Chris Rolando, Author of the Best-Selling The Leadership Formula, Tackles the Question of Pushing Forward

Chris Rolando, Author of the Best-Selling 'The Leadership Formula,' Tackles the Question of 'Pushing Forward'Chris Rolando, a leading authority on product business and leadership and author of the best-selling 'The Leadership Formula,' talks with Nathan J. Amato, founder and CEO of The Social Listening Company. They talk about how to build successful entrepreneurs, what Chris learned in his years as a network marketing expert, and why you should never apologize for being a leader.Nathan J. Amato, founder and CEO of The Social Listening Company, is the author of the bestselling book 'The Leadership Formula.' And Chris Rolando, a leading authority on product business and leadership and author of the best-selling 'The Leadership Formula,' talks with Nathan J. Amato, founder and CEO of The Social Listening Company.In 'The Leadership Formula,' Chris Roloson tells readers how to master the skill of thinking like a leader and to develop the mindset that enables leaders to succeed. While he covers various aspects of building effective network marketing organizations, one of the keys to his advice is, 'Leadership is the ability to push forward and keep pushing forward'. Here's a special episode in which Nathan discusses how important it is to 'pushing forward' - and why it's extremely difficult to be a 'pushover' when it comes to self-improvement.In 'The Leadership Formula,' Chris Roloson is asked how to find mentors. He explains that some leaders are simply not interested in mentoring - because they are too busy to talk with other leaders - and that it's necessary to find someone who is interested in what you have to say and in your experience.Chris Rolando, a leading authority on product business and leadership and author of the best-selling 'The Leadership Formula,' also emphasizes that 'leadership isn't just about getting along with others; it's about using your time and resources wisely.' Here, Nathan J. Amato talks with Chris Rolando, who is a leading authority on product business and leadership and author of the best-selling 'The Leadership Formula,' about what one must learn about product business to be a top performer, how to apply those lessons to his own network marketing experience, and why he believes that the CEO of a product company is rarely the leader.In 'The Leadership Formula,' Chris Roloson emphasizes that to be a good leader, one must learn how to make himself and others around him the center of attention. He describes how a leader can make himself 'the center of gravity' by setting and meeting standards for performance and reminding others of the importance of performance. Here, Nathan J. Amato explains why this is so difficult - and why it's essential for leaders to set high standards for themselves and those around them.Nathan J. Amato is the CEO of The Social Listening Company, and in the world of leadership, Chris Roloson is known as a leading authority on product business and leadership and author of the best-selling 'Th e Leadership Formula.' In this episode, Chris Roloson shares with Nathan J. Amato, founder and CEO of The Social Listening Company, his insights about what it takes to be a 'pushover,' why the CEO isn't the leader, and how a leader can make himself the center of attention. Nathan J. Amato's book, 'The Leadership Formula: Are You an Expert in Your Business?' is available at a number of outlets and can be obtained through Nathan's website at: www.thesociallisteningcompany.com.

6 Easy-to-Learn Classic Country Songs for Guitarists

6 Easy-to-Learn Classic Country Songs for Guitarists Maile Proctor Looking for some beginner-friendly country songs to play on guitar? Here,  Katy, TX guitar instructor Zachary A. shares some of his favorite classic country songs that are easy to learn and fun to play Country music has changed a lot over the past couple decades, but the classic country songs from the 50s and 60s still highlight the country music genre. The music written by Hank Williams Sr., George Jones, Carl Perkins, and Waylon Jennings was revolutionary. Each one of these artists has left a profound footprint on the genre, and paved the way for new country artists. Country songs are generally pretty basic, which makes them fairly easy to play when youre learning guitar. Most of the songs consist of three or four basic chords, and use the blues chord progression of I-IV-I-V. Country songs are perfect to play around a campfire, and sing along with your friends. Classic country songs have simple rhythms, but they are powerful, timeless, songs that resonate with listeners. Country songs are heartfelt and emotional, and perfect to play or listen to when you feel sad or blue. Here are six country songs that are easy to play on guitar. * The First three songs are from the legendary country artist Hank Williams Sr. Hey Good Lookin This song uses G7, C, C7, F, and D7. The song uses a few basic chord progressions, the I-II-V and the I-IV-I-V, all in the key of G major. Honky Tonk Blues This is another great song that you can learn fairly quickly. Its in the key of C major, and it uses the I-IV-I-V-I basic blues chord progression. The chords used in the song are C, F, and G.  This one may be one of the easiest songs to learn and play because it’s just one simple chord progression. Your Cheatin Heart This song uses a couple basic sets of chord progressions, which are pieced together throughout the song. Those are the V-I, and the I-IV-V-I, which repeat in the sequence V-I-I-IV-V-I. You will use the G7, C, C7, F, and D7 chords, and you will play the song in the key of G major. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain By Willie Nelson Play this simple, timeless classic in the key of E major. The song uses the G#, F#, E, E sus, B7, and A chords. The song is mainly in two different chord progressions: IV-I-V-I-VI, which repeats and ends the second progression on the IV, and III-II-I-I-I. Mamas Dont Let Your Babies Grow up to be Cowboys Performed by Waylong Jennings and Willie Nelson This song was performed first by Ed Bruce, and made famous by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. The song actually only consist of two simple chord progressions I-IV-V and II-V-IV. The song is in the key of D major. You will use the D, G and A E, B chords to play this song. Mama Tried By Merle Haggard To close out this list of epic classic country songs, I want to include my favorite country song of all time, Mama Tried by Merle Haggard. The song is in the key of D major and primarily uses the I-IV-I-V chord progression. You will use the D, G, and A chords to play this song. All of these legendary country songs provide a foundation to help you create and write your own music. So if you want to write a country hit, or record a song thats number one on the charts, then these songs are a great place to start! Cant get enough country music? Here are some more great country songs for guitarists. Looking for a great guitar instructor in your area? Search here for guitar teachers near you!  Zachary A. is a guitar instructor in Katy, TX specializing in beginning and intermediate students. He is currently earning a degree in  music theory. Learn more about Zachary here! Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher

5 Facts Everyone Should Know About Biology

5 Facts Everyone Should Know About Biology 0SHARESShare Biology the science of life  is that part of your studies that teaches you all about why your body functions the way it does how and why one reacts in certain situations. There are various hidden facts about our body organs that one needs to be aware about. Here is a list of few of such details relating to our body organs which can alter your thinking   regarding your body’s functioning. • In today’s time, even with the development in medical science, various reasons lead to the failure of our internal organs. But how much damage to the same can we bear? The truth is that even if 80 per cent of the intestines or 75 per cent of the liver is removed, a human being can survive. And similarly if one kidney and one lung are removed, we will still be alive! That is how strong our body is. • An ear, whose primary function is thought to be of hearing, is basically meant to maintain the balance of our body. Yes, you read it right. In case one loses an ear, that person will face a lot of disorientation in case of walking and maintaining balance. •  Bowman capsule  is a cup like structure in a nephron, which is a kidney cell, and undertakes the first step in the process of blood filtration by extracting from it the urine. • Why do we as humans can think rationally and behave the way we do? It is because of the growth in the brain’s cerebral cortex; this part of the brain stores the memory and controls the motor functions and thought processes. • Does your nose start watering when you cry? If yes, it’s because of the drain created by the tear ducts into the back of your nose. [starbox id=admin]

