Before I started working from home, I was a Primary School Teacher. I’m sure I will return to school when my own children are older but for now freelancing suits our family life better. I did imagine that when I had my own children I’d do lots of learning with them at home and make lots of our own resources (one of my favourite activities as a teacher). I hadn’t taken into account how time poor I would be now that I’m a working mum of four.
I just about manage to keep up with the kids reading books and “homework grids” that they work through each term, but my eldest son struggles in school and needs extra support at home. My girls, on the other hand, love learning and do well at school but want to do more so I’m often spending money on new reference, activity and quiz books to keep their thirst for knowledge quenched.
While SATS were abolished in Wales, our older children now sit “All Wales” tests instead. The school kept a sensible approach to them and only advised us to make sure that the pupils had a decent night sleep each night and a good breakfast before school each morning during the testing period. They gave us links to sample papers so we could practice at home as well if we wanted to. My kids didn’t feel under any pressure but did ask me if I could help them with some aspects of maths as they wanted to know how to do them right. Once we’d been through some examples and the concept “clicked” they wanted to do more and more. They soon exhausted the examples in their books so my time was taken up setting more work for them to do (which of course meant more marking to!).
Education Quizzes
This is where Education Quizzes come in so handy. They are quizzes written by teachers and designed for children of all ages (from KS1 up to GCSE) so it’s a great resource for my children whose ages range from 5 to 14. Education Quizzes primary objective is to help children to be successful at school.
The site is colourful and easy to use. We selected our learning stage, subject and topic then selected our quiz. We found Education Quizzes to be very informative as well as “quizzing”. Children select their chosen answer, if it is correct they get a green tick and move on. If it is incorrect, the correct answer and an explanation is displayed (this is so useful!). At the end of the quiz, the results are shown and you have the chance to take the test again if you wish.
My kids love this site and it will be handy to keep them busy while I’m helping another child with their homework and learning. It will be especially useful for Danny as he now approaches his GCSE years (yikes- I feel like I only recently took mine!). It’s also a lot of fun and quizzes can be printed off to keep kids busy when travelling.
There is a Spanish section and they are currently developing a French Language Course (I can’t wait for this!). There is also an English as a Second Language (ESL) section which teachers will find especially handy.
Nature Blog
Readers know that we love explore nature. Therefore we were delighted to see that Education Quizzes have a daily nature blog called Nature Matters.
Last week we found a slow worm in the garden. The kids loved him and wanted to learn more before we put him back in the hedge.
We searched the Nature Matter’s Blog and found lots of information (a slow worm is actually a lizard!) as well as quizzes so the kids did them too!
I’m following @EduQuizzes on twitter and enjoying reading the fun facts about nature each day.
A Subscription to Education Quizzes
A subscription to Education Quizzes costs £9.95 a month (great value for families). This can be cancelled at any time so you could just subscribe during revision periods or when you feel your child needs more support with school. They also have a great package for schools wanting to subscribe. Depending on the number of students at a school, it is possible for them to sign-up students for as little as £2.00 per pupil.
Do you love quizzes?
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