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World Teachers’ Day is celebrated all over the globe, in more than 100 countries! This year World Teachers’ Day fell on the 5th of October, during the school holidays in Australia, so some states will mark Teachers’ Day on the 25th of October. 

World Teachers’ Day is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our teachers who inspire, challenge, and empower students to reach their potential and achieve outstanding personal results everyday. We don’t always take the time to think about all the work teachers do for us and World Teachers’ Day is a great opportunity for schools, students and parents to show our appreciation of teachers. 

A great way to show your appreciation on World Teachers’ Day is to simply say “thank you” the next time you see your teacher. You could also get creative and make a card, draw a picture, write a poem or write a letter to say thanks to your teacher.

This World Teachers’ Day be sure to let your teachers know how much you appreciate the work they do!

To all the teachers out there, Happy Teachers’ Day from the Learn Primary team!

At Learn Primary we know how hard teachers work and we have built Learn Primary to help to lighten the workload. At the moment we are offering a free trial of Learn Primary for 2019. Why don’t you try it out and see how Learn Primary can help save you time! You can find out more here: https://dev.learnprimary.com.au/school-trial/

Wow! We are very excited to have been selected by Education Technology Insights as one of the top 10 EdTech Startup in APAC.

Recognition of the hard work of our team is wonderful…and gives us even more determination to provide access to quality online education resources to students, teachers and parents in the region.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us so far and to all the students, teachers and parents who are using Learn Primary right now!

You can read the full article and other related articles on the Education Technology Insights website, or view the article below.

National Science Week 2019, Australia’s annual celebration of science and technology, was held last week from the 10th to 18th of August. 

There were over 1000 events happening around Australia to mark National Science Week in schools, libraries, museums and other places. Visit scienceweek.net.au for more information and to find events near you. The National Science Week website also has some great resources for parents and schools and plenty of ideas try out during science week or any other time. It is easy to get involved at home. Try out some simple science activities or experiments like planting seeds, investigating what happens when you mix oil and water or making Oobleck.

This year the National Science Week theme for schools is : Destination Moon: more missions, more science. 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s moonwalk. This theme encourages us to discover past missions to the moon and other space programs and to learn more about current and future space programs, operations and missions. 

Exploring this year’s theme is a great opportunity to learn more about Space Missions and to incorporate Science with Literacy, Numeracy and other subjects. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Do some research to find out about some past space missions and famous explorers. Do you know any Australian astronauts?
• Create a poster or presentation about your favourite space mission or astronaut.
• Put together a timeline about space exploration or about the life of a famous astronaut. If you have never made a timeline before, Learn Primary has some lessons to help you get started. 
• Imagine that you are an astronaut. Write a story about your journey into space or a diary entry about life on a space shuttle.
• Learn more about the solar system. You could even create a piece of art based on the solar system.
• Read children’s books and stories about space and the moon. Some suggestions include: Margaret and the Moon by Dean Robbins and Lucy Knisley, The Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield and How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers.

We would love to hear how you are getting involved in National Science Week. Leave a comment below to let us know.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Harmony Day celebrations in Australia.

So, what is Harmony Day you ask?

This year Harmony Day has been extended to cover a entire week from 17-23 March 2019. This week includes the 21st of March, which is the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Harmony Week recognises and celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity. It’s about understanding and encouraging inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone that calls Australia home.

Schools across Australia will be recognising Harmony Day with activities and events that highlight and celebrate our diversity. Celebrations may include the colour orange, chosen to represent Harmony Week because it signifies communication, meaningful conversations, freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect.

You too can join in the celebrations at home.

You could try:

• Wearing something orange to work or school to show your support.

• Cooking a meal or dessert that originates from another country. You could try Sushi (Japan), Briyani (India), Horiatiki (Greece), Milk Tart (South Africa) or Irish Stew (Ireland).

• Reading stories about different cultures or traditional tales from different countries.  

• Watching a documentary or reading about the traditional Indigenous custodians of the land where you live, or where your school is built.

• Learning how to say “Hello, how are you?” in a different language.

• Learning to write your name is a different script.  

• Asking your parents or grandparents about your family’s heritage.

At Learn Primary we love being part of such a wonderfully multicultural country that includes people with a number of different cultural and linguistic backgrounds…together we can all call ourselves Australians, let’s celebrate this!

Writing is a vital skill that children continue to develop right throughout their schooling, however not all children find writing an easy task. In today’s technology driven environment writing has become an even more important communication skill with new forms of communication adding to what children need to learn.

Why is writing important?

• It’s a practical life skill.

We complete tasks almost daily by writing: such as filling in forms, writing shopping lists, letters and emails or reports.

• It’s an important aspect of a child’s education.

Even with the increased use of technology in schools, children are still required to put pen to paper during assignments, school work, homework and exams.

• It will be critical to your future job.

Employees in certain areas write daily. Teachers, receptionists, journalists, researchers and many other professions all rely on their writing skills to perform their jobs. Your child might also develop an interest in creative writing and become an author, script writer or song writer!

• It allows you to communicate.