What is a College Lecture

What is a College Lecture The spring of your senior year of high school is an exciting timewithin the next few months, youll be finding out where youve been accepted to college and making concrete plans for the future. Shortly after that, youll be expected to create a course schedule for your first semester. Colleges offer many different types of classesfrom focused laboratory sessions to small discussion-based seminars. One of the most commonly offered courses is the college lecture. College lectures often have large class sizes, necessitate avid listening skills, and incorporate required reading assignments. Curious if a lecture-style course is right for you? Keep reading to learn what to know about college lectures. College lectures typically come with large class sizes More often than not, college lecture classes are quite large in size. This is especially true during your first year of college, when youll probably be taking high-demand introductory courses. Depending on the size of your school, lecture courses may enroll up to several hundred students. Due to the number of students, lectures are usually held in large auditoriums appropriately called lecture halls. In very large lecture courses, you may go through an entire semester without speaking directly to your professor. Instead, you may be instructed to meet with your TA (or teaching assistant)likely a graduate student who is there to assist your professor in running the course throughout the semesterwho can help you by: Answering specific questions regarding concepts discussed in class Discussing ideas or thoughts you have regarding reading assignments Clarifying questions you have about assignment or coursework requirements You can stand out in your large lecture class by getting to know your TA and by introducing yourself to your professor, even if its briefly, after class. [RELATED: Know the Difference Between In-Person, Online, and Hybrid Courses] College lectures require close listening Your professor will likely stand at a podium and talkwith or without visual aidsduring each lecture session. You will be expected to follow along and take notes. In high school, you may have had a few classes that were based in this lecture and note-taking style. These were good practice for what youll encounter in college. Its not always easy to know what information said by your professor is worthy of going into your notes. Chat with your TA to get some advice if youre having trouble knowing what you should focus on when your professor speaks. With some practice, youll become an expert listener and note-taker. Additionally, since so much of the content of lecture courses is created in class by your professor, its important to attend every class period. Skipping class can mean missing out on important information youll need for your exams and coursework. [RELATED: How to Write an Email to Your Professor] College lectures incorporate reading assignments Your professor is likely to assign a reading assignment that youll need to complete in order to prepare for each lecture. These readings can be lengthy and time-consuming to finish. Some students skim reading material when they feel pressed for time, but its important to avoid this habit. Completing readings before class is important, because it gives you background for what youll be learning from your professor and allows you to prepare focused questions for either class time or your TA. Most college courses meet one to three times per week. Therefore, youll typically have at least one day between your classes to complete your reading assignments. Think of creative ways to get these assignments done, such as reading on your bus ride to campus, during your lunch break, or for an hour before bed. The more you stay on top of your reading assignments, the easier it will be to follow along during class and to get the most out of your lecture courses. [RELATED: What is a College Seminar?] Any topics you want to know more about? Let us know! The Varsity Tutors Blog editors love hearing your feedback and opinions. Feel free to email us at blog@varsitytutors.com.

How to Make the Most of Your Business School Campus Visit

How to Make the Most of Your Business School Campus Visit Visiting the campuses of your top-choice business schools can be an eye-opening experience. While on campus, you will gain a better understanding of how you would fit in this particular program. To make the most of your business school campus visits, ask strategic questions and incorporate what you learned during your visit into your applications. You can also learn more tips below. Properly prepare for your business school campus visit Do your research before arriving on campus. Plan your travel so that youre early for your appointment, and come dressed in business attire. Research the admissions officers, student leaders, and professors who youll be meeting with. This way, you can familiarize yourself with who they are before you speak to them. Also practice your 30-second elevator pitch on who you are, what you do, and why you wish to attend business school. You will be answering these questions often during your application process, so prepare for them now. [RELATED: 4 Steps to Take Today to Prepare for B-School] Ask strategic questions during your business school campus visit During your business school campus visit, pay attention to all of the information provided to you, but specifically focus on the areas of the program you are most interested in and would like to know more about. For example: If you want to go into investment banking after graduation, ask your tour guide which financial firms regularly recruit on campus. If youre interested in international business, inquire about study abroad programs and internship opportunities in other countries that the school has facilitated for students. Show that you have done your homework on the program by requesting specific information that relates to your needs, as opposed to general facts about the school that you could have learned from their website. [RELATED: The 2 Soft Skills You Need for Business School] Send a thank you note to each person you spoke with during your business school campus visit Write a handwritten note to every person who helped you during your b-school campus visit, and send these within a few days of your visit. This includes your tour guide, the admissions officers, the professors, and any other helpful individuals you encountered while at the school. Note how the advice or information that each person shared specifically helped you learn more about the program. Talk about your business school campus visit in your application Business schools want to know why you are applying to their program, as well as what efforts you have made to decide that their program is the best one for you. Include details in your essays about people you met, clubs you learned about, or classes you visited on your tour that influenced your decision to apply to this school. Elaborate on what you learned during your visit that confirmed how this particular program could help you achieve your goals, and clearly state what those goals are. Additionally, share why you would be an asset to the program. Demonstrate that you are ready to contribute your talents to your future class and to the school as a whole. Your business school campus visits can provide essential information for your MBA application process. These visits allow you to learn more about your schools and your schools to learn more about you. While on your visit, take a moment to explore the campus and the surrounding area. Use the visit to your full advantage so that you know as much as possible about the environment where you will spend the next years of your academic life. [RELATED: What I Wish I Knew Before Starting Business School] Any topics you want to know more about? Let us know! The Varsity Tutors Blog editors love hearing your feedback and opinions. Feel free to email us at blog@varsitytutors.com.

