Research on the Internet Using Google Advanced Search

I don’t know about you but this scares the pants off me:

Google and some of the other search engines know so much about you when you search the internet that they tailor the results so they give you what they think you might want based on everything that they know about you including:

• what you have searched for in the past,
• what websites you have visited recently,
• where you live,
• even things like your gender and your age.

So how can you get WHAT YOU WANT rather than what the search engine wants to give you?

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Making Sure Your Computer Files Are Safe

The Case of the Missing Essay

I was working with a Grade 11 student the other day who wanted help with an English essay he was writing on his laptop. When he turned his computer on he couldn’t find the essay. I asked him where he had saved it – he said he couldn’t remember – he just saved it where the computer suggested.

We spent a few minutes trying to find where he put it but it wasn’t in any of the likely places. He was about to give up and …

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How To Use Folders to File Your Data on Your Computer

How are your family’s computer files?

• Well organised and easy to find.
• OR, littered all over the desktop!

One of the main advantages of having a computer is the ability to reuse bits of documents you have already written to help you write new ones.

Click here to read more on ‘How To Use Folders to File Your Data on Your Computer’.

Save Time and Lower Your Stress Levels with Filing

Stressed out by a piece of paper: I just spent an hour looking for a receipt that I needed to return something I had bought a few weeks ago.

So, not only did I waste an hour looking for the receipt, by the end of the hour my stress levels had risen and I felt quite cranky – and that happened just because I didn’t stick to my normal routine of filing.

Do you or other members of your family forget where important papers are?

Do your children lose their homework instructions?

Click here to read more on ‘Save Time and Lower Your Stress Levels with Filing’.

Money Will Not Be Enough to Fix the Problems in the Education System

The Australian Government has done a lot of research into educational standards over the last decade. Major reports in the areas of Literacy and Maths have revealed major problems in how children are being taught. Unfortunately, recommendations on changes to the way reading should be taught for example have not been followed by teachers on the ground, partly because of lack of training, and partly due to inertia in the complex system administered jointly by State Governments and the Australian Government.

On 15 April 2010, the then Federal Minister for Education, the Hon Julia Gillard MP, in an attempt to address the issue of unsatisfactory standards in Australian schools, initiated a review of funding arrangements for schooling to develop a funding system which is transparent, fair, financially sustainable and effective in promoting excellent educational outcomes for all Australian students.

Click here to read more on ‘Money Will Not Be Enough to Fix the Problems in the Education System’.

Tutoring to Help Your Child Overcome Maths Problems & Get Better Grades

Maths is the Easiest Subject to Learn – Provided Your Child Learns it the Right Way.

Learned the Wrong Way, Maths Will Eventually Become a Nightmare with Poor Maths Skills Severely Limiting Your Child’s Career Choice!

Click here to read more on ‘Tutoring to Help Your Child Overcome Maths Problems & Get Better Grades’.

In Australia the Proportion of Students At Year 12 Level Who Study Advanced Or Intermediate Maths is Falling Every Year

Australian schools are presiding over a DUMBING DOWN of our children in the area of Mathematics.

Each year since 1995, more and more Year 12 Mathematics students in Australia opt for studying lower levels of Mathematics than the students of the previous year.

Click here to read more on ‘In Australia the Proportion of Students At Year 12 Level Who Study Advanced Or Intermediate Maths is Falling Every Year’.

The Bad News: Mathematics Education at School is ‘Broken’

Is your child struggling with Maths at school – if so, he/she is not alone. You could even say your child is normal! The problem is in epidemic proportions.

In technologically advanced nations like Australia, UK and USA you would expect Mathematics education to be highly developed. You would also expect the vast majority of students would leave school with reasonable levels of Mathematics achievement.

Click here to read more on ‘The Bad News: Mathematics Education at School is “Broken” ‘.

Australia, UK and USA Are Way Behind Advanced Asian Countries in Mathematics Achievement

Why is it that technologically advanced countries like Australia, UK and the USA need to import so many highly skilled migrants when many of the people already living in those countries do not have a job?

The answer is simple, the standards of Maths and Science in the schools are so low that not enough of the children in advanced countries have the skills needed to pursue technological careers.

Click here to read more on ‘Australia, UK and USA Are Way Behind Advanced Asian Countries in Mathematics Achievement’.

Government Guidelines for Teaching Systematic Synthetic Phonics

Because of generally poor levels of literacy among school students despite many years at school, governments of all the major English-speaking countries (including USA, UK, Canada and Australia) have recently conducted major studies into the best ways of teaching basic reading skills.

ALL THESE STUDIES CONCLUDED THE SAME THING: The best way to teach basic reading skills is to teach the spelling rules for each of the 44 sounds in English – this is called Phonics.

Click here to read more on ‘Government Guidelines for Teaching Systematic Synthetic Phonics’.

Bringing Stories and Novels Alive for Reluctant Readers

Everybody loves stories – but only a small percentage of the population have good enough reading skills to find reading a novel an easy and enjoyable experience.

So people who do not read much fiction must rely on movies and TV to get access to stories. The trouble is that movies and TV programs cannot provide the secret ingredient that novels contain.

Click here to read more on ‘Bringing Stories and Novels Alive for Reluctant Readers’.

How to Get Your Child Ready to Start School

Many parents, especially with their first child, are reluctant to start educating their child until their child starts school. This is because they do not feel they have the expertise or are scared that what they do may conflict with what is taught at school.

Little do they realise that the school is relying on the parents to have taught their child quite a number of skills before sending their child to school.

Click here to read more on ‘How to Get Your Child Ready to Start School’.

Improving Handwriting

Since most schools moved away from teaching proper cursive writing in favour of print or a semi- linked script style, there has been less emphasis on teaching handwriting technique. Consequently, many children hold their pens in an awkward manner, which in turn forces them to use a technique called ‘finger-writing’ which is slower and more difficult to do than traditional ‘hand-writing’.

If your child is left-handed you need to be especially vigilant because left-handed children are not always taught the special techniques needed to compensate for the fact that they must push the pencil rather than pull it (like a right-handed person).

Click here to read more on ‘Improving Handwriting’.

What Is Phonics?

The word ‘phonics’ comes from the ancient Greek word for ‘sound’. Since the Greeks were the first culture to develop an alphabet to represent the sounds in their language, it is fitting that in English we use the word ‘phonics’ to mean the teaching of the letter-sound rules for reading, and the sound- letter rules for spelling.

Why is English such an irregular language?

Actually, English is much more regular than most people think, it is just that there is a relatively large number of rules to learn (about 200) as a result of the history of English spelling. In short, English is not irregular, it is just that the rules for reading and spelling are complicated – this makes it even more important that we teach our children Phonics well.

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