The Learning Success Blog

Are you concerned your child's social skills may not be up to scratch?

Here you will find some strategies, tips and activities to help your children improve their social skills. You will also learn where to look for online programs and professional help. And if you want to dive deeper into the topic, there are some links to resources from around the world.

But first, what are social skills anyway, and why should you care about them?

Social skills include behaviours and emotional competencies

Social skills include a range of behavioural and emotional competencies such as:

Are young children more stressed out about taking exams than they should be? Recent research shows that exam stress is hurting students in Australia and elsewhere. 65.1% of Australian youth report high levels of exam stress.

Even young kids aren't immune to it, especially children who will be sitting important exams for the very first time. This is why proper stress management skills are important for a child's wellbeing and academic performance.

Here's how to prevent your child from getting stressed and help them prepare for their exams. 

There was a Covid outbreak at a school near where I live.

A lot of the teachers at that school had to isolate. Added to that were the staff who hadn’t returned to school because they’re unvaccinated. This created a drain on the pool of casual teachers in the local area.

I work for LearnFast but I like to keep my hand in by doing a little casual teaching work for the department. So when all the casual teachers in my area were covering the Covid affected classes, I got a call from my old school which is also close to where I live.

According to some studies around 45% of students in grades three to 12 spend more than an hour every night doing homework, with some spending over three hours doing so. By the same token, only 50% of children get enough sleep (an average of nine hours nightly is recommended).

To enable your child to make the most of the little free time they have at the end of a long day at school, designing a positive homework environment is helpful.

Tidiness, ergonomics, and natural lighting are three aspects that will help them maximize their learning experience.

Good nutrition plays a vital role in a child's academic performance. However, according to recent data gathered by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, only one in 25 children met the daily recommended guidelines for vegetable consumption, and most kids are eating unhealthy food on a daily basis. Poor nutrition not only affects a child's health, but also their ability to learn.

A study by the Society of Neuroscience found that diets with high levels of saturated fats can impair learning and memory. Meanwhile, a diet that's loaded with artificial sugars can have a negative impact on attention, focus, and memory retention, as well as affect a child's mood.  

Why do ESLs struggle with reading?

Students with limited or no English speaker proficiency need instruction in recognising and distinguishing the sounds of English as compared or contrasted with sounds in their native language.

To be most effective, instruction for ESLs in oral language knowledge, skills, and abilities must be explicit, intensive, and extensive.

Oral proficiency in English (including oral vocabulary, grammar, and listening comprehension) is critical for ESLs to develop proficiency in text-level English reading comprehension.

Researchers suggest that engagement in risky play provides children an opportunity to navigate and cope with uncertainty, resulting in decreased anxiety, according to a recent Canadian study.

Risky play is defined as a thrilling activity involving challenges that test limits and the possibility of getting injured. Typically, children love trying out new things and, in the process, seek opportunities that allow them to engage in challenging activities or risky play.

While risky play might seem dangerous for kids, it offers many benefits, including improved social, motor, and spatial skills, critical aspects in building student learning capacity. Below are some of the essential roles of risky play in early childhood learning and development.

Fast ForWord and MATHia have been named as Award (Gong) winners in the 2021 Best Tools for Back to School (USA). They were awarded for helping students, parents, and teachers succeed as they head back to school.

The new Awards of Excellence program is published by:
Tech&Learning (techlearning.com) TOOLS & IDEAS TO TRANSFORM EDUCATION

And is designed to help their readers find the most impressive products and solutions for their work in any learning environment.

Every minute that passes we age, and most people believe that advancing age will inevitably mean a decline in our mental abilities.

I know that at 66 years old it takes me longer to remember things that once I could bring quickly to mind.

However a recent study has found that not every mental faculty declines and that some even improve!

Now new research from Georgetown University Medical Center offers surprisingly good news.