Common Pronunciation Mistakes in English - English Lesson via Skype

Common Pronunciation Mistakes in English - English Lesson via Skype Click edit button to change this text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo. Common Pronunciation Mistakes in English Today, were looking at English pronunciation, how to pronounce certain words in English. And in particular were looking at some key mistakes that lots of students make whether they are Spanish, French, Italian,or Russian.I let you into a little secret. Even English people make mistakes with their pronunciation. There are lots of people in different parts of the UK that drop Hs all the time and they never pronounce them when they talk.This is how they pronounce my name Harry:Arry, ave we got this?Arry, ave you got that?Theyre supposed to be native speakers but they dont always get it right.So dont worry about it. Youre in a big club of people who get English pronunciation wrong.Were going to try and correct some of the common pronunciation mistakes in English today.Lets start with some easy ones that everybody in every country gets wrong. And it’s the words:thoughalthoughthroughthoroughlyAll of these words start with two letters th like the word the. And thats the sound we want to g et correct.If we take the word THOUGH I think you hear that sound th though.Though. You try it. Though.Once again though.And then we take it all:thoughalthougheven thoughAlso we have the word THROUGH. It also starts with TH.He walked through the door.He walked through the forest.You try it. throughThe same sound as when you throw a ball. Past tense he threw the ball.And finally that word THOROUGHLY again.He thoroughly enjoyed himself. = meaning He really enjoyed himself.Thoroughly.You try it thoroughly. Common Pronunciation Mistakes in English - Silent H Now I mentioned at the beginning of this little session that people in England, and particularly in the north of England, dropped their Hs.That doesnt happen all the time. And there are certain words in English where its possible to drop the H and we dont pronounce it.Words like:honesthonourheirhourThere are a number of English words where it is appropriate to drop Hs.Now be careful. There are other words and particularly people in those Mediterranean countries like Italy, France and Spain where they have a tendency to drop Hs on words where we shouldnt drop them.I dont wish to cause you any harm.It’s not I don’t wish to cause you any arm.And this wonderful little cute animal the hedgehog. Often you hear the edgehog. What is an edgeog?Ah its a hedgehog.Nice little spiky friend that walks across your lawn in the middle of the night.Hedgehog. H. Hedge-hog.So get that h sound: hedgehog, hedgehog.Not an edgeog.You try it. Hedgehog.Once again. Hedgehog.hedgehog you try it.So we dont drop those Hs.I dont wish you any harm.The hedgehog is a wonderful animal.Theres also a tendency to drop the h in hotel.I stayed in a hotel.It’s not I stayed in a otel.I cant hear you properly.It’s not I can’t ear you properly.The ground is very hard. Hard meaning tough.It’s not the ground is very ard.The mountain was huge.It’s not the mountain was uge.Hello.It’s not ello.You try them:harmhedgehoghugehellohotelhearhard So now to some funny and strange sounding words with the letter S.And again some of the Mediterranean students that I have will recognise these sounds.Lets talk about two words.SHIPThe ship sailed on the ocean. Ship.And the SHEEPThe sheep in the field.These words can, if youre not careful, sound very similar.Where is the ship?Where are the sheep?Very strange.SHIP. Its got a short I. We have to have a very certain sharp sound. Like the word IT. Its not eat. It’s IT.And we want the same sound in SHIP.The ship is on the ocean.SHEEPLong e. Sheep like the word eat.We eat our dinner.We dont it our dinner.Ship is on the ocean.Sheep running around the field.Two other words that cause problems.SHEETA sheet of paper.Could you please pass me a sheet of paper?Again you got that long e sound like this sheep.But its not a shit of paper. It’s not it.A bit funny a shit of paper but were talking about a sheet of paper.So if you go into your office and you ask your colleaguecan you pass me a shi t of paper What? Theyll be a little bit surprised.So it is a sheet of paper.We can talk about shit some other time.You might find the video or the movie you watched shit.But when were talking about the sheet of paper it’s SHEET.You try it:sheepshipsheetThats our lesson today on pronunciation. I hope youveenjoyed it and youve understood a little of the problems that students can come across.And all it is is practice,practice and practice.Get yourself a good teacher.Listen, practise. Listen and practise and repeat. Repeat to get those sounds right.So as always subscribe to my channel and join me on www.englishlessonviaskype.comAnd when you get there, make sure you look out for the new announcement of my Easy Peasy English Club.This is a wonderful new invention by me where you can join the club.In that club you will get one free lesson every week. Yeah one free lesson. One lesson is going to be recorded every week.And then you also have an opportunity to get into a competition where youll get one FREE face-to-face lesson with me if you win that competition.So look out for it and join me again soon.

How to Win Time by Losing the Calculator on the GRE

How to Win Time by Losing the Calculator on the GRE GRE/MAT Graduate School Blog The GRE may not be a fun test, but it’s also not a cruel test. Unlike other standardized exams you need to take to get into grad school, the GRE lets you use a calculator on the Quantitative section. In fact, the GRE actually providesyou with a calculator. This is great news for every test-taker with a fatal allergy to mental math (I’m looking at you, Humanities people). The people who write the GRE know that there is a large segment of people taking this test who use the calculator app on their phones every time they have to split the pizza bill up five ways. But that calculator is on-screen, which means you have to do a lot of clicking any time you want to make a calculation. It’s actually incredibly annoying to use and, furthermore, can eat up a lot of time. In reality, while the GRE provides you with a calculator, the test is really designed to benefit people who know how to avoidusing one. Why Should I Avoid the Calculator If It's Right There? Like I mentioned earlier, using that calculator takes time. On top of taking the time to punch numbers into a poorly designed calculator interface, you have to jot down results to keep track of relevant values. Going back and forth between these steps as you solve a problem might only add 20 extra seconds to the problem you’re working on. But if you take that extra 20 seconds on 12 problems, then you’ve wasted four minutes of your allotted time on the Quantitative section just crunching numbers. Remember, the game with the GRE is all about getting as many points as possible. Sure, that means you should make sure you’re answering as many questions correctly as you can. But you also need to make sure you have time to see allthe questions on the test and give them a fair shot. Every second of exam time is precious, and any that you can buy yourself will only help you devote more time to picking up every single point you possibly can. So How Do I Cut Back on My Calculator Use? There are a few surefire ways to cut back on your calculator use. Memorize the simple stuff. You should know your multiplication tables up to a factor of 12 as well as the squares of 1 through 20. Know the Pythagorean triples, there aren’t many. Make sure you’re at least somewhat familiar with all the prime numbers under 100. Develop useful devices for quick mental math. Division rules are really useful for figuring out, roughly, what you’ll get when you divide two numbers. Use simple percents to figure out more complex ones. For instance, you can figure out 40% of 70 easily. 10% of 70 is 7, so 40% is 4 * 7, or 28. Estimate, estimate, estimate.Don’t forget that this is a process of elimination test. You can get far on this exam by doing some rough calculations in your head and eliminating any answer choices that you know for a fact won’t work. Let’s look at an example to see some estimation in action: While you could easily set up some algebra and solve for r, you can do some really quick calculations in your head to eliminate answer choices. First off, we know that we’re trying to figure out what percent of $6,000 equals $840, since that’s the difference between the original amount of money and the new amount including interest. Well, 10% of $6,000 is $600, so 10% is too low. That means we can eliminate answer choices A and B since those are smaller. What about 15%? Well, that’s 10% of $6,000 plus 5% of $6,000, which is $600 plus $300, or $900. That’s too big, so we can eliminate answer choice E also, since that’s higher than 15%. Between B and C, which seems better? Well, $840 isn’t muchless than $900, which means we probably want the answer closest to 15%. That’s answer choice D, which is indeed the correct one. A top-notch GRE strategy absolutely includes methods like these for avoiding calculator work. About the Author Mike S. is one of our most experienced test prep tutors. For more information on our GRE prep packages, click here.

?? How To Teach Your Child To Read Awesome Advice and Top Reading Tools!

