Working one on one

Tutoring at Counting Stars 
At Counting Stars, I offer Tutoring. But why is it a good idea to hire a Tutor?

☆ Building confidence: Building confidence in any child is important because when they are confident they want to learn

☆ One on One: When a child is in the classroom environment, they get lost and don't get the beneficial learning that they need. With a tutor, the time is given to them and they become the main focus. This is important for a young child

☆ Learning done their way: In a classroom environment, the teacher will teach one way for all learners. Tutors take into consideration the child's learning style and assist with helping them learn how they want to learn

☆ Feeback is quicker: At the request of parents, I send out a weekly Report so that parents know exactly what is happening during the tutor sessions, good and bad feedback is given

☆ Constructive Homework: Homework is only given if necessary. The Homework is given when a specific area needs extra practice at home or if a specific development needs to be focused on

Putting the pieces together

Puzzle Time
Puzzles are fun any time of the day with your child. Children ages 3 - 4 can start off with a simple piece puzzle of 10 pieces. Keep the puzzle pieces of a big size and keep the picture of the puzzle very colourful. As your child progresses, up the number of pieces. Don't complete the puzzle for your child, but guide them. Try these tips:

1. Remind your child to look at the picture on the box

2. Make sure all the pieces are out the box and are the right way

3. Guide your child with working outside in so the border first


4. Place the pieces together that will form one part of the picture and the slowly bring everything together

5. Have them keep turning the pieces until they fit

6. NEVER force the pieces in

7. There is no time limit to completing the puzzle, enjoy the time your child

8. Start off with a puzzle that has your child's favourite character on it because this will build the first interest in completing a puzzle

On the blog today, look under the Fine Motor Development (https://countingstarstutoringsupport.blogspot.co.za/p/fine-motor-development.html) tab to read up why building puzzles is important for your child

Happy puzzle building!

In case you missed it...

Creative Writing
In case you missed it on the mention of the blog post on the Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/countingstarstutoring/?ref=br_rs)  yesterday, I spoke about how you can first introduce Creative Writing to your child or how you can first start off with what to teach your child before they start writing any story. Creative Writing can become a challenge, so click on the Creative Writing tab (https://countingstarstutoringsupport.blogspot.co.za/p/creative-writing-development.html) to find out more information on this very exciting writing task.

If Christmas had a scent...

Gingerbread Men recipe
Since Christmas is a week away, I thought I would post a delicious but simple recipe for making Gingerbread Men. What a better way to get into the Christmas spirit with your little ones than baking and decorating these little guys. If all else fails, purchase already made ones (hello Christmas 2018!) and decorate accordingly. The recipe below will also include a basic white icing as you can decorate the men as you please :)


INGREDIENTS:

• 350g plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 125g butter
• 175g light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 4 tbsp golden syrup

METHOD:

1. Sieve all the dry ingredients together except the sugar. Only blend in the butter with the sugar once all dry ingredients have been sieved

2. Blend in everything until it looks like breadcrumbs

3. Mix in the syrup with the egg and add to the above mixture. Mix everything together it forms together like a dough

4. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and leave to set in the fridge for 15 minutes

5. Roll out the chilled dough on a floured surface, cut out into Gingerbread Men and bake in a 180.C oven for 12 - 15 minutes until golden brown

6. Allow to cook for 15 minutes and decorate with icing and toppings

HOW TO MAKE THE ICING

INGREDIENTS:

500g icing sugar

5ml lemon juice

2 egg whites

METHOD:

1. Sieve the icing sugar into a mixing bowl, add the egg whites and lemon juice in

2. Lightly beat all the ingredients in a mixer until soft 

All about Reading

What great readers remember to do:

Great readers read with fluency. At Counting Stars Tutoring, I assist with teaching students how to read with fluency. But what does fluency involve? Focusing on fluency involves the following:

☆ EXPRESSION: Pay attention to the characters feelings and show it in your voice

☆ RATE: Don't read too fast or too slow. Read how you talk

☆ PHRASING: Read in smooth phrases. Readers who read one word at a time usually sound choppy

☆ PUNCTUATION: Pay attention to punctuation. Stop at full stops and pause briefly at a comma

☆ ACCURACY: Think about what you are reading. If it doesn't make sense, go back and reread it

☆ INFORMATION: Make your voice go up, go down, become louder or become softer. It all depends on what you are reading

☆ STRESS: Stress certain sentences. Give feeling to the sentences, feel the sentences

Starting to learn and understand

Cognitive Development
From early age children notice the world around them. Everything has colour and shapes. Cognitive Development is all about interpreting that and understanding its relationship with the world around them. Cognitive Development helps children learn the alphabet, different sounds, shapes, colours, simple songs, being able to answer simple questions and answer simple questions when given two choices. Below are my top tips to improve Cognitive Development:






1. Learn Shapes and Colours
Always start off with making it fun! With shapes, use everyday objects and mention the shapes. So for example: Look at the red circle plate or look at the blue squared book. Apply the colours to everyday life so that children can understand what colours are associated with everyday objects. For example: Grass is green, grapes are purple, the sky is blue.

