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HOMEWORK - Some great Literacy and Maths books you can order online

Homework. Lots of parents disagree about it's importance. Well here's my two cents' worth, after 25 years of teaching. It helps. As long as you do it together and make it fun, not a terrible chore. It consolidates what is learned at school and takes the pressure off the student. Its difficult to somehow absorb everything while at school, especially when the teacher is going too fast or the child has days off due to illness, or has emotional issues that prevent her/him from attending mentally. Done the right way, homework can be a fabulous, confidence booster. You just need 2 things - to take the time to sit with your child and have the right resources.

So, this year my daughter's new teacher is advocating an online study program for homework. This I am NOT in favour of. Nothing is better than face-to-face instruction. As a teacher of many years, both Primary and Secondary education, I have found certain resources helpful and decided to purchase copies for home use. Then I thought I'd share them with you!

Literacy -
My daughter is in year 4. Lots of literacy books are either boring or visually overwhelming and confusing. This book does lots of things simultaneously:
  1. Extending vocabulary
  2. Improving comprehension skills
  3. improving spelling knowledge and practical use of words
  4. Improving skills of inference (reading between the lines) and interpretation of text
  5. Improving self-directed work
  6. Improving focus and motivation
  7. A wide variety of topics, including history, science, biography and fictional stories are covered.
Sound good?
It's Reading Freedom book 3
I bought it here:
 /www.angusrobertson.com.au



SPELLING workbook for year 5 -
  1. phonics based spelling
  2. vocabulary development
  3. prefixes, suffixes, base words
  4. contracted words
Available from the publisher, Pascal Press www.pascalpress.com.au  and other websites









Maths - 
I'll admit, Maths has never been my strong suit. So when I'm looking for an appropriate Maths textbook I consult my Maths Teacher husband. Easy!
The features of this book that make it stand out from the rest are:
  1. Its simple layout
  2. Not too many bright confusing images and colours
  3. ONE TOPIC PER PAGE. I get so fed up with current textbooks that give just a snippet of every topic on the one page. This goes against everything we know about Mastery Learning! 
  4. Sequential format
  5. Plenty of opportunities to practice the skills learned
  6. Instruction box at the top of each page shows you HOW to complete the exercises 
  7. Practical applications for what you just learned are at the bottom of each page.
Here's the book and link: teachersuperstore.com.au


If you have any questions, I am happy to answer. Just leave a comment below.
Cheers,
Dawn


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