?? How To Teach Your Child To Read Awesome Advice and Top Reading Tools! How To Teach Your Child To Read: Awesome Advice and Top Reading Tools! When you think about teaching your child to read, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? For most of us it probably brings to mind memories of sitting in front of an alphabet and sounding out each of the letter sounds. This was likely followed by attempting to draw the letters out by hand. All of this was probably done on repeat until you began to remember the sounds and shapes of the letters. Sound like a familiar picture?This type of reading and writing by rote technique has been practiced for years across many parts of the world, including the UK, and it generally tends to precede any kind of actual reading. Because of course, you need to understand the building blocks before you can understand the words and you need to understand the words before you can write, right? Wrong. Well ok, it’s not completely wrong, but it’s not wholly true either. Researchers from the land of flat-pack furniture and utopian school systems (perhaps unsurprisingly) may have cracked another edu cation myth in recent years.Expanding on a teaching principle originally developed by a 19th century Italian doctor, Maria Montesorri, researchers and educators in Sweden have shown that learning to write before reading, can have significant benefits to children's reading ability. The group created an integrated Writing to Read (iWTR) program that increased the number of ‘excellent’ student readers by an impressive 20%, whilst students’ writing capabilities (in terms of creativity, structure and clarity of content produced) were assessed as being at the same level as students 2 academic years above, by their teacher. Exciting stuff!The study mentioned above used interactive technology capable of digitally synthesising speech (think Siri), so children were able to piece together the words they already knew how to say by trialling different letters and hearing their phonetics. Working in pairs they were able to generate stories from their imagination without having to first lear n to physically write letters.Many schools and studies agree that the physical act of writing is a vital factor in activating and coordinating the reading network in the brain and that the skills should be learnt at the same time. However, the Swedish group suggests that the intellectual process of generating ideas, transferring them into digitised words and then sharing and improving them with their classmates are where the major advantages are found, rather than from the act of handwriting. They also suggest that traditional writing should be left until later, allowing children to focus on the creative aspect of turning thoughts into content.Whilst the Swedish group’s research is yet to be expanded upon, what we do know is that the principles of Writing To Read are likely here to stay for some time and are backed up by a growing amount of evidence.So, how should you teach your child to read? There’s a wealth of options out there, but we’ve been hard at work researching and q uestioning our expert Primary tutors to bring you 8 awesome steps to teach your child to read.? Jump straight to step #8:Use every reading resource you can find!??How to teach your child to read: 8 super simple steps!?#1: Read aloud to your child everyday!This may seem like a simple one, but research by Boston Medical School suggests that parental role models that read often and engage with their children through this format have one of the greatest impacts on positive child outcomes.In a modern world full of tech and too much to do, bedtime stories can easily slip through the net, but they can also be an excellent way of encouraging an interest in reading from an early age. It’s also a pretty lovely way to destress from the day!As your child gets a little older, you can also try following the words with your finger as you read, allowing an association of sounds with words. Eventually, you can have your child attempt to move their finger along the words to match your reading. This can be a great way to assess their comprehension - there are also a load of apps that can fill a similar role.#2: Phonics, Phonics and PhonemesIf you’ve not heard of the term before, phonics are basically the backbone of modern literacy education, being both the name of the method of teaching as well as the term used to describe a single sound produced by 2 or more letters, or the sound of a single letter that doesn’t sound like its letter name (i.e. y in sky).Phonemes are perceptually distinct sounds distinguishing one word from another (i.e. p, b, f, s in pat, bat, fat and sat).Traditionally, phonics are learnt through repetition and interactive activities like vocalisation and card-matching games, which will gradually become ingrained in the student’s brain and will eventually lead into word decoding.However, there are an increasing number of alternative approaches based on emerging research, just like the Swedish study we covered earlier. Just so there’s no confusion: j ust as with any complex system, to understand the sounds that go into reading, children will ultimately have to memorise them. Not all techniques are created equal, however.There’s a huge amount of publicly available EdTech out there that can gamify phonics, enable children to creatively explore how sounds fit into words and there’s even some apps that closely mimic the program described in the Swedish study. All of them being far more engaging and mentally taxing than simple repetition. We’ve covered off a full list of some of the top phonics apps and resources later on in this article!#3: Forget reading - start writing!Ok, so it’s probably worth noting at this point that we don’t expect your kids to be writing novels yet (or even understand what a novel is for that matter). But what you can do is incorporate a variety of motor exercises which studies have shown can increase your child’s capacity to successfully identify letters, words and their corresponding phonics. T his also allows children to add another level of understanding to their learning, giving a more holistic view of reading and writing.Sand or salt trays have been shown to give children a major boost to both confidence and writing ability when used to practice individual letters or numbers. The ability to wipe out mistakes and try again can be hugely beneficial to moving forwards with practice as opposed to seeing the messy mistakes that you might find using paper. This is particularly useful for encouraging children to be ok with their writing mistakes and not to dwell on them, giving them a more positive mindset.Another excellent activity can be to write stories or sentences out together. You can incorporate this into play by using toys to enable your child to describe what’s happening or things like idea-generating dice. By using ideas and words straight from your child’s imagination it improves confidence and self-esteem, but also encourages an interest in both reading and wr iting, seeing that they can continuously build on their work.Using the words your child uses also gives the work a sense of identity and your child a sense of self awareness, which can be further ingrained when returning to the work to edit and extend it. You can go a step further and add illustrations to the work as well.#4: Practice before bed, reinforce first thing in the morning.Scientific research has shown across multiple studies that retention of both motor skills (movement) and new information can be increased substantially when performed, or taken in, shortly before bed.One study in particular has shown that not only can sleep help to improve retention of skills and information when tested the next morning, but that practicing first thing in the morning helps to keep these memories intact throughout the rest of the day.This basically means that practicing phonics, reading or writing before bed and then during breakfast, or on the way to school can not only help your child t o better remember what they’ve learnt in the short-term, but it also helps to stop all the new and exciting information taken in throughout the day from taking its place!What’s even more exciting about this is that it works for most new skills and training, including musical instruments, revision and sports.#5: Say, write and learn - Dolch words.What are Dolch words? Many of you won’t have heard the name before, but you will have come into contact with them in almost every sentence you’ve ever spoken or read. Dolch words are basically some of the most frequently used ‘service words’ in the English language, which are estimated to make up 50-75% of all words in children’s books.By using some of the techniques suggested earlier in this article to learn Dolch words, you can supercharge your child’s reading ability. With 220 words in the original Dolch lists, learning them all is a pretty manageable target that will make a huge difference to your child’s understanding of text.Writing sentences or stories together as discussed earlier and using these words as well as specifically picking them out during a bedtime story will really help to reinforce their correct usage.#6: Have your child read aloud to you every dayOnce your little genius has gotten to grips with the basics, the really enjoyable part can begin! Children’s story books, both physical, electronic and app-based are available in their masses and can be selected by age, ability and preference of genre with increasing ease in the modern world of tech, so you can be sure to find something that engages your child the most. We’ve pulled together a list of the most impressive and useful resources on this front later on in the article.Whatever method you choose to use, you should do your best to ensure that you listen to your child read at least once a day - and yes, this might mean you might have to relinquish control of reading the bedtime story! Studies have shown that parents who show a greater interest in reading and in their child’s activities in general tend to have a positive effect on children’s grades and overall attainment in life - so protect that quality time!One of the major benefits of this point though is setting up an excellent habit that will eventually take hold regardless of whether you’re there or not. A life-long reading habit has a huge impact on children’s wellbeing as well as increasing the 3 major intelligence types: crystalised (what you know), fluid (your ability to solve problems) and emotional (ability to accurately read and respond to your own and other’s feelings).