Bright Teachers

Now that the summer holidays are upon us some parents are eager to encourage their children to continue with some academic learning during the six week break as children can regress during this time. The activities that are presented to the child should however be fun so that they engage fully.

Mathematical skills can easily be taught at home using everyday objects found in the kitchen for example an obvious resource would be a set of weighing scales. Your child could weigh different items and order them according to their weight whereas an older child could convert the weights from metric to imperial or work out the cost per kilogram given a price for an item. Capacity is often difficult to teach in a school setting but at home playing with sand and water gives an ideal chance to practise these skills. Baking activities also provide many opportunities to measure out quantities and work out timings.

Loose change can be used to teach many concepts such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and decimals. Real life problems can be discussed for example if the child has a certain amount of pocket money each week how long will it take them to save enough to buy something they want? With a bit of imagination, the activities can be made fun and interesting.

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The nightmare of shoe shopping with children

Parents will soon be faced with a big challenge that is buying school shoes for their offspring. For parents with one child, it is bad enough but for those with more than one child it can be a very stressful experience to say the least.

The problem that parents face is trying to choose shoes that will be hardwearing but that fit correctly and that are also liked by their child. The dilemma is whether to choose cheaper shoes and replace them more often or pay more in the hope that the shoes will last longer and stay looking good.

Obviously the main point is that the shoes fit correctly and so it is important that you have your child’s feet measured, not just the length but also the width to ensure that there is enough growing room in them. Many shops have a gauge that can be used to measure children’s feet, but usually only specialist shoe shops offer shoes of varying widths.

Choosing the style of shoe will depend on the child as you will find that some styles fit better than others but generally lace up, buckle or Velcro fastenings are better for younger children as they hold better on their feet than slip on styles. A treat after shoe shopping may make the experience less painful for parent and child.