting a new test is not so difficult after all and the unexpected always brings ideal opportunities to introduce relevant topics. After the fire drill, the excellent teacher will abandon the test and move into a discussion of, for example, Internet and chat-room safety.

Great teachers connect with their students and find creative ways to get through to even the most unlikable class members. They patiently try new learning and teaching methods with slow and difficult children. They even look forward to grading students' work because they are excited to see if students have grasped the concepts and if there are any students who have shown an improvement in their grades. Students will testify to the fact that a superior teacher's comment on a test paper looks like an essay in comparison to a comment made by the mediocre teacher.

While average teachers tend to avoid contact with parents, the greats are so excited about the breakthroughs they make in students' lives that they often seek out parents to share their excitement. Average teachers tend to want to be the expert in the classroom at all times, they seek control of knowledge and processes and seldom admit to not knowing an answer. A truly great teacher on the other hand, is not threatened by her students and will model problem solving behaviors for them. If for example, a student asks her the meaning of a word, the teacher might say, "I actually do not know that answer. Let me get the dictionary and we can find out what it means."

You know you have become a great teacher when you go out on a family shopping spree, for example, and feel qualified to confront the smoking teenager whom you have never met about the perils of smoking and peer pressure; and he relates to you not as an interfering older person, but a truly concerned adult with his best interests at heart.

In summary, great teachers enjoy their work, look forward to school each day, start missing their students during vacation times and see a teaching and learning possibility in almost every situation in which they find themselves. Great teachers are resourceful, caring, flexible and positive people and they leave the world a better place when they die.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Take out the red pens...

The examinations are upon us. Many children are unprepared to sit these exams and pass. What has happened over the last few years that our children no longer have the skills to read, write properly or even comprehend the questions posed?

That the standards once applied have lowered is beyond dispute. That the children are weaker academically than ever before is evident. That many students see 30 percent as a pass for a subject is terrifying.That many students who have been in our schooling system for 12 years still struggle to attain 40 percent for English as a Home Language is heartbreaking.

The impact of the Outcomes Based Education System on our youth is now a great big Albatross around our teachers' necks. Changes in a system as unwieldy as the South African National Education Department, take years to impact. The 2011 academic year is almost upon us and once again we will face the new year with uncertainty. The curriculum will be tweaked, not transformed, in 2012. Billions of rands will be spent on new teaching and learning resources.

Once again I must state that, in the end, the education system, curriculum and students' results depend on the quality of the teaching that takes place in a particular school or system. Principals need to be one step ahead of the curriculum changes. We need to reintroduce the basics, refine the allocated times for numeracy and literacy on our timetables and make sure that the good old fashioned methods that worked are still applied.

It is quite simple really, teachers should cover the assessment tasks for moderation and CASS purposes and minimise the areas that have brought about the crisis we now face. Group work should be kept to a minimum over the next few years while we try to improve the performance of individual students in our classes. The consequences for failing to do homework should be immediate and act as a deterrent. Projects and assignments should be marked on content and presentation of facts and not dependent on what the assignment look like at a glance.

Over the last few years, many teachers have made the fatal mistake of giving marks at face value. Students have been so obsessed with handing in projects that are colorful and attractive that they have failed to apply the necessary research and reference skills which they should be learning when they are researching their assignment. Teachers have fallen into the trap too. We allow children to submit beautifully typed work and are blinded to the plagiarism contained therein. We accept printed graphics, charts and graphs as illustrations. A child who has cut and pasted a graph or diagram of the life cycle of a frog, for example, has learned nothing other than the cut and paste function.

If we are to save our youth from a bleak future of illiteracy and innumeracy, we need to act fast. 2011 could be the start of our embracing the basics, drilling the things that need to be learned by rote like the times tables, insisting that children use reference books and not just Google searches for their research.

It is time to cast off the fluff and irrelevant window dressing that the OBE system has created and start teaching again, like we did before the RNCS, the Curriculum 2005, the Revised curriculum, and every other variation attempted to mask the fact that OBE has failed in our country.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Is your child ready to go to school next year?

Stay at home Mothers the world over wish to prepare their children for school. School readiness is vital if a child is to face the Kindergarten years with confidence. Many parents will visit a toyshop, read the words on the box, spot the keyword “educational” and spend money (which could well be wasted) on the item.