#7: Build their confidence with a tutor!One of the most important factors of learning any skill, but particularly something as vital as reading and writing, is confidence. Confidence is a key component of motivation and motivation is ultimately what is going to drive your child forwards in their learning.To break it down a little further: confidence is based on self -esteem and self-belief and this forms the foundation of our intrinsic motivation. If we believe that something is achievable then we will more than likely have the motivation to keep plugging away at it.If you’ve been in contact with any kind of connected device over the past few years, then you’ve more than likely heard of Caroline Dweck and her team’s work on the growth mindset. Fostering this mindset in children can have a huge impact on children’s self-esteem and self-belief by helping them to reframe intelligence and ability as a dynamic, rather than static, attribute. It also teaches them to see failure through the lens of opportunity rather than negativity. Having a tutor who is experienced in teaching literacy skills and who is capable of regularly spending time with your child, reinforcing a growth mindset, can have a huge impact on confidence levels.In an average 30-child classroom, a teacher has time to give only 10 minutes of individual focus to each child a we ek, meaning that today’s teachers just don’t have time to build students up. 1 to 1 tuition can fulfil this need by providing an aspirational figure who is there solely for your child and can change the focus of the entire lesson to suit the student’s personal needs.With research by the Sutton Trust showing that as few as 6 sessions can be enough to boost your child by a whole grade, the benefits speak for themselves. But don’t take our word for it, have a chat with some of our expert Primary, reading and literacy tutors and find out what they can do for you!#8: Use every reading resource you can find!Whether your child is just at the beginning of their reading journey or is already confident enough to read some books on their own, there is a wealth of resources out there to help them develop their reading abilities at any stage.From digital libraries full of thousands of titles, to vocabulary and spelling apps, phonics programs, interactive books and more, we’ve searched far and wide to bring you the top tools for teaching your child to read. Take a look below at these truly awesome resources!? Top reading tools and resources!?AbiTalk Started in 2011, AbiTalk was devised by Emmy Chen, a software engineer and entrepreneur turned stay-at-home. Emmy realised that interactive apps could be highly effective for teaching her young son reading and phonics.AbiTalk’s apps support not only English, but also Chinese learners too. This design choice is inspired by Emmy’s own experiences and background, as she emigrated from China to the United States in order to attend graduate school to study computer science. She learned English in just six months for this!To date, over 90 apps have been developed for AbiTalk, covering phonics and reading to arithmetic and languages. Every month more are added to the platform, and each app is inspired and tested by Emmy’s son and daughter, so every app is truly kid approved!Start browsing hereAesop’s Quest 2 NRCC Ga mes Studio creates games to serve as educational aids for teachers and students. The games provide a way to learn that’s fun and engaging for students, and is named after the fables from the titular storyteller.Aesop’s Quest focuses on reading comprehension to develop cognitive reading skills, and the touch mechanic of the game engages the child players in a hands-on learning process. The level of reading comprehension can be tuned for the equivalent grade level of the learner, based on excerpts from reading materials appropriate to that level.NRCC Games Studio is located at the New River Community College in Christiansburg, Virginia, and the games are created by the colleges students and funded purely through the app’s revenue.Check it out!AlphaTots Spinlight develop apps with fun at the forefront, and AlphaTots Alphabet is no exception! The app introduces kids to their ABCs with colourful graphics, interactive minigames and even songs. The upper and lower-case forms of each letter are displayed, and children can learn its sound and launch a mini game that hooks their engagement. The games are failure-free and can be tweaked to prevent accidental touches, so frustrations arising from developing motor skills are eliminated and learning is maximised.The app features 26 minigames, one for each letter of the alphabet, along with an interactive alphabet that kids can use to recite their ABCs any time and no third-party apps, so parents can confidently leave their child without fearing for their bank account!Take a look hereB-InspiredMamaAs a former art teacher turned work-at-home mom of three, Krissy deeply understands the struggle so many moms have juggling their busy lives with their desire to raise well-rounded, creative kids. To help those fellow mamas, Krissy authors the B-InspiredMama blog where she shares inspiration for kids’ crafts, learning fun, family-friendly recipes, and creative parenting.We all learn in different ways, and some children may need more stimulation than others. For kids who need more colourful, hands on approaches to learning, a source of inspiration and creativity such as B-InspiredMama could be just what you need to devise crafty ways to help your child learn how to read.Find out moreBBC Bitesize Bitesize has been going strong for 20 years since its launch in 1998, and in all that time it has a stayed an invaluable free service to help students of all key stages in learning and revision.Bitesize Literacy has games and interactive exercises to teach phonics, spelling, punctuation, rhyming and more, offering a wide breadth of topics to further children’s reading comprehension.There are also worksheets to accompany each game as a free download, giving you a free resource to help learners along the way and test their comprehension.Take a lookBookly Bookly tracks everything about reading, so parents as well as teachers can easily see how the children evolve over time and monitor everything about their r eading level, time spent, reading speed and pages read. It shows tons of statistics as well as beautiful graphics to better understand reading. After you do finish a book, you can generate a nice infographic to share on social media or just to collect them.Bookly focuses on making readers feel a sense of reward for finishing books, and in turn, reading becomes its own reward. You can also set goals to make reading a daily workout for your brain, and it even has an achievement system. If you want a young reader to make reading a habit, then Bookly is a great place to start.Check it out!Brightly Brightly started as a website to help parents raise readers and has grown into an engaged community that also includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, librarians, teachers, and others who are passionate about cultivating a love of books and reading in children.The Brightly team takes pride in working with a diverse group of contributors and authors who cover a range of topics for readers of ever y age and stage. The site offers a wide variety of reading tips and book recommendationsâ€"from seasonal to evergreen, age-based to level-setâ€"incorporating the voices of experts from across the kids’ book landscape.Recent additions to the site’s offerings include “Teach Brightly”, a space on the homepage where educators can easily access relevant content and a Facebook group for educators that goes by the same name.Start learning here!Children’s Books and Reading Children’s Books and Reading is a fantastic resource for practical tips and techniques to help your child grow into a confident and successful reader, and their advice is backed by proven methods. They focus not only on helping a child to learn to read, but also to help young readers understand what they are reading, and to be motivated to read.There are also reading-related activities to reinforce literacy skills, book suggestions to inspire you and your child, and topical news to keep you up-to-date with th e literary world.The site’s owner, Stephanie, was motivated by her own experiences in learning to read, and after having her first of two sons she wanted to know more about teaching a confident young reader. This website is the culmination of her ongoing mission, so check it out!Get reading!Children’s Storybooks Children’s Storybooks Online was created in 1996, and quickly gained recognition in the form of a four-star rating by NetGuide’s Best of the Web in 1997. It has since been featured in Yahoo magazine and been distributed on CD ROM in U.S. schools.The stories hosted on the website are all original and illustrated by Carol Moore, and the first story to be featured on the site, The Littlest Knight, took her two years to completely illustrate. The stories are varied for ages ranging from children up to young adults, and there are also riddles, mazes, and colouring book pages to entertain and amuse.The books have all been written by a variety of authors and are completely free to read on the site, giving you the perfect place to find some free material if you want to get your children reading colourful, trustable material!Take a look Choice of the Dragon The ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’-style stories are true classics for retro fantasy fans, and they’re still a popular novelty today!Choice of Games LLC produce text-based, multiple choice games that can be played in your browser or downloaded for smartphones. The games are based around rich, original stories that draw players and get them invested in the narrative in the way that only interactive gameplay can.Choice of Games have also developed an original scripting language named ChoiceScript, which budding writers can use to write their own games in the same style. If you have an avid gaming fan who struggles to latch onto conventional stories, give this a try!Start your adventure!Epic! Epic! was born out of a single question: How do we make books more accessible to kids?The team behind Epic ! have observed the way that videos and games on phones and tablets are always so effective at grabbing kids’ attentions, but books seem to struggle meeting the same success.Today, Epic! has grown into the leading digital library for kids aged 12 and under, with literally thousands of books, videos, quizzes, and more! It’s a subscription-based service, costing just $7.99 a month, but with a free month to start off with â€" and it’s free for librarians and elementary school teachers!Check it outFarFaria FarFaria is a storybook world just waiting to be explored!Stories are presented as locations on an interactive map that kids and parents can traverse together, and saving books into your favourites means they can be accessed anytime and anywhere in a tablet or smartphone.Every book also has a ‘Read-To-Me’ option, providing high-quality narration for younger readers who need help with their comprehension or who want to enjoy the story on their own. Reading before bed has pro ven benefits that extend into adulthood, so parents looking to instil the habit in their child have a fantastic tool at their disposal with FarFaria. Also, you can start for free!Try it outFocusandRead.com FocusandRead specialises in helping struggling readers, creating learning tools based on evidence obtained from research studies.Joan Brennan is an experienced educator who, in the past, employed sensory reading aids such as focus cards for her middle school classroom. Many of her students struggled with conditions such as ADHD, dyslexia, autism and other conditions that hindered their ability to focus and read. She found that many of her readers improved with notable success in the form of improved reading rates, better focus and fluency, and more.Recently, the site has published a new Windows 10 version of their Reading Focus Cards desktop app alongside the existing