Primary Times - the definitive what’s on and where to go family guide of activities and events for children of primary school age. Things to do with your kids during the school holidays including arts and craft activities, music and theatre for children, parties, competitions, days out, and family attractions along with term time drama schools, dance classes, after school clubs and sports activities. Things to do at a place near you!
Home Tutors and Private Tuition in Dorset
Updated: 1/5/2015
Children who manage to grasp the basic fundamentals in primary education will progress quickly and will be better equipped for the more complicated subject areas that will arise at secondary school. Some children will need additional support and many parents look towards extra tuition to reinforce what has already been taught at school. Here, we have provided some details about local tutors and tuition centres in the area...
Create a perfect environment to study:
- Try to provide a quiet and well-lit study area at home, away from the TV, for your child to work. Prerequisites are suitable stationery and a table.
- Encourage your child to complete the work as soon as possible.
- Positive praise will boost your child’s confidence but you will need to be extremely patient. If your child has difficulty in understanding the topic, try different explanations until he or she does.
- Explain the benefits of working independently. For example, by learning to work independently, looking things up and increasing their knowledge on specific topics, children will do better at school.
- Remember to keep up regular communication with the tutor for help and advice.
Domus, Christchurch, match the right tutor to your child
Have you been considering tuition for your child for a while? Even though parents are very busy, you know your child best and if you think some extra help with schoolwork is needed, you're probably right. Domus Tutoring makes it easy for you. Most parents want a tutor who is qualified, experienced and develops successful learning, whilst children want someone who is kind and makes the work fun and enjoyable! Domus Tutoring is passionate about getting tuition right and they match the right tutor to your child. Start with three easy steps. Call them for a friendly chat and honest advice, have a meeting with a tutor without charge or obligation and read the testimonials of satisfied parents at www.domustutoring.com. Call Christchurch 01202-929981
Be Prepared for the September Grammar School Entrance Exams
With the Bournemouth and Poole Grammar Schools now testing in September each year - it really is important to consider your child’s preparation as early as possible. Graham Austin specialises only in those exams and now sees a 95% success rate with his tutoring programme. Graham said, “All too often I see parents start the preparation process too late in the year to allow their child the best chance of success. The earlier a child starts the process of preparation for the 11+ tests the greater their chances of fulfilling their potential and realising their goals.”
For every 20 students Graham prepares for the tests 19 pass, so his programme is obviously working well. To discuss the successful methods Graham employs call 01202 591521.
Diagnostic Assessment and Tuition for Dyslexia
Dyslexia can hinder reading, spelling, writing and some basic number skills. Difficulty in just one of these areas can make school exhausting and undermine a child’s self-esteem. Early intervention provides an opportunity to catch up and develop confidence before going to secondary school. A gentle initial screening assessment will provide a detailed profile of your child’s learning strengths and weaknesses, along with some advice about how you can help. Assessment for pupils between the ages of 5 – 14 years can be carried out at your home in the Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch areas. Specialist tutor, Carolyn Smith can also provide a full diagnostic report, if required, as well as specialised home tuition. If you have any questions, or would like to discuss this, call Carolyn on 01202 309901 who will be happy to help.
Award-winning tuition in Bournemouth – free trial!
Explore Learning centres provide maths and English tuition to 5 to 14 year olds of all abilities. The centres are open 7 days a week, and are Ofsted registered, meaning that families can use Childcare Vouchers to pay for membership. Also, because children attend up to twice a week on a drop-in basis, Explore tuition can fit easily into busy family life.
As Explore members, children work with tutors who are great educational role models, enthusiastic about learning and fantastic motivators. Each child has an individualised learning programme tailored to meet their needs, and all Explore courses map to the National Curriculum.
Plus, anyone joining Explore Learning in February will receive 2 weeks’ tuition for free. Find out how your child can benefit from Explore Learning membership today. Call your local centre to book a free trial session, or complete a free trial form at www.explorelearning.co.uk.