Mothers afraid of the worst words ( almost) that they can hear , “Mom, I’m bored”, will instinctively turn to the easiest and most dangerous distraction, the television set. Mothers, you really could be more creative than this! With an internet-enabled desktop or laptop computer and a printer which uses cheap ink or toner, you can within minutes, download and print fun games, craft ideas and coloring pages – for FREE; from one of the many teacher websites, homeschooling sites or even parent and homework help sites.

Many stay at home mothers, because they do not hold a teaching qualification tend to relegate school work and even school readiness to teachers. Parents always have and always will be not only their child’s primary caregiver; but primary teacher too. Remember the theories and spine-chilling words, “Give me a child until he is 7, and I will show you the man”. Before your children enter the formal schooling years, they are learning from you. Are they learning what they should? Are you stimulating in your child a love of reading, a curiosity about the world in which they live?

Every parent should have a craft cupboard at their disposal for rainy days and even for when your child is sick and needs a few quiet activities that can be completed with a lap tray, a few resources and ingenuity; from his or her sick bed. Don’t rush off to the shops, unless you are going to purchase story books or activity books. Open you cupboard, get out the scissors, the glue, crayons and printed activity sheets which you can access for free of the Internet and spend some time with your child.

Children often value the presence of the parent more than the activity itself. A sick child deserves some of your time and a few hours of quality interaction. Together, you and your child could create a cut and paste collage on the themes you have chosen.

The school readiness skills are easy enough to cover and it can be great fun doing so. Coloring in pictures, cutting along a line and then around more difficult shapes are skills which can be practiced for an hour a day, or longer if the weather is bad and you are more or less trapped indoors. Sorting and classifying items into similar and different piles is an easy everyday activity that you can engage in while doing even the simplest of household chores. If you do recycle your garbage, as you should, you will probably have a bin full of glass bottles and jars.

Separate these items according to size or the product they once held. Count out loud, let your child count too. Fill each bottle of a series of five to seven bottles with varying amounts of water. You and your child can then place the bottles in rank from the one containing the least water to the one containing the most. Grab a metal household implement, a fork, a blunt knife or a spoon and start “playing” melodies by pinging on the bottles in sequence or randomly produce the sounds that emanate from each water-filled vessel.
The home computer has some use, but do not let it replace the television set as an electronic babysitter. Access one of the many free sites for teachers and pre-schoolers and let your child play interactive counting, alphabet and classifying games. Start by getting your children interested in the world around them from as soon as you possibly can. Spend time outdoors with your child, play with water and sand. Collect insects and leaves and feather and stones. Identify common garden birds, and keep slugs and snails and frogs and crickets in glass tank torture chambers for a few days before you release them.

Invest in a cheap science kit or home microscope. If you see a flea on the family dog, place it on a slide and magnify it so your child can see it properly. Talk about sucking mouthparts. If you can catch a mosquito do the same. If you find a dead butterfly show your child its incredibly built-in straw for drinking nectar. Generate curiosity in your child and get him ready for the many years of schooling which lie ahead.

The pre-school teacher will expect that your child has knowledge of self. Download big pictures of body parts and build a little person in his room. Label the parts in a neat print and play the “show me your nose” game every now and then. School ready children also possess knowledge of left and right. Easy – stand together, sing the songs: “you put your left leg in” and so on and your child will have fun learning.

What of placements? It is easy, find a few containers, dust off the old building blocks and start playing. Place the first block “inside” the box, the next “behind” the box and so on. Developing the fine-motor co-ordination required to master pen and pencil work, is no problem. Let your child manipulate small items like Lego pieces, use a household clothes peg to pick up small stones in the garden.

Need to work on the hand eye co-ordination for school readiness – easy peasy; play lots of ball games. Catch and throw and add a bat or two. Play marbles with your child and set up a good old-fashioned marble competition course with water-filled hazards here and there which should be avoided, or the marble is forfeited.

School readiness is important, but while you are thinking about ways to ensure your child will cope when he goes to school, enjoy the time you have at home with him. Quality time sprinkled with love and affirmation will produce a confident school-goer. Confident children face the world, including school, with no fear and openness to learning.

