Tag Archives: Learning

Sep 19 2014

Back to School with Collins Learning Resources!

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I’m desperately late posting this. I can only blame it on the fact that Dexter is not yet at school, and I don’t drive so haven’t had school-run traffic to remind me that little people everywhere are once again donning pinafore dresses and nylon ties. Yep, whereas every other mum is back to work and going through the trauma that is The School Morning Routine, I’m still in bed at 9am!

Before you all douse your laptop in orange juice as a dirty protest, I do have something useful to share with mummy’s of school age children; A range of books from Collins Back to School Learning Resources …And I better crack on with this review before the very beautiful PR girls start dishing out slapped wrists!

I signed up a few months ago to review a couple of their books. I was expecting a few pre-school workbooks and one of their award-winning picture dictionaries and atlases. I was therefore shocked & chuffed to bits by their generosity when this lot arrived! They’ve provided me with a selection of books from the KS1 and KS2 range, covering Dexter academically from age 3 right up to age 11. It includes…

Collins Children’s Picture Atlas

Collins Primary Atlas

My First Dictionary and Children’s Junior Illustrated Dictionary (6+)

Collins French Club & Spanish Club (for foundation level languages)

Collins Junior Thesaurus

Collins Easy Learning French, English and Maths (Ages 5-7)

Collins Starting School Books - 1 & 2 (For Preschoolers)

From preschool right up to A-Level, Collins covers every stage of a child’s education. Whether it be a trusted dictionary, accompanying thesaurus, handy atlas or appropriate learning book, Collins definitely has it covered.

As you can see, it’s a real bounty of reference & exercise books for Dexter! I’m seriously impressed with the quality & variety of exercises provided to support Dexter’s learning. I love how children are encouraged to work inside the books and make them their own. Although this means you’re unlikely to pass them down to the next generation, it means Dexter will be taking some responsibility for his own learning. It also means Craig and I can tutor Dexter alongside his academic studies.

When I went to primary school, foreign languages weren’t on the curriculum. I’m so out of touch with this, that I didn’t realise they are now compulsory for children at KS2 (7+). This is a very welcome overhaul in my opinion. I speak semi-fluent French (I can order a round of alcoholic drinks in a bar at least!) and love the idea of kids being given the opportunity to get a head-start on their secondary school language studies. The French Club series (available in other languages too) is fabulous as it comes with an audio CD and stickers too - adding an element of interactivity to their learning.

This is what makes these books exceptional in my opinion. It’s difficult for parents to stay abreast of every curriculum change - even big ones like the addition of new subjects! Collins books are completely up to date with the latest curriculum and allow mum & dad to better support their child’s learning - all in a user-friendly package for children. The illustrations (particularly in the picture atlas) are really engaging, and the exercises are clearly explained.

Here’s a video review to explain all the books in more detail. Dexter was supposed to join me for filming, but was on the naughty step for painting his baby sister in chocolate mousse! Apologies for the shaky video - I’ve sacked the cameraman!

Without a doubt, Collins have surpassed expectations for me as a parent. I always knew they were a tour de force in the educational arena - but I’m shocked just how relevant, interesting and thorough these resources are. I can’t wait to get started!

Collins is offering parents the chance to get 30% off their range of Back to School books until 30 September 2014. Simply use promo code SCHOOLBAG30 at Collins.co.uk

What’s more, parents can enter a competition to win one of 50 bundles of books for their child in a Collins branded school bag at Collins.co.uk/backtoschool

 

Jan 3 2014

National Geographic Kids Magazine Review

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I might love my new Google Nexus 7 for e-reading, but sometimes you can’t beat the feel of paper between your fingers. I’m one of those old-school people who still get their newspapers delivered and love relaxing with a magazine when Craig insists on watching Match of the Day. Dexter might only be tiny, but he’s definitely inherited my love for the printed word - he’ll trample all over an expensive pile of toys to get to his board books and loves curling up with mum to look at the pictures of pregnant women as I’m flicking though Pregnancy and Baby Magazine. When I was offered the opportunity to get a subscription to National Geographic Kids, I couldn’t resist seeing how he’d respond to a magazine of all his very own!

National Geographic Kids’ mission is to entertain children while educating them about their world, using superlative photography, dynamic graphics and compelling storytelling… National Geographic Kids takes a sneaky approach to teaching, delivering interactive, bite-sized information that gets children discovering the world around them. Our readers are having so much fun they don’t even realise they’re learning!

We received our first copy just before Christmas and it’s been read to death by Dexter (with a little help from various family members!) over the last few weeks. I’m definitely impressed with how colourful these magazines are, and ratio of written word to illustration. Clearly these magazines are aimed at children well beyond Dexter’s age, but the reporting and information is timeless and will be relevant for him when he’s much older - until then I’ll let him use the pictures to learn about the natural world beyond his front door.

He’s definitely intrigued about animals as he’s often pointing at pictures of those he hasn’t had the opportunity to see yet (giraffes, monkeys, hippos etc) and watching us mouth their names and the noises they make. Daddy does a mean goat impression that I must record for YouTube!