customisable versions of the app for Apple Macs and other Windows PCs.Find out moreHip Hop Hen Phonics Hip Hop H en apps were launched in 2014, and soon were featured on the Kid’s section of the app store. Their first three educational apps are part of a complete phonics reading scheme, and are specially built to introduce children to hear, read and write early phonics sounds in an easy, fun imaginative way.The phonics apps are created by teachers and follow national curriculums, addressing key early learning skills such as finishing rhyming sentences, identifying sounds in words for reading, speaking and listening, and many more.Each app is designed with a gorgeous and colourful doodle art style, and Hip Hop Hen are a Moms with Apps member, meaning they follow the best privacy practices for kids’ apps and personal information is never shared or connected to social media.Hop on over!Homer Homer is a learn-to-red program that starts with what makes your child unique. Begin, the company behind Homer, believe that children become strong and confident readers when they use literacy to explore their passions and interests.Once Homer makes a note of the child’s current reading level , it creates a personal learning plan tailored to them, supplied by a catalogue of interactive stories and songs. Homer has blind, randomised studies to back up its efficiency, and can increase early learning scores by as much as 74%. Their research and white papers are available on the website to access and browse, as is the opportunity to try it for free!Get started hereInternational Children’s Digital Library The ICDL Foundation’s goal is to build a collection of books that represent the literary culture of peoples throughout the world.The ease and accessibility of travel in the modern age means that people can now emigrate from far across the world to a new location, but the costs of such a move often include the books and publications of their native tongue. A paper published in 2005 by UNESCO declared: “Denial to access to information in one's mother tongue is equivalent to a de nial of a human right.”The International Children’s Digital Library allows books to be searched by country, giving visitors an easy way to find free reading material written in their mother tongue and read for free!Visit them hereJumpStart JumpStart Blast-Off: Early Reading helps children learn the key reading skills needed early on so they can blast through correct answers and zap away the incorrect ones as they race for the top score. Within this app, the player can explore a mysterious cavern packed with reading skills that are fun and educational at the same time!The game itself features 19 lessons designed to teach pivotal early reading skills by focusing on the beginning phonics and early reading so kids can master the skills to excel in school. Children will develop crucial educational skills such as word recognition and sounds, early grammar classification, and more. Through listening and interacting with words, elementary school learners will enjoy a comprehensive read ing and learning experience.Check it outLiteracy CentralLiteracy Central is a free resource by Reading Is Fundamental, a literacy non-profit who are committed to building a literate America.There are reading activities and advice for parents to get children reading at home, and book and development resources for educators. RIF also have upcoming tools such as a literacy tracker to monitor reading progress and suggest further reading based off of interests.RIF have a newsletter to keep you abreast of new additions to the site and a smartphone app which can scan a book’s barcode and link to thousands of digital resources tied to that title. Sign up for a free account and give it a try!Have a browseMonkey Junior Learn-to-Read Monkey Junior is packed with content, sitting at over 1000 lessons comprising 30 topics, 3000 sentences and more!The program teaches through a combination of two methods, the phonics method and the whole-word method. With the phonics method, children look at le tters either individually or in groups and recognise the sounds, then blending them together to form a full word. By taking this forward and reapplying it, children can read and pronounce new words that they haven’t encountered before.Backed by the professional opinions of language experts, Monkey Junior builds lessons that provide the optimal route for learners to form words, recognise whole words and phrases and learn proper pronunciation.Take a look!Montessori Letter Sounds Montessori Letter Sounds is an app that works in four steps, aimed at four increments between ages 3 â€" 5. Two of the games are locked at first and have to be earned as children play, ensuring they learn progressively.The games encourage children’s abilities to memorise letter sounds and shapes and to write out their first words using a moveable alphabet. There is also a ‘Toolbox’, in which there’s a phonetic alphabet, notebook, and sandbox where kids can freely trace and practise letters.The app h as been featured by Apple and Common Sense Media, as well as winning a Parents Choice Gold Medal 2012 award. The developer, EDOKI, is made up of certified teachers who aim to make truly educational apps that are as useful as possible for parents and learners.Learn more hereMr Thorne Does Phonics 20 million YouTube views around the world have now helped associate Mr Thorne Does Phonics, Mr Thorne and Geraldine the Giraffe with high-quality educational content that is enriching for young learners and additionally useful for adult learners, children with special educational needs, correctional educational programmes, trainee teachers and those with English as a second language.Via a virtual platform to teach around the world, Mr Thorne utilises the synthetic approach to teaching phonics, focusing on the units of sounds as building blocks for reading through the word, blending individual phonemes to unlock language, so that 'learning to read' becomes 'reading to learn’.Tune in here!M rNussbaum.com MrNussbaum.com offers over 300 levelled printable and online informational text-reading comprehension passages, and multiple-choice question sets for kids aged 7-13.Created by a current public-school teacher with experience in grades 2-6, these exercises include interesting passages on science, maths, and social studies topics and serve as perfect practice for state-mandated standardised tests. Most of the online exercises offer text narration, font adjustment, highlighting, immediate feedback, and printable reports that detail exactly what questions were answered correctly and incorrectly.For assessing the progress of your kid’s reading comprehension, these tests are an ideal resource for parents and teachers.Try them out hereMrsPerkins.com MrsPerkins Dolch Words is a website that provides resources for educators and parents to teach Dolch words to their students and kids.Dolch words are named after a 1948 book named ‘Problems in Reading’ by Edward William Dol ch, in which a list of over 200 ‘service words’ and a separate list of 95 common nouns was published. These lists are thought to contain between 50% and 75% of words that appear in children’s books. By learning these words, kids are equipped to recognise the majority of words that occur in children’s literature.The resources on MrsPerkins.com include classroom forms, games, worksheets and more, so try it out and see how many new words your child might learn!Check it outPhonicBooks PhonicBooks is a small company founded in 2006 by Wendy Tweedie, Tami Reis-Frankfort and Clair Baker. All being special needs teachers, they shared a passion for helping all children to learn to read, and they utilised their expertise to develop phonic reading books.PhonicBooks cater for bother beginner and older, struggling readers in need of catching up. The range of books on offer has exploded from its initial 10 titles to over 298 and climbing, all fuelled by customer demand! 40 countries worl dwide use their books as well as the U.K., and they have earned a reputation for quality and effectiveness in that time.Available books are listed on the site with prices and details of the story content, and titles are separated according to appropriate age level. For older readers in need of catching up, these books are ideal as a discreet, home-accessible alternative to extra support at school where learners may be reluctant to appear that they’re ‘falling behind’.Find out morePocket Phonics Used in over 1000 schools and pre-schools since its conception, Pocket Phonics teaches kids letter sounds, first words, and handwriting. Research has shown that kids learn nine times as fast when using the app as they do in a regular classroom lesson.Pocket Phonics doesn’t just teach the individual letter sounds, but it also teaches the sounds from combinations such as ‘sh’, to make a total of over 60 sound combinations. It also teaches writing, using an arrow on screen to guide the children’s fingers as they follow.Students can even receive achievement certificates and weekly progress reports can be sent via email, so parents and teachers can keep track.Why not take a look?PrimaryGames.com One of the fastest growing fames companies on the internet, Primary Games has been providing entertainment to web-surfing young’uns since 2000! Originally founded by teacher Susan Beasley, the company has grown over the following years from a small project to a bustling hub of amusement with millions of users worldwide.Several thousand individual games are currently on the site, with more always coming in. What started out as Susan building her own educational games for the kids in her classroom has grown into a huge collection of titles to help kids wind down, hook their attention, and grab their engagement in ways that conventional exercises just sometimes can’t achieve.Hop on and play!ReadAskChat ReadAskChat is a digital library for parents to share with their children and support their reading journey as it begins.Their name refers to the central ethos of their service: parents reading alongside their children as a shared activity; listening and responding when the child asks questions, to develop confidence in their thoughts and a stronger family bond; and chatting to share ideas and help your children build them up.The platform also features helpful additions such as conversation starters, engagement metrics and reminders, and activities to aid development and introduce some play into the process of reading.Find out moreReading Bear Reading Bear is a project of WatchKnowLearn.org, and boasts an innovative approach to teaching early readers vocabulary, new concepts, and phonetics. Everything is as free as it is lovingly crafted!Each presentation is playable as either a video or an interactive slideshow. In each, at least one phonics rule is introduced, with seven different versions for each presentation. In the fullest, for instance, a word is sounded out slowly and quickly, then blended slowly, and after an optional prompt, blended quickly. As the sounds are made, the corresponding letters are highlighted.Visual aids are also used, such as relevant pictures that help comprehension. The process is thorough, but forgiving and well-paced, giving an in-depth introduction to new vocabulary.Try it out!Reading BrightStart! BrightStart! began in 2005 via funding from The Nemours Foundation, and represents Nemours’ understanding that there is a strong link between child health and reading ability.The site’s activities and recommended books are informed by research and partnerships, and they show a confident knowledge in everything they do concerning child reading skill. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the site is the Preschool Reading Screener for children aged 3-5, which results in an action plan based on your next best moves to help your child learn to read.With developmental milestones also offered with suggestions to help each parent introduce confident reading to their child, this is one resource that any mother or father should be keen to take a look at!Check them outReading Eggs Reading Eggs is used by more than 12,000 schools worldwide and turns learning to read into a series of fun games and activities.The idea behind the program is to build on what kids already know, encouraging them to learn through play with the user’s subscription granting access to games, songs and more. There is also an online library and other sites and programs to access.Memorable characters are consistent throughout the child’s learning journey whilst using Reading Eggs, and parents can get updates and reports sent through so that they can keep an eye on their child’s learning. Reading Eggs boasts more than 10 million child learners worldwide, so what are you waiting for?Take a lookReading Kingdom Reading Kingdom is an online program, using the Phonics-PLUS decoding system.Created by Dr. Mari on Blank, one of the world’s top experts in reading, Reading Kingdom is research based and adapts to every child. Kids are also able to use the program without supervision, meaning the desire to learn and read can be modelled and then acted upon independently.The principle of the program is that educators have heavily relied on phonics to teach reading in the past, but many words cannot easily or effectively be ‘sounded out’. Reading requires more skills than phonics alone can teach, but programs such as Reading Kingdom can help support the gaps in a learner’s education and give them the kind of support they need.Find out moreReading Raven Reading Raven is a customisable app for children ages 3 â€" 7, guiding them on the journey of learning to read so that they become independent and confident in their abilities.From reading, recognising, and tracing letters to identifying and building words and sentences, Reading Raven takes kids from the earliest steps to fully fledged re ading comprehension. The interactive nature of the app also teaches hand-eye coordination and listening skills, helping children make connections between spoken and written language.Take a look at their website and download the parent and teacher guide to find out more!Get started hereReading Rockets A comprehensive and jam-packed site bursting with resources, blogs, advice pieces and more, everything you need to help a young reader whether they’re on track or struggling.Reading Rockets creates and disseminates free, evidence-based information about reading through television programs on PBS and via their website. Their mission is to take evidence from research invested into by the U.S. government, turn it into practical information and advice, and spread it to as many people as possible.Even if you have some simple questions about helping a child to read or what you might encounter on the way, this site is full of good advice and makes for a worthy bookmark in your browser!Visit them hereReadWriteThink ReadWriteThink offer topical and researched reading-related resources for parents and educators. Their mission is to provide access to the highest quality practices in reading and language arts instruction in the form of free materials.They are also supported by the International Literacy Association, a membership organisation dedicated to internationally supporting the efforts of children everywhere to learn how to read.To stay on the cutting edge of the reading world and get top advice from trustworthy sources, you want to keep up-to-date with ReadWriteThink!Check them outSchool Zone School Zone have a wealth of products available to give kids a big boost to their reading and information retention abilities.Amongst their range is an old classic, the tried and true flash cards! Flash cards may seem outdated in this information age, but they’re a quick, easy, and portable resource to test a child’s knowledge and memory wherever you are.School Zone also supply software, toys and games, and even tablets like the Little Scholar, which comes preloaded with over 70 educational apps, and is ready with or without Wi-Fi and has a reporting app for parents!Browse hereSmart Kidz Club Reading Smart Kidz are one of the fastest growing collections of eBooks educational resources for young readers, and they provide a library of interactive resources, eBooks, activities, and quizzes that can be accessed anytime, anywhere online or on mobile devices.All of their books and resources are beautifully illustrated, and their content can be synced offline onto mobile devices. This provides kids with a safe and ad-free environment for reading, learning, and fun.Join them in their mission is to help promote affordable education that is easily accessible to all kids around the world.Take a lookSmartyGames SmartyGames is a free, friendly, and kid-safe site that has been hosting games for over eight years, and is still going strong!Their reading section includes animated ABCs, action-word flashcards, and short stories to engage your kid’s attentions and help them learn in a colourful and appealing format. Most are Flash-based but are being redesigned to be mobile friendly, so parents have free and convenient access to a bit of fun out and about.The site is Kid-Safe certified and approved by the Association for Library Service to Children, so you know it’s also safe for your child to use on their own.Check it outStarfall Starfall Education Foundation is a publicly supported non-profit organisation, and they opened the Starfall website in 2002 as a free public service.Still going strong in 2018, they combine a systemic, phonics-based approach with audiovisual interactivity. As well as the free resources available, they also offer a membership program for a small fee, which expands the content to include songs and reading activities spanning several key stages.As well as all that, the Starfall Parent-Teacher Centre has worksheet s, informative guides, curriculum downloads and more!Dive in here!Storyline Online app Storyline Online receives over 100 million views every year from children worldwide, and for good reason!Storyline Online is a product of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, a non-profit organisation that relies on grants and donations to fund Storyline Online and all of its videos. The videos are all available to stream from the site, and they even feature prolific actors reading children’s books alongside original animations, including Chris Pine, Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, and Betty White.Each book has a run time and suggested level of ability, so you know you’re picking the appropriate title for your child.Find out moreTeach Your Monster To Read Teach Your Monster to Read is an extremely fun video game that kids love to engage with. What could be more fun that creating your own monster and taking it on a magical journey?Children learn to read by teaching their monster to read, and the game h as been designed in collaboration with leading academics from the University of Roehampton. These experts have ensured that the BAFTA-nominated game complements synthetics phonics programs used in schools and is pedagogically sound. This makes it easy for parents and teachers to trust, and makes sure children are learning the right letter sounds at a pace that's right for them.As part of The Usborne Foundation, their mission is to help as many children learn to read as possible. The game has now been played 60 million times, and it can only grow from here!Check it outThisReadingMama ThisReadingMama’s ultimate goal to provide encouragement by way of hands-on learning activities and helpful tips and resources. If you are a parent, home-schooler, classroom teacher, or tutor in the preschool or elementary ages, you’re in the right spot!The site’s owner, Becky Spence, has a passion for all things related to reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary, comprehension, and phonics, and sh e has a special place in her heart for struggling readers.If you subscribe on the site, her resources come directly to your inbox once or twice a week and you get exclusive offers and free printables that no one else can access. There are also tons of free printables, so why not take a look!Find out moreuKloo The uKloo app combines just the right amount of silly with the right amount of educational value to create a fun reading experience for children. Tested and awarded for children of all abilities, the uKloo Early Reader App is a fun seek-and-find literacy game for ages four and up. It encourages independent learning as kids to look up word clues, search the play screen and discover surprises along the way! There’s even a picture helper to look up words when kids get stuck.The uKloo app’s engaging animations offer a fun reading experience that gets kids’ reading without even realising it, and it progressively builds sight reading, introduces research skills, builds confide nce, and promotes independent learning and play.Take a look!Word Wizard Word Wizard allows children to experiment with word building in order to understand how it works. Studies have shown that children have to learn letter sounds (phonics) and then learn that words are just a blending of the letters sounds.This is what Word Wizard allows children to do; when a letter is touched on-screen, the letter sound is pronounced, and in the sandbox, when any letters are put to together using the mobile alphabet, the resulting sound is pronounced thanks to an advanced text to speech engine (even if the corresponding word does not exist).Word Wizard also offers three spelling activities of increasing complexity. In each activity, after selecting a word list, each word is pronounced and the child has to build the word with the correct spelling using the talking mobile alphabet.Check it out hereWords for Life As a parent, you can make all the difference to your child’s communication skills. Helping children to communicate will help them develop good relationships, do well at school and be confident and happy.Words for Life gives parents an idea of what communication milestones their baby and child might reach as they grow. There are ideas for fun activities you can do together to help your children develop their skills, as well as tips from top authors, recommended reads, competitions, and more!The website is divided into sections according to appropriate age ranges.Have a browse nowReading is a gift that every child deserves and which we can all help to give to our children, so however you choose to go about teaching it, you can be sure that the journey is truly worthwhile!Already got the basics covered? Check out our awesome editorial on The Top 100 Children's Books of 2018 to get them inspired and boost your child's literacy levels through the roof!