Does your clothing say: “I am a professional”?

The English saying, `before you have opened your mouth, you have already created a first impression’, is particularly important in the business sector and service industries the world over. How then does one create a positive impression before one addresses the client in a face-to-face context?
Clearly the manner in which you are dressed, and the way you present yourself (including your body language) speaks volumes to any customer or potential customer. A truly professional employee will always dress with inspiring the trust of the client in mind. A professional employee will always dress in a manner which befits the company’s image and vision.
Professional dress sense is really about common sense and societal stereotypes. A professional woman needs first and foremost to be well-groomed. Grooming is a simple matter of taking care of your skin, hair, make-up, and your hands and nails.
An employee who has clearly made no effort to keep herself well-groomed will not inspire the trust of the client. The basics of good grooming include clean, styled and naturally colored hair, carefully applied make-up (which is not garish) and neatly manicured nails ( which are not painted in outlandish colors).
As a professional, you should dress with efficiency and service, not seduction in mind. You should avoid clothing that is too revealing, too tight, or too short.
Professional dress is best achieved by sticking to the basics, such as the careful color co-ordination of your outfit and accessories. For footwear, avoid open or chunky shoes: a slim-fitting sensible work shoe with heels in which you can walk, and work, is advisable. Neutral colored pantyhose always add to the professional’s image.
Tailored skirts and trousers matched with a jacket, or even better, a skirt or pants’ suit always look professional.
Lastly, what you wear on your face is as important as your clothing – a genuine smile speaks volumes; it says: “ I am at your service, I am here to help and I love my job.” Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

How to Find Free Teaching Resources

Planning is upon us and we are all excited about our new classes for 2011. Proper preparation prevents teacher stress and burn out in the long run. Phase meetings and subject meetings need to include analysis of this year's results and failures so as to prevent these common mistakes and shortcomings next year.

A carefully constructed and graded approach to planning for an English department must for example outline exactly how teachers will build on and add new skills and content to the curriculum each year in each grade. Teachers often spend hours pouring over new textbook samples , seeking content. Teachers need to realize just how many free teaching resources are available "out there" and shown just how easy they are to access.

Teachers need no longer purchase expensive resources and materials to find content for their lessons or assessments. Teacher resource websites contain a wealth of information. These sites offer lesson resources, such as worksheets in every subject for every grade (K to 12). You will even find time saving resources such as ready made assessment rubrics and assessment tasks.

English teachers can access literature packs and resources for well-known authors whose books are often used as class readers. If your setwork book is changing next year, have no fear. Read the novel or play and sit down at your computer for a few hours. You will find author biographies and many activities, worksheets and lesson plans to assist you in making your lessons interactive, informative and fun.

One of the greatest challenges today's teachers face is the trend towards inclusivity, that is , the need to work with children of different abilities within one class. Often teachers have to draw up three to five different assessment tasks for each lesson to cater for students' different levels of understanding and capability.Now you can download already graded exercises and allow learners to work at their own pace and slowly work towards the required standard set by the teacher and the curriculum. Set your gifted children "free" to go ahead of the class. Make sure you have your extra resources box ready for the new year. Keep comprehension reading cards on hand for children who finish their classwork long before the others. Make sure you attach a reward to the completion of extra work.

Children, like adults long to be affirmed and praise goes a long way toward motivating students to work even harder.Download various comprehension passages and questions from a teaching site and make sure that the content is relevant and modern and encourages twenty first century children to read. You can also download word searches, puzzles, crosswords and fun games as additional resources for the classroom.

If you do have computers available for your students, allow the faster children to go ahead with an online test or quiz as a reward. These interactive tasks encourage students and motivate them to keep learning. A variety of activities during class time is essential to keep the children's interest and to increase student participation.

In our schools we often find disparity in the quality of work presented by teachers. School managers are tasked with counseling staff members whose work is poor or substandard. Sometimes it is a presentation issue where teachers hand in hand-written notes or assessment tasks.Clearly in a well-resourced school with access to computers, the Internet and printing facilities, this unprofessionally presented work represents bad planning on the part of the teacher.