Each magazine comes with a free toy or mini activity for children and is crammed with articles, interesting facts, pictures and information about the natural world. Our first issue (November) also had in-depth articles on Buckingham Palace, flying foxes and volcanoes - so a real mix of things to discover and read about.

Regular features include:

What’s Up?

Which is effectively a round-up of the latest television shows, films and books (both educational and entertaining) and is littered with pop-up trivia.

Mini Histories Comic Strip

November’s issue showed a time-travelling mouse, Max, meeting the founders of the Football Association!

Posters

Each edition has a pull-out poster section, some of which are double spread. There’s everything from mammals to insects all shot beautifully.

Prize Planet

Opportunities to win age-appropriate prizes by solving easy puzzles or answering multiple choice questions.

Make it!

A monthly make section shows children how to make craft items out of everyday materials. I love how each stage of the make is represented by a picture diagram making it easy for kids (and parents!) to follow.

Junior Reporters Page

This, for me, is what makes this magazine. Kids can send in letters or emails with their special reports of places they’ve been, or fun facts they’ve uncovered for a chance to appear in the magazine. We’ll definitely be encouraging Dexter to take part when he’s old enough. There’s something very special about seeing your child in print!

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Overall the subscription would make an ideal birthday present for a child, or a little good luck gift for those just starting primary school. They’ll get excited when it lands on the doormat and it certainly helps nurture a love of learning away from the internet.

The NGKids website is well worth checking out for games, videos, facts and photos for slightly older children (I’d plump for 6+), and there you have the opportunity to subscribe to the magazine for £28 for a year - this will entitle you to 12 editions usually priced at £3.30 each (a saving of almost 30%).

Disclaimer - Dexter was given his very own 12 month subscription in exchange for mummy’s thoughts

Jul 9 2013

Kids Need Bedtime Routines… No S£*t Sherlock!

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I can’t believe what makes the news nowadays.

Yes those whizz kids at University College London have been at it again and come up with some really insightful, powerful and compelling research that has found that lax bedtime routines and late nights can have a negative affect on a child’s capacity to learn.

As if this wasn’t obvious to any parent with half a brain cell. Please don’t tell me there are parents out there who are genuinely scratching their heads at why their seven-year-olds can’t add the price of a Twix and a Lion Bar together when they regularly fall asleep watching Jackpot247?

I’m beginning to think the University College of London is really just a pretty building with a fancy website. There aren’t really any students there, there aren’t any lecturers either - just a bearded man and a fax machine. In between switching lights on and off to maintain the illusion that serious work happens there, beardy will receive a fax with a number of mission statements to prettify - “Stop people smoking”, “Get all mothers breastfeeding”, “Don’t let children stay awake to watch Jersey Shore” - and other thinly disguised government / NHS objectives.

There’s certainly been enough staggeringly complementary ‘research’ to suggest the whole enterprise is just an extension of Cameron’s office ego. UCL seems to exist purely to provide ammunition to support Gove’s stern educational reforms, casual health advice to scale down on the number of avoidable hospital admissions, and the Conservative ideology of ‘Benefit Britain’.

Having received his fax-of-the-week, bearded man will then set about drafting something with enough stats and quotes in it to look convincing to the masses. Soundbites are then released into the media where the BBC, Daily Mail, and the Guardian fall over themselves to get it to print and air on a slow news day.

Overall, children who had never had regular bedtimes tended to fare worse than their peers in terms of test scores for reading, maths and spatial awareness.

As if this isn’t glaringly obvious! Kids that sit up on the XBOX until 1am are bound to be a little less alert during class time. Squinting and yawning your way through the school day is hardly likely to get you producing any kind of mental or physical agility.

The children with late and erratic bedtimes came from more socially disadvantaged backgrounds and were less likely to be read to each night and, generally, watched more TV - often on a set in their own bedroom.

Oh dear, yet more rhetoric to keep the class war alive. After all, every piece of scientific academia has to contain at least one attention-grabbing quote that can be rammed down the throats of the benefit scroungers. Of course the Government need to ensure that anyone seriously contemplating a life on welfare must be dissuaded, and benefit sympathisers must be handfed scraps of frighteningly generalised ‘evidence’ to prove that there is an alternative for the lazy and disaffected… “What’s that? A Council Estate? I bet their 5 year olds have Playstations in their rooms”… it’s exactly the low blow rubbish that Katie “media whore” Hopkin’s will spout from the relative safety of her Twitter account.

If you weren’t convinced enough, the author and spokesperson behind this groundbreaking research, Dr Robert Scott-Jupp of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, weighs in with this highly intelligent summary:

While it’s likely that social and biological brain development factors are inter-related in a complex way, in my opinion, for schoolchildren to perform their best, they should all, whatever their background, get a good night’s sleep.

Thanks Rob. I think we’ve all got it. If we want our kids to get into UCL, they must have their eyes closed by 9pm.

GUARDIAN LINK (be warned, it’s no more revelationary than the BBC’s offering)

If you enjoyed this, here’s my take on another absurd offering from the UCL.

 

 

 

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