Writing letters and emails to stay in touch with family and friends, and even writing and signing contracts and leases are different forms of communication.

• It’s an outlet.

Many people find it therapeutic to write down their thoughts, frustrations and feelings, or to create fictional texts that allow them to express their creativity.

So, how can I help?

• Make it FUN!

Encourage but never force your child to write, they could develop a negative attitude towards it if they feel forced into it. Let them write about topics that they are interested in, if they love robots, let them write a story about a robot or a letter to an engineer telling them how to design a robot.

• Praise them.

Give your child lots of praise and encouragement. Be realistic about spelling and grammar, give constructive and positive feedback. You could even publish a piece of work that your child is particularly proud of (even if it’s just making their own book at home).

• Create a writing environment.

Create a space in your home that’s dedicated to writing, have different writing materials available, a comfortable chair to sit on and a table that’s the right height for your child.

• Read.

The best writers are readers too. Reading shows your child how writing should look, improves their spelling and enhances their vocabulary.

• Model writing.

Let your child see you writing. This shows them the different scenarios where writing is used and allows them to ask questions about how you write.

• Write for different reasons.

There are so many different forms of writing, not just story writing. Let your child explore writing letters, cards, poetry, emails, blog posts, shopping lists, and journal entries.

• Create writing prompts.

If your child feels stuck have a few writing prompts to get them thinking, such as:

If I ruled the world…

The day I found the magic bean…

How to ride a dragon…

Draw a character. Now write about it.

Send an email to the Prime Minister making a suggestion to improve your neighbourhood…

Writing is a great way for children to express their creativity and is an important part of their academic lives. Making it fun, giving your child the time and space to be creative, and practising often will all help them in becoming better writers. Learn Primary includes many lessons aimed at developing an understanding of the structure and features of different types of texts and how to write for a purpose. Why not try them out?

NAPLAN (which stands for National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy) is a series of diagnostic tests that assess the learning level of children and their classroom as a whole. It’s not strictly designed to be prepared for, however the assessment can be useful as a benchmark to ensure your little one is picking up all the skills and understandings they’ll need as the foundation for future knowledge.

Our team of Aussie teachers and parents have custom-designed a learning support system called Learn Primary for primary school aged children. Here’s how it can help to maximise your child’s literacy and numeracy skills and prepare them for the first NAPLAN assessments in Year 3.

Learning content that is aligned to the national NAPLAN curriculum
First and foremost, we’ve designed Learn Primary to align with the Australian curriculum. This means applying the assessable literacy and numeracy skills to problem solving scenarios that children may have not experienced before, which fosters both their fundamental knowledge and their ability to adapt to new scenarios.

A personalised learning experience
No two children learn the same way at the same time. Learn Primary can be easily used to address any gaps in children’s knowledge with its personalised progress framework and flexible menu options. You can repeat sections as necessary if there’s a tricky concept that was missed in the classroom, ensuring your child can feel confident as they complete their NAPLAN assessments. Our adaptive learning platform means that lessons can be tailored according to your child’s individual learning requirements, making it a relevant learning experience for them.

Fun, engaging and fresh content
Learning needn’t and shouldn’t be boring, particularly if you’re asking your child to spend their time out of the classroom reinforcing the skills they’ve been learning. We have designed Learn Primary with cartoon characters, bright colours and an engaging game-like learning environment that results in an appealing learning system that children will actually want to use.

Self-guided pace
Learn Primary is designed to move at the child’s self-guided pace and to require minimal parental supervision. That doesn’t mean it’s a hands-off experience for you – in fact, quite the opposite. There’s actually a Parent Zone in Learn Primary that provides extra teaching tools and strategies in line with the national curriculum, so you can support your child’s learning and development at home.

A monthly subscription
The other benefit of Learn Primary is that there isn’t a massive financial outlay like you might pay for a tutor or additional classes. In the months leading up to the NAPLAN tests, you can pay a small monthly fee to use the learning support system on your own tablet device. There are no huge initial costs upfront, making the system affordable for parents across Australia.

Ready to get started? Sign up with Learn Primary today and get your first term for free!

If your child is in Year 3 and is nearing their first NAPLAN assessment, it can be easy to feel unsure about how to best prepare your child for the experience. We’ve put together a simple guide on how to get NAPLAN-ready without the stress.

First, remember that NAPLAN does not require hours of serious study
The NAPLAN assessments are not designed to be crammed for – instead, they’re designed to evaluate how effectively classrooms and students are learning over time. These assessments align with the national literacy and numeracy curriculum, so children should be already learning these important English and mathematics skills on a daily basis in the classroom. Therefore, the best way to prepare your child is to help them consistently develop their literacy and numeracy skills over time.

For some children, the challenge may not lie in understanding the basic concepts, but in applying these skills and understandings in an assessment situation.

Keep in mind that NAPLAN questions may require some interpretation
One important thing to remember about NAPLAN is that the questions can often present new situations that require problem solving and interpretation from the child. These may include completing multiple steps for a question, filling in a gap or identifying the reverse order of a situation. The process of reading, interpreting and self-correcting while under time constraints can be a relatively new experience.