Poor content is more of a problem to address, but school managers would be well-advised to spend time with the staff member and take them on a guided tour of the very best teacher resource sites available on the Internet. Once a teacher understands how easy it is to access high quality content, notes, worksheets and assessment tasks, he or she will be inspired to do more of the same. It is only a very small percentage of teachers who may find themselves being fired for incompetence. Sometimes a lazy teacher just needs a very firm push in the right direction from a school manager who is not willing to accept shoddy work.


Don't leave the counseling of weaker teachers until next year. Address the issues now and insist on seeing preparations for classroom activities and assessments each week so you see that teacher X is well on track with the presentation of professional end products for use in the classroom.

Planning for the new school year of 2011

As the final examinations for 2010 loom; school staff members need to spend time planning for an effective start to 2011.

School budgets have been passed and IQMS for the final quarter is on track. While we evaluate the work we have done in our classrooms and school this year; now would be a good time to focus on ways in which we can build on and improve in the weaker areas of tuition, time management and general school management.

Management teams should have received notice of any teacher who has decided to move on to another school or into the greener grass of retirement. The all-important process of interviewing staff for vacant positions must begin.

Here are my thoughts on Some Good Questions to Ask Teachers During an Interview



Interview etiquette requires that the interview begins with a few non-threatening questions designed to put the interviewee at ease. The information gleaned during the answers given to a "tell us more about yourself" question could however be more valuable if you change the question slightly.

One could rather ask the candidate to talk about her own school experience. Answers given will reveal whether the interviewee was herself a good student. Teachers need to be achievers if they are to inspire their students to achieve. If the answer includes a reference to a teacher from the past who inspired the interviewee and whet her interest in teaching, you have an idealist on your hands.

One need not fear the idealist who will enter the profession with the right aspirations - to inspire students and change lives. A word of caution, however, should you employ the idealist, she will need mentoring at times when faced with disinterested students who do not fit the "dream" or "vision". All new teachers face a reality check within the first few days or months of teaching, but if you provide the right shoulder for her to cry on, in the form of a more experienced teacher mentor, this hurdle can be overcome relatively easily.

Another gentle introductory question which may reveal important information about the candidate is the "Why did you choose teaching as a career?" question. Interviewers need to be very alert to the answers given to this question. If the interviewee responds with references to vacations and half-day employment, not only do you have a person who is headed for a rude awakening, but a possible shirker before you.

Again the idealist will reveal himself by his answers. You might even find a person who is passionate about their subject, who wishes to share this passion and knowledge with others. These candidates are generally a good bet, especially if they have a story of a bad teacher from their own past who destroyed what should have been an enjoyable subject for them;and they are determined that the children in their classes will not suffer the same fate. These candidates have thought about what teachers should not do, which is a good springboard to the very important question of what a good teacher should do.

If the candidate you are interviewing has already taught at another school, your questions must focus on how he experienced his previous teaching post and school. Interviewers need to know, for example, how the candidate worked with his previous boss. Answers here are a good indication of how he will work with and view his new boss. Be alert to very critical or judgmental answers to this question; you may be employing a negative whiner who creates an unhappy work environment for himself and those around him. If the candidate tells you that his boss was always picking on him, chances are you have a shoddy or disorganized person before you who you would soon be "picking on" if you employed him.

Answers to how an interviewee got along with his previous boss, or Principal, might also reveal the loyalist. Loyalists are what schools need to ensure that the focus of the school is always on school improvements and what is best for the institution.

The very best questions to ask during a teacher interview are those based on realistic scenarios. Paint vivid pictures of a classroom with one particularly disruptive child, for example. Listen carefully to the strategies the potential staff member will employ. You do not need staff members who are so obsessed with student behavior that they barely teach during the lesson.

You are looking for a teacher who will employ various strategies to capture and maintain the students' interest and cater for the different levels of ability and learning styles represented in a typical classroom. You are looking for the candidate who will spend time researching the reason for the disruptive student's ill-discipline. You are looking for solution-finders on your staff, not just problem identifiers.

Interviewers need to ensure that they have a subject specialist on the panel. If you are interviewing a prospective English teacher, for example, it is imperative that you assess the candidate's knowledge and skills. The head of English should pose questions pertaining to the curriculum and transfer of skills to the students. A question as straightforward as "How would you introduce poetry as a genre to an eighth grade class?" will reveal the candidate's knowledge as well as any passion for the subject he has.

