School Holidays: Ways to Help Your Children Beat the Summer Slide Did you know that over the upcoming school holiday break many students will lose approximately 20% of the academic gains they made in reading, and 27% of the academic gains they made in maths during the 2020 school year? I need to admit that…
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent disruption to schools, many Australian parents have found themselves managing their child’s education at home. Parents of students currently completing first year of school have also found themselves assisting their child to learn how to read. At Optimise we understand that students who are learning how to read,…
Many Australian parents have unexpectedly found themselves adding teacher and education manager to the multitude of roles they undertake and perform daily for their children. To date, government strategies to slow down and prevent the transmission of COVID-19 have resulted in Australian schools organising online learning for the majority of their students, so they do…
If a young person is identified as outstanding above their peers, or gifted and talented in a particular area, we may be left wondering the true potential of their developmentally advanced mind? Just how high could this young person aim to achieve? IDENTIFYING GIFTEDNESS Only two of every one hundred young people are classified as…
Individualised tutoring presents students with a range of learning benefits. Parents organise academic tutoring for their child for many different reasons. Some parents feel unable to assist their child adequately with their homework. Other parents seek expert tutoring for their child because they have fallen behind at school, or because their child is a quick…
Teaching students and communicating with their parents across a variety of school settings has provided me with the opportunity to closely observe the habits of successful students* and their families. PARENTS ARE THEIR CHILD’S FIRST TEACHERS As parents, we understand that children learn at different rates and have individual learning styles, however there are routines…
NAPLAN Results Show Writing Standards Are Declining The 2019 NAPLAN results have revealed that more than 17 per cent of Australian Year 9 students have failed to meet national minimum writing achievement standards. Approximately 10 per cent of year 7 students, 7 per cent of year 5 students and 3 per cent of year 3…
This is a question I am regularly asked by parents of primary school aged students. If their child is in Year 3 or above, my answer is, “Yes”. The ability to memorise and automatically recall the 12 X tables is a skill that can be learned by most students with practise, and doing so…
It is essential for Australian students to be skilled in English for them to succeed at school. Learning the skills of English, including reading, writing, grammar and spelling, is a developmental process, and each student learns these skills at their own pace. Even though students progress at different rates, they are expected to demonstrate pre-determined…
Brain compatible teaching can be defined as using teaching methods, planning lessons and classroom experiences, and implementing whole school programs that are based on the latest scientific research about how the brain learns most effectively and efficiently. There are 12 principles that many educators and schools reference when striving to create brain compatible lessons and…