Category: Education

Writing is an artwork that craves creative minds and passion from the heart. Writing is also a key to improving communication and confidence levels at all stages. Perhaps that is why parents desire to make it a priority to help our children learn writing skills and ensure they gain the aptitude to shine like a pro.

Writing has so many valuable benefits throughout life. It’s a powerful tool of communication, as well as an empowering internal tool those those who use journalism to work out their thoughts. Of course, the educational benefits for excelling in school can’t be ignored, such as writing an essay.

According to research, most children are pretty bad at writing, while others are born with natural talent.  In either case, if you are anxious about your child’s growth in this area and want to help your children learn the art of writing, here are some tips to consider.

Top Tips To Improve Your Children’s Writing

It is a reality that today’s children have become sharp-minded and brilliant in our current fast-paced environment.  There are many things they can learn to do without your assistance. But this should never be taken for granted when it comes to boosting your children’s writing skills. There is too much at stake to ensure they have the academic skills to truly succeed.

Schedule a reading session

According to research, reading is the key to better communication, logical thinking, decision-making skills, socializing, and writing. When someone reads, their mind connects with an aura in their head, and they get open to the world of information. Not just this, reading can also entice one to get to know about different writing styles. So, try to schedule a reading session for your children so they can learn the world through manually written words. You can arrange a series of books according to their grade level. Also, ask them to read aloud to perceive the words better.

Help them explore new topics of their choice.

Yet another best tip to consider when planning to improve your child’s writing skills is to help them explore new topics. Many people become spoon feeders that revolve around a particular thing and cannot think or function out of the box. One reason can be their focus that is only putting a flash in one direction. You should note that it is human nature that when you give a daily dose of the same thing to your mind, your mind will make a habit of it, and you cannot think or perceive beyond that. So, ask or put effort into helping your children explore different topics to become versatile in writing.

Ask them to rewrite

Writing skills always start from rewriting. It is the process that refers to reading or understanding a topic or content and jotting it down in your words. For instance, you have read a topic on using anti plagiarism tools. After reading and understanding the whole thing, you have to sit back and pen those things in your words. You can do this by changing the structure and word usage by keeping the same meaning. You can ask children to do rewriting to improve their writing skills.

Talk about the ideas they have in their mind.

Yet another extraordinary thing to consider to boost your children’s writing skills is making a conversation about their ideas. After the reading session, you can take a session of this to discuss what they think about the topic, how they felt about the story or character while reading, and other related things. You can also ask them questions about all the productive and adorable things they might have stuck in their minds. In this way, you can make their minds open and sharp.

Make a strict rule for avoiding plagiarism.

Plagiarism is a thing that can ruin your children’ writing skills. If they develop a propensity to plagiarizing other work, they can never attain a good writing level. So, it would be good to make a strict rule for plagiarism occurrence. This is especially true when researching other writings for school or even when writing for fun.  Ask them to use a plagiarism checker free. Also, ensure them that you will use the plagiarism detector aid to keep a check on them, too.

Let them go for spell and grammar checks.

What’s more, slang when your children make grammar mistakes? Of course, they are already educated in their schools about this. But the completion of it while writing is not possible at the initial stages. To help your children avoid mistakes and boost their writing skills, ask them to use grammar checking tools and apps. You can ask them to drop their written text in the grammar checker and run it to pull out mistakes. Most of these grammar checking aids show the errors because you can replace them with suggestions. When your children do this, they can better learn what mistakes they make and how to avoid them.

End Words

As we try to give you a detailed guide on how you can help your children improve their writing, you should instill in them that writing is a basic thing they should learn.  It can be easy if they learn the art of writing and how to enjoy the process.

Making the decision about whether or not to send your child to college can be difficult. There are so many factors to consider! Another option that you may not have considered is a trade school. Trade schools can offer great education and career opportunities for your child.

For example, programs in Business Studies can provide practical skills and knowledge that are highly valued in the job market. It’s important to discuss the pros and cons of sending your child to a trade school or college. It will help you decide what is best for your family!

