The Cyber Classroom

Access to fast, affordable internet has become as important to modern-day schooling as paper and a pencil. After all, where else will you find the same (virtually) unlimited access to project information, homework support, test-yourself quizzes and fun tutorials? Nowhere. It’s the truth. Just ask Google. To get the school year off to a good start, we’ve rounded up some helpful go-to resources for learners and their parents. Bring it, 2013, we’re ready and willing to learn. Click here to read the Afrikaans version. *with broadband powered by Telkom
Early start Little children learn through play. That’s easy enough, but before you know it, it’ll be time for ‘Big School’. Start the search as soon as possible with this handy tool.		The foundation Younger kids need a lot of assistance when it comes to school routines. Steer your child towards independence in the early grades with these downloads.		Growing up Instil a love of maths in your child from an early age by making it fun and understandable. Yes, it is possible – especially with these zany websites.
Aiming high Teenagers need you to speak their language. YouTube talks the talk quite nicely on a number of their dedicated learning channels. Warning: it’s addictive.		Further study Tertiary students often find themselves in a sink-or-swim scenario, especially in the early years. Encourage online study groups to lighten the load.		For life Learning is a lifelong process. It’s never too late to take up music or teach yourself about technology. Try some of these for fun.
Special thanks to Warren Sparrow of Rondebosch Boys' Preparatory School for sharing his insights. For more resources like these, visit his blog http://wsparrow.blogspot.com/
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Reading Eggs

Review     Hello Everyone, I thought you and your little one might like to trial the ABC Reading Eggs and Eggspress programs for two weeks absolutely FREE. Those of you who have followed our journey into home education will remember that we took up home educating our then 7-year old 2nd grader because he was struggling at private school and unable to read. Reading time was always a huge challenge & whenever I brought out a book for reading he’d tense up completely because he absolutely hated it. I kept on trying during the course of last year & finally, in June just gave it up & left all reading. No more books, no more tension & no more frustration. Then in January this year I stumbled on the Reading Eggs site & decided to give learning to read another try. This program caters for 7 – 13 year olds & addresses the way Misha learns best. I started him on Level 2 “Beginning to Read for emerging readers” on the 19th January & for the first week I just left him as he spent 6 to 8 hours a day working the programme. By the 26th January he had mastered 20 lessons & moved up to Level 3. Since then he’s completed a lesson a day & finished Level 3 reading on the 19th April. Reading Eggs activities include a Skills Bank with 96 lessons to teach spelling the fun way. There’s a Story Factory to encourage writing stories as well as Driving tests to assess student knowledge in one of three essential reading skills. For the little ones it includes a Play Room & a Puzzle park. When I checked his reports in at the end of April, he was still at 7 years reading age, but by last Friday when I checked again he had improved to 9 years reading age. I’m amazed at how much his confidence has grown & his hatred towards reading has reduced. Lately he’s insisted on reading the Clinker Castle stories to me before going ahead with the comprehension exercises. Today I was quite surprised that he wanted to read eNews to the group on our Field Trip to eTV. Although some of the words were a bit difficult for his current reading level, he wasn’t deterred… This afternoon he finished the last lesson at Storylands, Clinker Castle & will be moving on to Reading Express with its 200 lesson Comprehension gym & Library with its 650 levelled books with reading ages from 6 – 12+ years, next week. Finally learning to read is no longer a chore & completing his lessons is done in about 40 minutes each day. Finally, after 21 months of home education, we’re making a breakthrough with reading. Letting go & trusting God & Misha to pick it up when he’s ready, is finally paying off… Reading Eggs is working really well for Misha and registering is quick and easy. Give it a go, it really works! Blessings, Patrizia (a.k.a. Trys/Trixi) Schwartz Mom to Jesse (14) & Misha (9)     testimonials       Parents At first we thought that this is not suitable for ou… Teachers Reading Eggs is wonderful for early and beginning re… Special needs Hi I am the Curriculum Co-ordinator at an independen…       contact       Send us an email Tel: +44 1173 600246        9am - 5pm        Monday - Friday

ABC Reading Eggs is 100% Australian and is designed for 3 to 7 year olds who are learning to read. The program is successful because it makes learning phonics and basic reading skills a truly enjoyable experience, through a range of educationally sound, fun and interactive activities. Over 200 000 parents and 4000 teachers across Australia are using ABC Reading Eggs with their children. Be one of the 90% of parents who have reported seeing a noticeable improvement in their child’s reading skills and register for your 2 week FREE trial NOW! To receive your 2 weeks FREE access simply click on the provided link and complete the registration form provided > Register now for my FREE 2 week trial To see what parents and teachers have to say about the program click here > Testimonials Click here to visit www.readingeggs.com Yours sincerely Matthew Sandblom Chief Eggsploring Officer www.readingeggs.com   news       We are very proud to announce the launch of our NEW Storylands destination. The first 20 lessons of Clinker Castle are open to play! Storylands opens after lesson 60 with 4 exciting maps, 20 wonderful books and lots of new rewards. This area build…

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Brain Dominance

~ in addition to Learning Styles, is a key to learning & life success!