How to help your child with writing
The staff at NumberWorks’nWords enjoy helping students with their writing at its tutoring centre in Bournemouth. As a taster, they have provided some tips here to show parents how they can help a child with writing. Firstly, writing is a craft and skill which takes time to develop. Therefore, as with any skill, practice is required for mastery. Students need to write to learn to write. Secondly, learning to write is not about passing and failing. Good writing develops with good editing, revision and re-writing. Professional writers know that a first draft is just a beginning. Thirdly, a right or wrong authoritarian approach to teaching writing is often detrimental. Corrections and suggestions for improvement should be positive and friendly. Try having your child read an incorrectly constructed sentence out loud and ask, “Does that sound correct to you?” Finally, explore different ways of saying things by encouraging imagination and the use of a thesaurus. Ask your child: How can you say that differently? How can you clarify that for your reader? One caveat though, complex and long words do not mean better writing. Call Bournemouth NumberWorks’nWords on 01202 433673 with any questions.
Progress in the classroom with help from Wessex Home Tuition
A child’s learning can be supported by a qualified and experienced Tutor at Wessex Home Tuition, who will help them to achieve greater understanding and confidence, giving them the opportunity for greater progress in the classroom. Working one to one with no peer pressure gives a great boost to the spirits! At GCSE level, all exams are now at the end of the school year so it is important to start the revision early to increase the chances of success. With a Tutor’s guidance and experience to help you, who knows what a child might achieve! Call Wessex Home Tuition now on 01202 396488 or see www.wessexhometuition.co.uk
Tuition tailored to your child’s needs
Making the grade is all about your child being where they should be so that they have the opportunity to reach their learning potential. If your child is behind with their reading and spelling their confidence can be low and this can make school life very challenging for them. Award winning Read Dorset catches your child up, using a specialised Phono-Graphix programme that is tailored to your child's needs. Tara from Read Dorset is very experienced and used to working with children with dyslexia and other needs. Call her on 0781 1010562 to arrange a free assessment or go to www.phonographix-tuition.com
Build on the basics of education with Top Class Tuition
Roger Snowden established Top Class Tuition in 2006 after many years in teaching, and having already owned tutoring centres in Devon and Spain. He said, "I receive wide ranging requests for assistance but the strengthening of the Basics, as emphasised by the Government, clearly concerns parents. Equally, parents view the local Grammar Schools highly, so entrance preparation, as well as GCSE assistance, is another key part of my work". Following initial parental discussions and assessment to establish strengths and weaknesses, Mr. Snowden plans an individualised programme of study - an approach that has proved to be of great benefit to students, enhancing children's skills and, most importantly, their confidence. For more details call 01202 877609
Helping your child with maths
To help your child with maths you may wish in the first instance to talk to your child’s teacher who will be able to advise you of the best resources and tools available to use at home. The teacher will be able to instruct you on what is being taught in school at any one particular time and will be able to advise you on ways you can offer relevant support and guidance on these topics at the right time. Your child’s teacher may also be able to recommend specific supplementary material to assist the learning process or you may wish to use a web based ‘maths school’ resource instead. There are many websites that provide online maths tuition designed to support primary school aged children, at a pace which is right for them. Online maths resources often include lessons, tricks and tips, quality tutoring, interactive games and rewards. Many sites also offer explanations to parents who want to learn the maths themselves in order to be able to help their children.
Aside from traditional methods there are more fun and practical ways a parent can teach maths and build it into everyday life. You can ask your child to work out simple sums based on items seen in the supermarket and let them handle money and work out how much things cost.
Also as maths is very visual, one of the easiest ways to understand it is to try to see a pattern in the sum. A good idea to help a child see a pattern is to display posters of the times tables in your child’s bedroom or you can stick some magnetic numbers to your fridge and persuade your child to play with them to make their own patterns! After a while a child will be able to view maths as a language and start to identify patterns for themselves.