Case Study How EF Hangzhou found a teacher recruitment service flexible enough to fit their needs

Case Study How EF Hangzhou found a teacher recruitment service flexible enough to fit their needs Background Part of a global school chain operating in over 60 countries, EF Hangzhou is one of the largest regional English First franchises in China. Providing English lessons for kids, teens and adults across nine centers (with two more in the pipeline) is no small feat. At any one time, the centers employ 200 teachers, 100 of whom are international. Although most international teachers sign up with EF Hangzhou for 15-month contracts, and over half extend to two years, International Recruiter James was always on the lookout for promising new candidates for his schools. Teachers can be hired (and leave) at any point during the year, meaning staying on top of staffing in his nine busy centers was a constant challenge. The Challenge EF Hangzhou were looking for teachers with Bachelor’s degrees (essential for Chinese visa requirements), who were English speakers with a 120-hour TEFL certification, or equivalent experience. From experience, James knew their positions and the lifestyle in China typically appealed to teachers in their 20s or 30s without families. Each year, James aimed to get 100 candidates to sign letters of intent to work in his schools. Although this averaged about 10 signed letters of intent per month, in reality, recruitment needs varied with the ebbs and flows of the school year. In quiet months, the school had to be wary of having a surplus of teachers, and in busy months they needed to hire quickly. Their overall goal was to maintain a steady flow of applicants throughout the year to ensure teacher numbers reflected demand for classes. With targets changing month-by-month, James needed a highly flexible recruitment solution and he was always looking for new and innovative ways to source candidates and establish interviews. His existing strategy meant nearly 50% of candidates came through recruitment agencies, and he was left to fill the gaps with teacher referrals and headhunting on social media. While broadly successful, this strategy could also lead to high-stress recruitment periods when EF Hangzhou needed teachers quickly and the recruitment agencies didn’t have any candidates to offer. So when Teach Away reached out to James, he decided to give our platform a try. Our Solution Teach Away provided flexible, fast and large-scale access to applicants that EF Hangzhou needed. After talking to our team, James came away confident that he’d found a company that understood his needs and signed up for a monthly subscription on our platform. Happy with this initial experience, he then decided to try a three-month subscription in spring to boost recruitment before their busy summer period. These flexible teacher recruitment packages were an effective way for James to get his vacancies in front of a large audience during peak hiring periods. “Teach Away is great because it has a large database and talent pool. They are good at marketing vacancies and it’s a convenient way to access a wide scope of teachers, who you can speak to in a relatively quick time frame. As candidates have registered their interest in EF through the job posting, when I reach out they are responsive and I can quickly proceed with an interview.” EF Hangzhou was also happy to find that Teach Away’s solutions were more cost-effective than the agencies they had been using previously. With no per-hire fees and unlimited teacher recruitment services included in each Teach Away subscription, they quickly found that the more teachers they hired through Teach Away, the more money they saved. The Impact Since starting a three-month subscription in March, EF Hangzhou has hired eight teachers through Teach Away and expects to hire two more, fulfilling their recruitment target for the month. “After recruiting through Teach Away for one year, we’ve hired some excellent teachers and really like the service. It’s become one of our main channels for sourcing teachers and finding candidates to interview.” According to James, his experience with Teach Away has been so positive because we are: User-friendly The platform has a clean layout with all the relevant information he needs, allowing him to find candidates quickly. Attentive Our team is communicative, supportive and always looking for new ways to improve his service. Innovative Teach Away is open to finding new solutions to make life easier for their clients, such as online job fairs. As a company that’s always on the lookout for new recruitment solutions, EF Hangzhou has found one they plan to stick with in Teach Away. They have been so pleased with their results they have decided to extend their subscription with us for another three months, and plan to use our platform throughout the coming school year.