Another critical area which needs probing is the method employed by the candidate regarding planning. Here one is looking to identify a creative, resourceful individual who works smart, but not necessarily too hard. In line with planning strategies, another vital area is assessment.

Questions posed need to be straightforward, such as "how and when do you assess your students' work?" Answers which point to a committed candidate will reveal an ongoing assessment strategy, clearly divided into shorter and longer assessments. Most teachers spend the first part of the vacation marking work which will count towards the next semester's marks. If this is the case, you have a forward thinking, good time manager with coping skills who is able to face the demands and pressures of the huge administrative loads attached to any teaching position before you.

Interviewers also need to ascertain the candidate's attitude towards the parents, the most important clients after the students. Ask the candidate how and when he makes contact with parents. Be on the lookout for a person who is always willing to praise solid achievements and improvements and not only highlight under -achievement or ill-discipline. Teachers who respect a child's parents and try to involve them as much as possible, are always good for an institution's PR and reputation. A candidate who sees parents as a necessary evil could cause problems in the long run.

All interview questions for teachers are posed in anticipation of answers. Before the interview process the panel needs to be very clear on what they are hoping the answers will reveal about the candidate. One is looking for a teacher who is a subject expert, who is in possession of the all-important soft skills which will enable her to develop collegial relationships, face change with courage and enthusiasm, and accept that after all, teaching is a helping profession. Interview questions should be so designed and structured as to sort out the professionals from the candidates looking for a low-pressure, half-day job. The loser will be the shirker; the winner the flexible, passionate person who was "born to be a teacher".


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Noeleen_Hart

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Five tips to improve study habits and skills

If you find settling down to study a problem; if you spend more time planning to study than actually studying, then you probably need a few procrastination- avoiding tips. The five tips outlined in this article, will help you get to a point where you are able to settle into a study routine which becomes a habit that will stand you in good stead for the years of schooling and beyond.

Firstly, you must identify where you will study. A low traffic area in the home, with adequate lighting and a large enough surface upon which to spread out your books would be a good start. Keep this space as organized as you would any work space in an office, for example. Paper, stationery, staples and the like should be within easy reach. The idea is not to have to get up to look for items once you have settled at your workspace.

If you are an organized person, you could apply this trait to your study tools and area. Many people find that color coding works to keep resources identifiable at a glance. You would, for example, have all your History resources covered in orange, while your math books would be covered in green paper. This color coding could be carried over to your timetable, homework diary and study program planner.

If you are a disorganized person, use your new approach to studying to help you become more organized, at least in this area of your life. Practice using your homework diary as a daily to-do list. The keeping of a to-do list will be a valuable tool for the college and adult years in the workplace which lie ahead. Use your list to identify urgent or high priority tasks, for example, work that is due the following day. Assignments for which you have been given a longer time to complete, should be carried over to the following day for further attention. When you have completed a task, tick it off or cross it out, so you can see at a glance what you have left to do.

Secondly, you must learn to focus in the classroom or lecture hall. One learns through doing; and note-taking in classes when the teacher or lecturer is talking; enhances your concentration. Learners whose learning style is auditory (based on what they hear) will even find themselves able to recall exactly what the teacher said in class. The notes taken in class will be untidy and employ a shorthand which only you will understand. When you get home, you need to rewrite these notes neatly onto a study or revision sheet.

Rewriting the notes will enable you to review and revise what was covered in class and will be a help to you for future tests and examinations on this section of work. Auditory learners can talk out loud to themselves while writing out the notes. Visual learners are stimulated by shapes, color and so on and they would do well to organize the notes into mind maps, using color to identify and separate headings and sub-headings from content. If you have not used mind maps as a learning tool before, now would be a very good time to start.

A study technique similar to using a mind map would be to use the Cornell method. This technique entails your drawing a margin down the left-hand side of your sheet of paper. Key words and headings are placed on the left and content and explanations on the right hand side of the page.

Regardless of your major learning style, it is probably best to use visual, auditory and tactile (hands-on learning, for example, writing) in combination. When re - writing your notes or studying, talk to yourself, create visual cues and write as much and as often as possible.