Consider The Cost Of College

There are many things to consider when making the decision about whether or not to send your child to college. The cost of college is one factor. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average cost of tuition and fees for the 2017-2018 school year was $34,740 at private colleges, $24,930 at public colleges, and $14,210 for in-state students at public colleges. The cost of college has been rising steadily for years, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Trade schools can be a more affordable option for your child.

Assess What Finances They Need from You

One of your jobs is to figure out what they need from you for support and how you can provide it. If you kid is headed to college, one thing they are probably going to need from you is some financial support. This can be difficult for many parents to provide, even if they have been putting aside savings to help with the cost of college. One potential option is by taking out parent loans for college. This is a low-rate private loan that can take some of the burden of future student loan debt away from them.

Think About Your Child’s Interests And Goals

When making the decision about what academic program you want to enroll your child in, it is important to think about their own desires and goals. If your child is interested in a trade or has a specific career goal in mind, trade school may be the best option. Namely, trade schools don’t require a GED or diploma, and you will be able to attend programs that are focused on specific trades and careers. This can help your child get the education and training they need to succeed in their chosen field.

Weigh The Pros And Cons Of Each Option

There are pros and cons to both college and trade schools. It is important to think hard before making a final decision. Therefore, some of the pros of sending your child to college include the opportunity to explore different fields and interests, they will receive a well-rounded education and your child can meet new people. On the other hand, some of the cons of sending your child to college include whether or not you will need to go into debt as costs rise. Your child may not even know for sure what they want to study when they start college.

The Pros Of Trade School

Some of the pros of sending your child to trade school include the lower cost of tuition, programs that are focused on specific trades and careers, and shorter programs. Namely, this last factor can be a great benefit because your child will not spend as much time in school and can start their career sooner.

The Cons Of Trade School

Some of the cons of sending your child to trade school include the perception that trade school is not as good as college, or that it is only for students who are not academically inclined. Additionally, your child may not have the opportunity to explore different fields and career interests.

The decision about whether or not to send your child to college or trade school is a difficult one. There are many career paths and factors to consider! In this blog post, we have discussed the pros and cons of each option. Weigh all of the factors before making a decision that is best for your family.

Online classes have many advantages beyond just decreasing the impact school closures: they can be more engaging, provide more opportunities for personalized learning, and save on commuting time.  No wonder, then, that the future of online education remains positive—even as kids return to school.

While many teachers have embraced online learning, others have found the transition to be challenging. But with just a little bit of effort, you can make the switch successfully.

Here are five tips to help you boost your productivity and ensure the consistent growth of your students while learning online.

Set Out Your Plans Early

The first step to being productive as an online educator is simple: you need to set out your plans early. By outlining what you want to achieve in each class, you’ll have a better sense of what actions you must take and when you need to take them. This will help you stay on track while teaching and avoid getting sidetracked.

Don’t try to accomplish too much in a single class—you’ll only end up frustrated and overwhelmed. Instead, break down your goals into smaller, more manageable tasks that you can complete.

Get Organized

This won’t be news to older teachers, but it bears repeating. Most teachers are indeed quite organized, but even the most fastidious teachers can get overwhelmed once classes start piling up.

There are no hard rules when it comes to getting organized. We generally suggest just doing what works best for you and your students. Some ideas to consider:

• Creating a master list of all the topics you want to cover in your course
• Divvying up your master list into smaller units or modules
• Making a schedule for each unit, including deadlines for when each topic should be covered
• Assigning readings, videos, and other materials for each class session
• Filling out answer keys for faster grading

Preparing everything you need ahead of time means one less thing to worry about during class. It also gives you a sense of control and mastery over the material, which can boost your confidence in front of your students.

Split Your Tasks

Teachers are constantly pulled one way and then another. There are a million things that need to be done and not enough hours in the day to do them all. The key to productivity, especially online, is splitting your tasks up so that you can focus on one thing at a time.

You can break them down in any number of ways. Our two favorites:

• High- and low-involvement- Some teachers like to split their tasks between those that are high-involvement, such as lesson planning, and those that are low-involvement, like photocopying. This allows you to tackle the difficult work when you feel most energetic and save the simpler tasks for when you need a break.