How to prepare your child for problem solving
You can begin to practise for these types of questions with your child by asking them questions about cooking, gardening or other relevant situations so they can learn to apply their English and mathematics knowledge in new and unusual contexts. Almost any experience can be an educational opportunity.

Reassure your child that NAPLAN is nothing to be feared
It can be nerve-wracking for children and parents alike to feel like an assessment is coming up, but NAPLAN is ultimately a way to assess current levels of literacy and numeracy, and it is not a life-defining exam. There is no pass or fail.

Now is a very good time to remind your child that the NAPLAN tests are not to be feared, and not to worry too much about any answers they can’t answer. It’s also a good time to take a breath yourself! The results will indicate which percentile your child fits into, which does provide the opportunity to provide extra learning support if you feel they need it. Ultimately, NAPLAN should not be a troubling or stressful time for parents or children but rather a helpful tool in the educational toolkit.

Tutoring can be quite the controversial topic amongst parents of primary school aged children in Australia. While many parents feel that tutoring is a luxury, there are also many who see value in one-on-one support. There’s really no right or wrong answer, but it’s worth considering the pros and cons before you make your decision.

Why consider additional support for younger kids?

There are many reasons that parents may look to extra educational support for their primary school children. Parents are busier than ever before and many just don’t have the time to assist their little ones with their schoolwork at home. For some children, extra learning assistance can help to build confidence and to reinforce concepts in a distraction-free environment outside of the classroom. Some children are closely involved in sport or competitive activities, which can lead to them falling behind if they don’t catch up outside of school hours. Then there’s the simple fact that school work seems to have become more challenging at much earlier ages; additional support is an increasingly common choice for children in Year 2 and leading into Year 3, when the first NAPLAN assessment takes place.

The obstacles to tutoring

Unfortunately, tutoring is a service that many parents find difficult to afford. Some turn to small-class tutoring or online tutoring to reduce the costs of tutoring, however even these services can be expensive. The other downside is that for many children tutoring can feel like they’re being ‘punished’ with extra school time, particularly if they’re struggling to enjoy their regular classroom experiences.

The alternatives to tutoring

One solution is to find a digital option that integrates fun and self-paced learning, so the child can pick up information in the way that suits them. There are countless learning apps and websites available online, however it’s important that parents choose one that aligns with the Australian curriculum such as Learn Primary. This ensures kids will gain a comprehensive awareness of the English and mathematical concepts that are important for their age through engaging activities, without missing any important building blocks that will help them to build on that knowledge.

It’s also easy to underestimate the power of fun and motivation in additional learning processes. In one University of Colorado study, the gamification of information saw a 11-14% rise in student knowledge and a 9% rise in retention rates over non-gamified alternatives. Clearly, engaging learning is effective learning.

Pair this type of digital solution with great parental support at home, and children will have the tools to succeed in leaps and bounds.

\The national curriculum for Australian primary schools is aimed at equipping students with the skills, knowledge, confidence and creativity for life. At a Year 2 level, students are getting to know themselves better and to engage with the world around them in a number of ways. As a parent, you may be wondering about the specifics of the curriculum and how your child may be faring. Here we cover the skills and understanding you should be looking for throughout your child’s experience of Year 2.

What does the Year 2 curriculum cover?

The Year 2 national curriculum covers a range of topics throughout the year, covering themes within English, mathematics, science, health and physical education, humanities and social sciences, art and technology. English and mathematics are the two core subjects, which is why our learning app provides comprehensive support in these two areas. If students can build a strong foundation in English and mathematics, this will help them to understand other important concepts that relate to these key literacies.

English learning areas

At a detailed level the Year 2 English learning content covers grammar, punctuation, vocabulary and meaning in language. Although this is not a comprehensive list of what children will be learning, look out for greater understanding in these areas:
– Punctuation of sentences, including capital letters, full-stops, question marks, and commas to separate items in a list.
– Increasing vocabulary and the ability to read common sight words.
– Awareness of phonics and the ability to sound out unknown words.
– Writing a range of texts aimed to ‘entertain’, ‘inform’ or ‘persuade’.
– Spelling rules and patterns.

Mathematical learning areas

The Year 2 mathematics curriculum covers a range of key themes, ranging from fractions to units of measurement. Expect to see these new skills from your child throughout the year:
– Counting to and from 1,000.
– Multiplying and dividing by grouping numbers into sets, plus simple addition and subtraction.
– Identifying the pattern of number sequences involving 2s, 3s and 5s.
– Recognising common fractions such as halves, quarters and eighths.
– Interpreting simply drawn maps of familiar locations.
– Identifying the features of 3D objects.
– Identifying and counting amounts of Australian coins and notes.
– Telling time to the closest quarter hour and examining months and dates on a calendar.
– The basics of chance, for example the likelihood of something happening.

If you feel your little one could use extra support, there are a number of resources available. Consider the Learn Primary solution for learning activities that align with the Australian Year 2 curriculum; Term One access is even free for the first 1,000 sign-ups.