Preparing for the next school year

You may have noticed your child lagging behind in certain subjects in the previous school year. If a child is experiencing a string of failures in a particular area, it can affect their self-esteem and diminish their natural curiosity for learning.

Here are a couple of tips for helping your child along in a gentle way.

Tip 1: Make it fun

One way to help your child is to find fun school holiday activities that will rejuvenate their interest in difficult subjects.

For example, a child struggling with science might benefit from a visit to a local science museum. In most major cities these centres exist, featuring hands-on science experiments that capture even grown ups’ imaginations.

You don’t need to mention that your visit is a result of a child’s poor performance at school. This will only reinforce feelings of low self-confidence. It should be framed the same way as any other fun school holiday idea.

Kate Elder, from Scitech in Perth, says that science museums present science in a way that’s not “too serious.”

“The children don’t realise that they’re actually learning because they’re having so much fun; and they’re understanding cause and effect and why things happen on different machines. There are so many things to push and pull and press. There’s something that caters for all children.”

For example, in the human body exhibit featured at Scitech in the first few months of 2010, there is an exhibit which Kate calls the “fart machine”. You program into the machine different items you might consume into your body, “and you might produce a burp or a fart or vomit!” Kate explains. This helps kids to learn about scientific reactions in their body.

They can also lie on a bed of nails, watch their hair stand on end while holding an electricity ball and test their hearing.

Tip 2: One-on-one help

Hiring a tutor to come to your home during school holidays can be a big help. With the help of a tutor, a child can revisit areas that were problematic during the previous year, or get a head start on some of the concepts that will be introduced in the coming year.

According to Australia-wide company Progressive Home Tutors, the one-on-one setting allows children to work at their own pace. This is all-important in building a child’s confidence.
“Your child receives the full attention of the teacher and is not competing with classmates for assistance or results.”

For more information about educational school holiday programs and home tutors, click here
http://www.schoolholidaydirectory.com.au/category/EducationalPrograms