• Urgent and not so urgent– Another way to split your tasks is by urgency. This can help you prioritize what needs to be done first and prevent you from getting bogged down in the less important work.

Whichever way you choose, the important thing is that you find a way to focus on one task at a time so that you can give it your full attention.

Harness Technology

To be as productive as possible, make sure you make the most of the technology tools available to you. Doing this not only makes your life easier, but it also makes your students’ learning experience better.

Again, feel free to go with whatever tools work best for you and your students, but here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Screen capture– Use this tool to take pictures of what’s on your screen. This is great for when you want to save a website, document, or image for later reference. You can also use it to show a student’s screen to the rest of the class.

• Smart class management system– These systems help you manage your classroom by keeping  track of assignments, grades, and student progress. They can also be used to create and deliver assignments, such as GitHub for Education.

• Assisting tools– There are many tools available that can help you with things like taking attendance, monitoring student activity, and providing feedback.

It’s unlikely that your students will need much help using these tools, but it’s always a good idea to go over them at the beginning of the semester just in case. By familiarizing yourself with the technology available to you and taking advantage of the features that can make your life easier, you can help ensure a productive and successful semester.

Take an Individual Approach

Many parents and students are concerned that, with remote learning fast becoming the norm, teachers won’t have enough time to give each student the individual attention they need to succeed. But there are always ways that teachers can continue to have individual two-way communication with their students, even when teaching online.

Checking in for some one-on-one time virtually is a great way to ensure that your students are keeping up with their work, and to answer any questions or quell any concerns they may have. You can also set up chat rooms for students to communicate with one another or to ask you questions outside of class time—particularly helpful for shy students.

Getting to know each one of your students helps you gain an understanding of their individual needs and helps you cater to them in the best way possible. If one student, for example, seems to be interested in coding, you can point them to one of the many kid-friendly coding web resources available online.

Boosting your productivity as a teacher helps you make the most of your time, which in turn allows you to give your students the attention they need to thrive. Following the tips we outlined above will help you create a productive routine that works for you and your students.

Why Productivity Matters Beyond Efficiency 

Companies like Adobe have taken a dive into teacher efficiency and has uncovered a startling truth about saving money while saving the world.  Teachers and the school system could be greatly reducing costs with the adoption of eco-friendly practices, such as digital documents.

Here are a few stats to consider:

• The American US Education system uses 41.6 billion sheets of paper each year— equivalent to 4.16 million trees’ worth of paper every year— and spends $2.1 billion a year in printing paper alone.

• With digital documents, the average K-12 school can save $120,000 a year— an average savings of $13.50 per piece of paper replaced.

• For every 1,000 students that go paperless, a school saves 533 pounds of wood, 84 pounds of waste, and 1287 pounds of carbon dioxide.

So, here’s to better productivty for your classroom and school while shaping the minds of tomorrow to be the best they can be.

The connection between oral health and your child’s performance in class may not be obvious at first.  However, a child’s health and overall well being can have a major effect on every other aspect of their life. As the years pass, issues related to insufficient oral care can compound as children age.

How does Oral Health Affect School Performance?

Poor oral health can affect more than just your child’s teeth.  Bad dental hygiene and proper oral care can cause distracting discomfort or even pain that will have a negative impact on your child’s performance at school. It can even affect their social life, as one of the most common signs of poor oral health is bad breath, and children can often shun or mock other children at school if they smell bad.

Furthermore, if a minor oral health issue is left untreated, the problem can quickly turn into a much more serious problem such as tooth decay or even tooth loss. The early signs of cavities can easily go unnoticed if your child does not get regular dental checkups, especially as children often will not tell you about oral health problems they are experiencing for fear of getting in trouble.

To avoid these issues, it is absolutely vital for children to learn good oral hygiene habits and attend regular dental checkups.

How Pain Distracts The Brain

It is difficult for anyone to concentrate on challenging mental tasks when they are feeling pain, especially a school-aged child. A recent study conducted by the American Public Health Association found that children who are experiencing oral pain or other problems were falling behind their peers in terms of their performance in class.

Any kind of ongoing pain can be very distracting, and both physically and mentally exhausting for the person suffering it. In addition to reducing your child’s ability to focus on their work, this can also make them more irritable. It can increase the chance that they act out in class or have negative social interactions with their classmates.