Thirdly, to become a successful student, you must find a way to memorize and retain the work covered. The most common of the techniques employed is the SQ3R method. This stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review. If you are settling down to learn a chapter for a geography test the following day; this is how you would use this method. First you would scan or skim read the chapter, or part thereof. Then you would formulate questions that need answering, then you would read the work more carefully, underlining key words and key concepts and write these down (on your mind map or Cornell page). You would then, out loud, go over the main points to memorize them.

You could at this point take a break, go for a brisk walk around the garden and then come back to review your work. The review stage requires that you recap what you have memorized and then test yourself. If you are using the Cornell sheet, you could cover the content on the right hand side of the page and make sure you can, for example, provide definitions or sub points under each key word which appears in the left hand side margin.

In the fourth study habit improvement strategy you need to draw up and stick to a study routine. Once you have learned how to study, you must now look at the when. As daunting as it may seem, most study skills experts agree that high school students and college students should spend an average of 40 hours a week on their studies, over and above classroom and lecture times. Again, you need to organize yourself. Look carefully at your weekly program and block out the time spent on extra mural activities such as sport. At a glance then you can see how many hours you have available to study each day.

When drawing up your study times, do not discount weekend days; it will not harm you to work on a Saturday or Sunday; these "free" days can afford great uninterrupted chunks of time during which you can study, especially during examination and high workload periods of the year.

In the fifth instance, you need to remember to take care of yourself and feed your brain to optimize your ability to study. Here the basics hold true. Eat well - include vegetables and fresh fruit in your diet. Sleep well; your brain will not retain anything if your are physically tired. Exercise is vital as it provides the brain with oxygen, thus maximizing your ability to study.

Study for fairly short periods of up to twenty minutes. Take a break, walk around the house or outdoors, do a few sit-ups or push-ups or any quick and easy aerobic exercise and then go back to your books, refreshed and ready to learn a little more. During exam times, you could use your easier subjects, for example, English poetry, and study a poem in between your allocated times for a heavier learning subject such as Physical Science, to use as a mental break.

In summary, a good student has a place and a time to study, is organized, has a method to employ to memorize the work; and determination to stick to a daily routine. As the Nike slogan so aptly says - "Just do it!"

Visit my blog at:

http://www.homeschooling-benefits-andtips.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Noeleen_Hart

Friday, October 1, 2010

Home Schooling Resources for the "Critical" subjects: Mathematics and Science

Many a home school teacher fears that a lack of resources in the mathematics and science areas will leave their child "behind" those who attend mainstream schools.

Another fear is that the assessments used in the home classroom will not be of a high enough standard as the home school teacher does not have access to a whole group by which to measure her standards and to which she can compare her child's progress.To allay all fears, browse the Internet and you will find many resources to ensure you keep up with and exceed the assessment criteria as outlined by the Education department in your area or country.

Once your home school is registered and the relatively simple paperwork is completed; set up your classroom and start. Visit my website at http://resourcesforteachersandschools.webs.com/ for ideas on how to set up a classroom on a limited budget.

There are many excellent mathematics and science products available, all are graded and most are adaptable to suit anyone from a beginner to an older more expert student. It is important that a parent shows no fear of the "critical" subjects; this will communicate itself to your child and you may well help to create a mental block against these subjects. It is important to make learning fun. Hands on mathematics activities and games will go a long way to assist in your quest to help your child to love or at least approach math without fear. One such product can be found, called "Making Math More Fun - Math games package" . Simply click on the link in my blog post entitled "Overcoming an aversion to Maths" for more information about this wonderful product.

As far as the sciences and access to science experiment equipment is concerned, once again the home school teacher need not panic. Look no further than the wonderful e-book entitled "300 quick and easy science experiments". This book will save you the hassle of looking through hundreds of science sites to find information regarding experiments. Because this resource was compiled by an expert home school teacher, many of the items needed for the experiments can be easily accessed in your home. The experiments are simple and take 20 minutes or less to set up, conduct and clean up, making the lesson stress-free for the teacher.

Wow your child, create the sense of wonder every student needs to kindle an interest in the sciences. Simply click on the link below and start downloading this incredible resource.

Click Here!

Have fun teaching through this 300 experiments guide. Science is not a subject to be feared, but embraced. Share your new-found passion with your child and step into the magical,wonderful world of Science.