Category Archives: Posts

February 4, 2015 · 6:52 am

Tuition Tips – Did You Know…

Tuition Logo 2…that most learners will forget the last four weeks of learning over the six weeks of Christmas break?  Pretty much everything learned in November is lost by the time they go back to school in January/February.

Six weeks is a long break from learning and I doubt young minds require so much recovery time.  I come from a sports training background and know that such a break from training for a sports person would be detrimental to their ability to perform.  That is why professional sports people do not take a break, they alter how they train. That is also why we run holiday tuition programs for our students; to keep their minds prepared for the next year.

It is not just the Christmas holidays that causes a disruption to learning.  There appears to be so many events during the year that prevent our students building up momentum in in their learning progress. We have public holidays (about 12 days per year), school holidays (about 12 weeks per year), student free days (at least one after every school break), athletics sports day, swimming day, excursions to …., school camps (1 or 2 weeks per year), …

So, why do our students attend tuition during the school holidays? Because their parents believe education is the best method to open the doors to opportunity as we move through life.

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January 29, 2015 · 5:25 am

Tuition Tips – Brain Food For The Memory

Diet PlansThere are five essential nutrients for effective brain function, and this includes memory. Many teenagers are low in iodine, as can be said about the general population. It is readily found in some seafood but if you do not eat seafood then you must obtain it from another source.

Decades ago the government placed iodine in table salt so that inland populations may have a non-seafood source of the nutrient. If your family eats salt then it may be beneficial to purchase iodised salt. Other nutrients are omega-3 (from oily fish), iron (meat), zinc (almonds) and the B vitamins.

Two herbs gaining respect for their ability to aid memory are Ginkgo biloba and gotu kola. Ginkgo increases blood flow and fluidity to the brain and improved circulation aides brain function.

The quality of food is so important. We do no good for our children when we give into their tantrums for low nutrient junk food. Be parents to your children now and their friends when they grow up.

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December 18, 2014 · 1:14 am

Tuition Tip – Did You Know…

Tuition Logo…that most learners will forget the last four weeks of learning over the six weeks of Christmas break?  Pretty much everything learned in November is lost by the time they go back to school in January/February.

Six weeks is a long time to have a break from learning and I doubt young minds require so much recovery time.  As I come from a sports training background I know that such a break from training for a sports person would be detrimental to their abilities and performance.  That is why professional sports people do not take a break, they alter how they train.

I have witnessed the downfalls in people achieving weight loss because they cannot gain any momentum on their weight loss program.  There was always something preventing them getting up a full head of steam on their weight loss project; birthdays, work functions, anniversaries, weddings, parties, etc..  It may be the same for our students in the education system.  There appears to be so many things that prevent our students building up momentum in their learning progress; public holidays (about 12 days per year), school holidays (about 12 weeks per year), student free days (at least one after every school break), athletics sports day, swimming day, excursions to …., school camps (1 or 2 weeks per year), …

That is why we run holiday programs for our clients.  To us learning is so important to the development of the child that we give tuition hours away to ensure our students return to school not having forgot what they learned in the last month and a half of school but are advanced on what they know.

OUR 342 HOLIDAY PROGRAM 

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December 9, 2014 · 4:58 am

Sparrow – Dardo (aged 8)

SparrowOnce there was a bird in the Amazon Forest.  He was a sparrow who had very big wings so he could glide three miles. One day when he was chasing an electric eel he got stuck in an underwater cave and couldn’t breathe until he swam up to the dry land.  He began to explore the amazing cave system but soon he got completely lost and began to cry miserably for help.  A vampire bat flying out of the cave rescued the relieved sparrow.

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December 2, 2014 · 1:34 am

Tuition Tips – Brain Food

Diet PlansYour car will not run without fuel and neither will your body, including your brain.  Too often the last decent meal a student has before they attend our Tuition Room after school is breakfast – and it shows.

The inability to concentrate, feeling listless, unenthusiastic and headaches are all signs of insufficient nutrient intake.  The body begins to slow down by mid-afternoon after a day of high activity and very little nutritious food.