Poor Oral Health Also Means Missing school

Children who have dental issues because of poor oral hygiene can often have to miss more school visits to the dentist, which naturally can lead to a drop in grades due to not being present in class to learn important parts of their course. According to a study published in the Journal of Pediatrics, children with poor oral health were 90% more likely to miss more than a week of school per year than other children who did not experience any oral health problems.

Absences can also affect a child’s performance in school because of the disruption to their routine. While a regular schedule leaves your child’s mind free to concentrate on their work in class, if a child is frequently leaving school early or missing entire days for dentist appointments, they will always be partly focused on that instead of their lessons.

Signs Your Child’s Oral Health is Impacting Their School

Children do not always tell their parents about the pain or discomfort they are experiencing as a result of poor oral care. They may fear that they will be punished for failing to brush their teeth, unaware of your concern for their dental health. As a result, they may not want to tell you about problems that they think might be related to not following your instructions regarding their oral hygiene. This means you might not find out about a problem until it has become a much more serious and painful issue for them.

Furthermore, children do not always understand why they are experiencing pain or poor health, and therefore will not mention it. Others simply might not know how to communicate the problem they are having, especially if they have not received any education in oral health and the potential results of poor oral health. Because of these problems, it is very important to look out for the early signs of an oral health issue and to teach your child to tell you if they spot any of those signs themselves. These signs can include:

• Tender, swollen, or bleeding gums
• Pain when chewing or swallowing
• Bad breath
• Discolored teeth
• Frequent or persistent ulcers or sores
• Teeth that are highly sensitive to temperature
• Swollen face or cheeks
• Painful, clicking or locking jaw

When these symptoms are not given attention with a follow up to a dentist, they will most likely lead to more severe problems.  It may not seem like a dental emergency today, but handling the issues now can prevent a lot of pain for the child and less cost for the parent in the future.

School-Based Programs to Promote Oral Health

Because oral health can play such an important role in children’s education at school, some schools are adopting health programs aimed at improving the oral health of the children attending their school. These typically include:

• Education about oral health, how to maintain good oral hygiene, and encouraging children to adopt healthier behaviors regarding their dental health.
• Basic oral health procedures to promote better dental hygiene while the children are at school, such as a regular fluoride mouth rinse to strengthen their teeth.
• Oral health screenings to provide early warning if a child shows signs of needing dental care.
• Applying dental sealant on children’s teeth to help to protect their teeth from decay caused by bacteria.
• Raising awareness about the effects that sugar can have on children’s teeth and oral health, and helping them to choose alternative foods and snacks with less sugar that are less harmful to their teeth.

Good Oral Health Habits Start at Home

While these school programs can help to support your child’s dental health while they are at school, good oral hygiene habits need to be established and maintained at home if they are going to become part of your child’s normal routine. This includes brushing at least twice a day with a fluoride-based toothpaste, and ideally also rinsing and/or brushing after each meal of the day.

Of course, it is not always possible for your child to brush their teeth after every meal, especially when they are at school. Encouraging the habit of always drinking and rinsing with water can help to wash out at least some of the bacteria and the sugars that they feed on from their mouth in between opportunities to brush their teeth properly.

Your child’s eating habits are also a crucial part of their oral health routine. Frequently snacking on candy, chocolate, and other foods that are high in sugar is naturally not advised. Bear in mind that most fruit contains a lot of sugar and acids that both damage your child’s teeth, so rinsing or brushing after eating these is just as important as doing so after eating other sugary foods like candy.

When your child is at home, you can make sure that they rinse and brush after enjoying sugary snacks, and you can control how much they eat. However, you cannot do this as easily when your child goes to school. If they are already in the habit of eating sugary snacks then they will continue to do so at school, where they cannot clean their teeth afterward. Getting your kids used to healthier snacks at home will help them to make healthier food choices when they are not at home.

Additional Resources:

If your child has a fear of dentists, educate yourself on how to help them overcome dentophobia.

Read about ways teens can cope with braces.

Is it safe for children to chew gum?