From the very first homework assignment, students begin to develop homework habits and attitudes that can follow them for their entire school career.
Unwittingly students can be setting themselves up for problems and falling into the most common homework pitfalls.
Some of the typical homework problems that students encounter are:
Forgetting which problems/questions were assigned
Forgetting to write down instructions
Leaving homework at home
Forgetting books at school
Lying about not having any homework
Putting homework off to the last minute
Not handing the homework in
Because homework is universal, important, and inescapable it makes senses that the sooner students deal with their homework issues, the sooner that one of the biggest barriers to improved grades is removed.
We’ll take a look at what causes homework problems next time.
Like so many other things in life and in school spelling is a learned skill. And, like almost anything that you learn, the more practice you put in, the easier it gets. You have to practice the piano until you can play a song correctly, and you have to practice cursive handwriting until it comes naturally, so why should spelling be any exception?
The more effort that you put into something, the more that you will get out of it!
Luckily, strong spelling abilities are worth the effort as they come in handy almost every single day of your life.
While a person’s spelling abilities is not a definite measure of his or her intelligence—some of the smartest people have been poor spellers—you can’t get high marks in school if your essays are full of misspelled words.
Reading, writing, and spelling go hand-in hand. The more you read and write the more that spelling improves; the more that spelling improves, the easier it is to read and write!
Pick up a pen and write. Write about anything or nothing at all. Look up a challenging word and write it over and over until it is ingrained in your brain. Then pick a book and read. The more that you read and write, the more that spelling will improve. After all, research has shown the interdependence of reading, writing, and spelling. It’s win-win-win!
Is technology making higher education free for all?
New technology allows for online access to material that might otherwise be inaccessible. University tuition is continually increasing and with the current global economy, the price of higher education can be a daunting and financially improbable goal.
Video lectures abound on You Tube teaching everything from ballroom dance to trigonometry.
This article looks at some of the better sites that boast online video lectures. Check out the comments for more links.
There are hundreds of classic books—a necessity to any English degree—available online. The greatest collection of online classics is probably The Gutenberg Project.
But best of all, Universities offer open courses complete with a syllabus and a final exam to students of all ages… FOR FREE!
No registration, or tuition required! That removes one of the biggest barriers to education—the cost. However, there is a catch. There always is. There is no course credit given, so these courses do not contribute towards a diploma.
The benefit is solely personal education and development. This raises question regarding the necessity of diplomas. If you know the material, do you still need a diploma?
What do you think? We’d love to hear your thoughts.
What: Is the student in your life a problem solver? Students aged 6-18 are invited to show their problem solving skills by participating in a Rubik’s Cube Competition at Oxford Learning in West Hamilton!
Students are invited to have fun, exercise their brain, and win prizes!
When: Sunday December 7th, 2008 from 10 am to 3 pm
Why: Be Hamilton’s Rubik’s Cube Champion! Rubik’s Cubes Puzzles help students develop spatial awareness-multi-dimensional thinking, and problem solving skills.
Who: Students aged 6-18 are invited to participate. There will be two age groups; 6-12 and 13-18. Prizes will go to a male and a female in each age group.
How: Register for the Rubik’s Cube Competition by calling 905-52-LEARN. This is a free event but registration is required!
Daily Writing Tips.com suggests that learning the root of the word can help writers better understand how words are written. After all, words are made up of pre-fixes, roots, and suffixes. Recognizing a familiar part of the word will help spellers not only identify a familiar part of the word, which makes spelling that much easier, but it helps them have a better sense of what the word’s meaning.
Keep a list of the words that your frequently misspell. Grammar guides and reference manuals have lists of these words, but it is more helpful to know the words that you have the most difficulties with.
Another great tip comes from Spellingfun.com (a site that sells a spelling system, but has many great tips on spelling) is to know the 100 most commonly used words in the English language because these words are used 70% of the time. If you know these words, then you are ahead of the game!
There’s no shame in not knowing the meaning of a word. There’s also no shame in not knowing if a word is spelled correctly or not. When you come across a word that you don’t know, take a moment to look it up!
The process of taking the time to investigate a word and teach yourself its’ usages and variations helps you to become more familiar with its sounds, patterns, and usages. Taking those extra few moments can make the difference in whether you remember how to spell it correctly or not.
Online dictionaries help poor spellers overcome the “how can I look it up if I can’t spell it?” problem by offering spelling suggestions and alternative spellings to make finding the correct definition that much easier.
The more familiar that you are with a word and the more that you use a word, the easier that word becomes part of your vocabulary and the easier it will be to spell that word.
Reading mass quantities is one of the best-known ways to both expand your vocabulary and learn how to use words correctly. The more that you are exposed to words being spelled and used correctly, the greater the chance that you will actually spell and use those words correctly.
You can tell simply by the numerous commonly misspelled word lists out there that whether you are five or twenty-five, if you have spelling issues then you are not alone. But what can you do to IMPROVE spelling abilities?
Oxford Learning has put together a series set of Spelling Tips to help spellers of all ages to improve their spelling. Check back often to find an “improve-your spelling” tip that works for you. Or, and add your own tip in the comments—we’d love to hear from you!
Tip One: Create Spelling Tricks that Work For You.
There is no point memorizing formal spelling rules (even if they are cute rhymes) if they don’t make sense or if you can’t remember them.
Create your own rhymes, tips, and strategies and you’ll remember them always. The old stand-by “I before E except after C” is only helpful if you can also remember all the exceptions to the rule. A friend uses this modified version that is much more to the point: “I before E doesn’t work for me!”
Come up with your own strategies to remember correct spellings and you’ll have an arsenal of tools that work for you!
EG: DESSERT vs. DESERT. You can remember this one by thinking that you always want more dessert… there are more of the letter S in dessert, so dessert with double S is the treat after a meal!
There are many more unique spelling tricks out there. Check out these examples from Lifehack.org (Just scroll towards the bottom) Even little ones can come up with their own tips to spell words. Got a trick that works? Stick to it!
Welcome to our blog. We discuss education topics for parents, tips and tricks for teens. Learn how to study faster, learn more and make the most out of study time.
Find out what’s happening at our locations - events, workshops and more. Have a look inside Oxford Learning!
Recent Comments