2. Close your eyes but open your ears
Ever too often we are busy with everyday tasks that we don't stop and listen to the world around this. This will not only help you relax but also help your child with developing their cognitive development. Find a quiet space, just the two of you and listen to the world around you. Have your child identify as many sounds as they can

3. Sing along with me
Young children love to sing, even if us adults don't always like to hear it. Perhaps sing simple songs with your child such as nursery rhymes or play fun songs in the car. This will slowly get children to start singing on their own

4. Learning the Alphabet
Think of simple words and link it with the letters of the alphabet. Have your child find certain items at home that start with the letter. E.g. b, go find a book for me or a blue ball. Keep it simple and fun.If this is too much work, right different letters of the alphabet and place it around the house. Have your child look for the letters and then at the end you both put the whole alphabet together. Remember to make the letters big, bold and colourful

5. Simple choices and simple questions
Give your child the choice of two items so they feel in control of making decisions. It can be simple decisions such as do you want eggs for breakfast or toast? Do you want to wear the purple dress today or the pink shirt? It is all about getting your child to think instead of you always doing things for them


Cognitive Development is very important for a child and the sooner you start practicing it, the easier it will become. Keep things simple so that they understand. Practicing and applying all these things in everyday life will help your child think more clearly and things could possibly become easier for you.

Phonics Development

Learning to Read
So your child is ready to learn to read, but where to start?  On the blog today: https://countingstarstutoringsupport.blogspot.co.za/p/phonics-development.html

How Counting Stars helps beginner readers become book worms. Learning to read takes time and lots of work. At Counting Stars, I put in the work but it is also needs to come from the help from the parents so beginner readers can be the best they can be.

TOO HOT TODAY!

Homemade Nutella and Banana ice cream
Since the second week of Summer is in full swing, I thought it might be fun to do a recipe on the blog. Ice cream is delicious to eat on a hot day. I just find ice cream overpriced in the shop so I looked into some great recipes for ice cream to make at home. The Nutella and Banana ice cream was the clear winner. Yes, we can go healthier but it is Friday so why not? Get the kids involved in this way and everyone can enjoy this tasty ice cream after:







INGREDIENTS:
5 ripe bananas
168g Nutella Hazelnut Spread
50g white sugar
Sprinkle with chocolate chips

WHAT TO DO:

1. Cut the bananas into circles and freeze for 2 hours

2. Add the frozen banana, sugar, and Nutella into a blender. Then blend until smooth

3. Add the mixture to a plastic container and freeze for 5 hours

4. Once completely frozen, serve with sprinkled chocolate chips

P.S. Photo credit off sharedappetite.com

Working the fine muscles

Fine Motor Skill Development
Fine Motor Skills involve using the small muscles in the fingers that assist with allowing your child to write, paint, cut, draw and use clay. It is very important to exercise the muscles on a regular basis. Working with clay is a good start but there are other different ways to enhance the development. On the blog, I will be sharing different ideas that you can do with your child.

I will post a link to the section Fine Motor Development for fun ideas.

Watch this space!

Let's start with numbers

Learning numbers through representation or pictures
I found this really great article on teaching Maths from the beginning: 

Children are naturally visual and can build relationships between numbers and represented items. According to the National Centre for Infants, Toddlers, and Families, using rs to help representation or pictures to clarify a relationship is making the use of mathematics real to a child.

Early childhood education should focus on representing numbers with items, picture or even family members. For example, learning the basics of counting can use pictures of apples or their favorite fruit to help children recognize that number represents the number depicted.

Teaching through representation or pictures will allow children to make connections between the real world and the Math skills that are vital to academic success. Without making a connection between life and Math, children can become confused about information represented.

Below is a great example of a worksheet that represents pictures with numbers:



Below is also a good example of cards that you could make that represent the idea of numbers with pictures:

Understanding Afrikaans

Today on the blog: Tips to remember when learning Afrikaans. My personal list to help your little one love Afrikaans. https://countingstarstutoringsupport.blogspot.co.za/p/elke-dag-afrikaans.html
If you are unable to access the link, click on the Elke Dag Afrikaans Tab from the Home page.

Happy learning!