Homework *groans*!!!
Revision *double groans*
Two words that do not conjure up blissful memories do they? Homework was something you had to get done and either you were really organised and tackled it as soon as you got it, or you were a last minute dot com kind of student, and left it until the last possible moment declaring that next time you would not do that again!
Except, of course, more often than not you did. When I say ‘you’ I am actually referring to myself! I know that I was good at getting my homework completed early when I was at school (and living at home), but once I went away to uni and enjoyed socialising partying, I often had to do all nighters to get my assignments in on time!
I was better at doing my revision, and I would spend hours writing notes to revise from, as I found that by writing things down I tended to remember information better. I even recall taping my revision notes onto a cassette to play to myself as I fell asleep, as I had read somewhere that you were more likely to retain information sub-consciously!
Now that I am a parent and acting all responsibly when it comes to school work *ahem*, I try to get the boys to do their weekly homework of spellings done the night we get it so that it is fresh in their minds, and they tend to be more enthusiastic about getting them completed. Reading is done as and when we get time, somethings at bedtime or first thing while we sit in my bed, and then the core task projects are made the weekend before the Monday that they are due in. I am lucky because my boys, at the moment, at least, are reasonably happy and enthusiastic about actioning their homework.
BUT, lets be honest, sitting down and writing out letters and words, or addressing number problem solving etc can be seen as boring by many children and, lets be honest, who wouldn’t prefer to be at home playing, being outside bouncing on their trampoline, riding their bikes or watching TV instead after a busy day of learning at school?
Nowadays, learning is much more varied and interesting compared to when I was at school because children have on line resources at their finger tips to aid them and make learning more fun. Huzzah!
Education Quizzes is one such online aid, and it claims to be the UK’s number one revision site. It cleverly mixes learning into challenges and of course being on a computer screen instantly makes it appealing to kids – and my two are no exception. They will do anything for some time on the iPad or being allowed to play on my phone, and being the mean mummy that I am this is a rare occurrence because otherwise they won’t get off these devices, at least happily! However, I am more likely to allow them screen time if they are actually benefitting from it educationally, and they do not even see that, as they just think yay! Mummy is allowing us to use her computer! Aha! See? Clever!!! *winks*
Both Burton and Jenson are in KS1 at the moment: Burton is almost 7 and Jenson is just 5. Education Quizzes is divided into the various stages of a child’s education to enable them to revise appropriately, and once you select the stage you can then decide which area you need the most help with.
My two have been trying this out for a few days and they both think they are playing games more than they realise that they are doing extra homework, and that is what I like because they do not see it as a learning tool as I do, they just see it as a fun way to answer some questions about things they may have told about at school.
A subscription to the site costs £7.50 a month which is good value I think as that is cheaper than me buying two magazines for the boys which I hate doing so I would much rather put the money towards them actually learning, rather than getting the free tat that many magazines come with! However, I appreciate that for many families, that £7.50 would be over and above their monthly budget, and so the people behind Education Quizzes have that covered too. On the site there is also a recently launched schools section, and this enables schools to sign up pupils for as little as £2 per year, which makes this an excellent value for money revision resource.
I think that with all of the recent hoo ha surrounding SATS, and all of the revision, stress and hard work that comes with it for school children in the UK, Education Quizzes could make a big difference to a lot of children (and parents!). It makes revision much more fun and less intimidating I think, and hopefully a lot less stressful. After all, we all want the best for our children and to help them as much as we can with their schooling, so maybe this resource is a step in the right direction.