When we removed Misha, our struggling 2nd grader from private school in August 2010, because he was struggling in school in spite of being a very clever child that could memorise books like a parrot & yet wasn’t able to read, he had already lost all his self-confidence & hated school. At that stage I had absolutely no knowledge about learning styles or even brain dominance.

Thanks to Tannie Hettie, our eldest’s Grade R teacher at Hettie HenPlaygroup, I discovered that his gross & fine motor skills hadn’t been addressed properly. I figured once the motorskills were addressed, his learning would improve. Although he did show huge progress with the motorskills improvement, he still had huge resistance to worksheets & workbooks, thus getting schoolwork done was still a daily struggle for us. It was only after about 8 months of homeschooling that I finally stumbled onto a website about learning styles & brain dominance.

WoW, what an eye opener that was. Finally I understood why my bright 7 year old was struggling so much with schoolwork. All the indications were there that he’s a right-brained child & hence the left-brained learning environment at school was just not working for him. He needed alternative instructions in order to retain what he was taught. In hindsight, Misha’s motor skills were only part of his problem, the other contributing factor was his learning environment. School just didn’t cater for his kinaesthetic & visual spatial learning styles & he just didn’t fit into the left-brain dominant teaching environment.

For more information on brain dominance, please check out the links below. I’ve spent the last 4 months incorporating these strategies into our school day & have since seen a huge improvement in all areas of learning. He is finally able to read & starting to slowly regain his confidence…

• How to tell why your child is struggling ~ The Right-Brained child struck in a Left-Brained curriculum.

• Left Brain, Right Brain or Whole Brain? ~ An examination into the theory of brain lateralization, learning styles and the implications for education.

• Hermann Brain Dominance Theory ~ Brain dominance information page.

• Right Brain / Left Brain Inventory ~ An inventory of the different ways the right brain and left brain process information.

• Is Your Child Right-Brained Oriented? ~ The Homeschool Mom

• Learning Styles ~ This web-site contains information on how Hemispheric Dominance (Left of Right Brain Dominance) influences learning styles.

Left Brain vs. Right Brain

Left brain	Right brain
Analytical, led by logic	Intuitive, led by feelings
Logical	Emotional
Verbal, focusing on words, symbols, numbers	Visual, focusing on images, patterns
Work up to the whole step by step, focusing on details, information organized	See the whole (big picture) first, then the details
Highly Organized	Organization ends to be lacking (Random)
Orderly and predictable	Spontaneous and flexible
Like making lists and planning ahead	Free association (Impulsive)
Few gestures when speaking	Many gestures
Logical	Creative
Sequential	Skipping around
Specifics	Main idea
Work independently	Cooperation in groups
Observation	Touching and feeling actual objects (sensory input)
Names	Faces
Literal	Contextual
Words	Pictures
Symbolic	Concrete
Process ideas sequentially, step by step	Process ideas simultaneously
Words used to remember things, remember names rather than faces	'Mind photos' used to remember things, writing things down or illustrating them helps you remember
Make logical deductions from information	Make lateral connections from information
Likely to follow rules without questioning them	Like to know why you're doing something or why rules exist (reasons)
Good at keeping track of time	No sense of time
Spelling and mathematical formula easily memorized	May have trouble with spelling and finding words to express yourself
Plan ahead	Trouble prioritizing, so often late, impulsive
Likely read an instruction manual before trying	Unlikely to read instruction manual before trying
Listen to what is being said	Listen to how something is being said
Likely to believe you're not creative, need to be willing to try and take risks to develop your potential	Likely to think you're naturally creative, but need to apply yourself to develop your potential

In addition to the characteristics above, ask yourself these questions to determine whether your child has characteristics of a right-brain orientation:

1. Does your child struggle to memorize facts?
2. Is your child spontaneous, rarely planning ahead?
3. Does your child like to discuss and talk while learning?
4. Does your child struggle to “show all work”?
5. Does your child prefer a relaxed, non-traditional school environment (such as lying on the floor)?
6. Does your child figure things out without much evidence?
7. Does your child struggle with self-discipline, and tend to act impulsively?
8. Does your child skip problems when doing math?
9. Does your child struggle with doing work in workbooks?
10. Does your child like to do hands-on, interactive projects?
11. Does your child enjoy mechanical, technical, or “put it together” types of pursuits?
12. Does your child lose track of time easily, or often underestimate how much time he has?
13. Does your child question rules regularly?
14. Does your child learn complex concepts easily but struggle with easy skills?
15. Is your child imaginative and creative?
16. Does your child find answers without knowing how he got them?
17. Is your child dramatic and demonstrative?
18. Is your child sensitive to emotions and attitudes of others?
19. Does your child have a good photographic memory?
20. Does your child work well with noise, music, or activity in the background?
21. Does your child develop unusual solutions to problems?
22. Does your child prefer pictures, charts, and graphs to written words?
23. Does your child enjoy fantasy-based and/or mystery books over biographies?
24. Does your child have to “see” a word in his mind to be able to spell it?
25. Does your child skip over directions and immediately “jump in” to assigned work?
26. Is your child able to brainstorm many options to potential problems?
27. Does your child have a good sense of rhythm or an aptitude for music?
28. Does your child have a good sense of humour?
29. Does your child like to move around while doing schoolwork?
30. Does your child often want you to “get to the point”, and get bored with long descriptions or details?
31. Does your child like to doodle while he works, or enjoy drawing or colouring?
32. Does your child learn whole words easily, but struggle with phonics?
33. Does your child have a good sense of direction, and is he able to read maps well?
34. Does your child enjoy taking risks?
35. Does your child tend to procrastinate, and wait until the last minute?
36. Does your child seem to daydream often?
37. Does your child enjoy listening to music while doing work?
38. Does your child struggle to keep his desk and room organized?
39. Does your child enjoy computer-oriented games or learning?
40. Does your child learn better by demonstration than explanation?