The best way to maintain high-energy output is to ensure a nutritious breakfast, a healthy lunch and perhaps morning and afternoon tea.  A healthy round of vegemite sandwiches with a glass of water or milk will ensure the B Vitamins for energy production are in the body to spur the brain into motion

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November 20, 2014 · 3:08 am

Christmas Day – Jack (aged 10)

ChristmasOne snowy Christmas morning at her uncle’s farm a young girl called Karen felt magic in the air as she watched her cousins opening their presents.  The adopted ten-year-old girl had never before spent Christmas with a family of her own because her parents were killed in a warzone and her uncle and aunt didn’t even know she existed until two months before.  All Christmas day, Karen hoped that someone would remember to give her a gift but all she really wanted to do was spend the day with her new family.  After lunch her uncle and aunt asked her to go outside where she saw a pink and yellow float arrive and a beautiful pony trotted out. “Happy Christmas Karen,” exclaimed her uncle and aunt.

by Jacko

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November 17, 2014 · 9:38 pm

Tuition Tip – Student Burnout

A sports coach knows the signs when he sees them – decreased ability to concentrate, confusion, decreased motivation, increased irritability, grumbling, quarrelsomeness, over sensitivity to criticism, anxiety, depression.

A good coach will recognises the signs of over-training and give his athlete a break before burn-out sets in. A great coach will not let these signs develop because he knows how to pace his athlete to bring them to their peak without demoralising them.

Burn-out can occur in any one of any profession and of any age, children included. Many parents do not realise they may be setting their child up for burn-out later in the year because they, as their child’s coach, have not planned their activities so that their academic athlete may peak at the appropriate times (exams).

It is with the best intentions that many parents will fill almost every minute of their little one’s waking hours with sport, training for sport and transport to and from sport. I am amazed at how many children are undertaking more than one sport a school term. If you are a parent who is building a champion please remember three things.

  1. Training and playing sport is very tiring. That is why great coaches do not over-load their prized athletes. They allow down time for recovery and for their protégés to spend time doing non-competitive recreational activities.
  2. A tired student will find it difficult to concentrate in class.
  3. In today’s world a person has a much better chance of achieving a high income with good grades than becoming a highly paid athlete.

If the situation has developed where a student may require extra tuition to assist with their education then a choice has to be made with a view to prioritising. It may be necessary to drop another activity for a while as the student regains their academic confidence. It is best to not load up an already over-loaded timetable.

As for being a great coach and preparing for the next season we will be running a pre-school program in January to ease our students back into their academic year.  Contact us for more details.

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November 12, 2014 · 12:03 am

The Elf’s Journey – Steffi (aged 9)

elfIn the North Pole just before Christmas, the eves were busy wrapping presents for big and small children.  The smallest elf worked very hard like all the others but he could stretch so that he could stack the highest presents on the very top of the gift mountain.  One day he stretched so high, he reached up out of the factory where he saw the world and was interested to find out more.  He packed his bags, took a reindeer and sped off across the ice, over the mountains until he reached the edge of Greenland.  Instantly he missed all the other elves and wondered if they were thinking about him too.

by Steffani (aged 9)

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November 6, 2014 · 12:07 am

The Cat’s Adventure – Arun (aged 7)

Flying catOnce upon a time in a cave there lived a magic cat whose power was to fly as fast as a spear.  The cat had a fluffy tail, black eyes and grey fur.  One day a person called Mimi, whose power was mind control, came and wiped out the cat’s memory so he would forget he could fly.  The cat was a fast thinker and he remembered his power and so he flew off back to his cave.   The magic cat lived happily ever after.

By Arun – aged 7.

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November 4, 2014 · 12:51 am

Stories For Boys – By Jack (aged 10)

At midnight behind the enemy lines under a full moonlight sky, two ragged figures stood in the shadows.  The British spies behind the general’s office were feeling nervous and in danger.  It had taken them four days on rough seas to arrive undetected in the middle of a freezing winter night.

They were sent overseas and under cover to receive vital information on the Germans’ military strategy.  On that night behind the office these two men discovered information that would win them the war.

By “The Jackster”, aged 10

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