If the answer to many of these questions is “yes”, you may have a child with right-brain characteristics!

Left Brain vs. Right-Brain Functions

Left Brain Functions	Right Brain Functions
Uses logic	Uses feeling
Detail oriented	“Big pictures” oriented
Facts rule	Imaginations rules
Words and language	Symbols and images
Present and past	Present and future
Math and science	Philosophy and religion
Order/pattern perception	Spatial perception
Knows object name	Knows object function
Reality based	Fantasy based
Forms strategies	Presents possibilities
Practical	Impetuous
Safe	Risk taking

Skills Associated with Hemispheric Specialization

Left Hemisphere	Right Hemisphere
Handwriting	Haptic awareness
Symbols	Spatial relationships
Language	Shapes and patterns
Reading	Mathematical computation
Phonics	Colour sensitivity
Locating details and fact	Singing and music
Talking and reciting	Art expression
Following directions	Creativity
Listening	Visualization
Auditory Association	Feelings and emotions

Modes of Consciousness

Left Hemisphere	Right Hemisphere
Linear ~ Linear means part-to-whole. The left-brained person takes little pieces, lines them up, arranges them in logical order, and arrives at a convergent conclusion.	Holistic ~ The right-brained person thinks whole-to-part, holistically. The child with a dominant right hemisphere starts with the answer, a total concept, or perceives the whole pattern and discovers a divergent conclusion.
Symbolic ~ The right-brained person thinks whole-to-part, holistically.	Concrete ~ The child with a dominant right hemisphere starts with the answer, a total concept, or perceives the whole pattern and discovers a divergent conclusion.
Sequential ~ The left brain approaches life sequentially.	Random ~ The right brain floats randomly through life’s experiences.
Logical ~ The Logical person knows exactly where he gets his answers. He starts out with a little piece of information and logically works toward an end result.	Intuitive ~ Right-brained children are intuitive; they are not logical. They pull the answers right out of the air. They can give you the answer to a long-division problem but they may not be able to work through the sequential steps.
Reality-based ~ Left-hemispheric children can deal with reality, with the way thing are. Left-hemispheric children are very much affected by the environment and will adjust to it. If something is presented to them they will shift and react. If something is not there for left-hemispheric children, it doesn’t exist for them.	Fantasy-oriented ~ Right-hemispheric children will try to change the environment, to make it shift and react to meet their needs in any way they know how. They deal with fantasy, with imagery, with imagination.
Temporal ~ Left-hemispheric children have a sense of time.	Non-temporal ~ Right-hemispheric children have very little sense of time. They simply do not comprehend when you set time limits. They cannot think in any terms except the here and now.

Brain Dominance Tests:

• Brain Dominance Test (Online Test)
• Hemispheric Dominance Inventory Test
• Lumosity
• Left-Brain / Right Brain Quiz for Teens

Right-Brain Teaching Tips:

• Improving Academic Success with Right-Brain Learning Methods by Lori Enomoto
• Right-Brained Math from The HomeSchool Mom
• More Right-Brained Math Ideas from The HomeSchool Mom
• Right-Brained Reading from the HomeSchool Mom
• Right-brained Reading Strategies from the HomeSchool Mom
• Right-brained Reading Strategies, Part 2 from the HomeSchool Mom

Left Brain, Right Brain: Perspectives From Cognitive Neuroscience (Series of Books in Psychology) by Sally P. Springer

Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World: Unlocking the Potential of Your ADD Child by Jeffrey Freed

Making Right Brained Learners Scientists Using Right Brained Strategies by Leo Hernandez

Right Brain Math: A Fun, Easy, Visual Approach to Math by Thomas Biesanz

The Right Side Of Learning: Effective Study Skills For Attention Deficit, Dyslexia, And Creative Right-Brained Thinking by Melanie West

 

Please visit this page frequently as I will be posting regular updates as I find more resources.