EDUCATION

At the International Centre for Excellence, we have recently been through a period of self-reflection and transformation, necessary for all educational institutions, and made some positive changes.

These include:

ï           A huge new educational centre at Guildford that provides daytime services for home-schoolers as well as our normal after-school tuition. High-profile creative educator, Judith Hardwick, has joined us as principal at this centre as we sadly farewell Diana deGruchy who has retired. We offer full educational assessments as well as full Multiple Intelligence profiling.

ï           Our specialised services for dyslexic and ADD children are now available during the day as well as after school

ï           We are launching our new maths and literacy program ñ The Rainbow Program ñ with a built in system of testing and awards for each section to ensure results are measurable.

ï           Revision courses for Year 11 and TEE students with our own specially prepared material

ï           A free professional development course for schools about learning difficulties

ï           Three courses for teachers ñ Systematic Phonics, The Happy School Program and Building Basic Skills Through Art and Craft.

ï           Holiday and term programs at all three centres (Leederville and Melville and Guildford) that include EQ4KIDZ, Boystuff, Study Skills, Art and Craft and Acadmic Booster.

ï           Launch of our new Kidztalk program for children with oral language difficulties and children who need to improve spoken English.

We hope to offer the same high level of service to all our children and parents and look forward to sharing our new programs with all of you. Thankyou for your continued support and positive feedback! Please call ICE for more details 9478 3323 or 0409 911 135.

Success from an early age with Kumon

Saul and Olivia Campion are the kind of children we all want to have. They are happy, responsible, self-confident and extremely bright. They are also extremely busy, with mum always taking them to the next activity!

One of the activities they are doing amazingly well at is the Kumon Maths Programme at the Woodvale Kumon Education Centre. They have been going to Kumon for over two years. Saul was three years old when he began the Kumon Programme and Olivia was four.

Lyn Campion, Saul and Oliviaís Mum enrolled the kids in Kumon at such a young age because she wanted them to get the best possible head start in their education. Kumon aims for the kids to learn the basics of mathematics and English, through daily study and independent learning.

Saul who is in pre-school, is working on long division at Kumon and Olivia, in grade two, has moved on to fractions! This may seem incredible but their Supervisor Indrani Pillay at the Woodvale Kumon Education Centre believes that parental support in the Kumon Programme is a key factor to their success.

By believing in her childrenís potential Lyn has given them a stress-free learning experience that they can use to sail through school and life. 

Kumon Education Centres are located across the Perth metropolitan area. For more information about Kumon please call 1800 458 666 or visit www.kumon.com.au.

Kids who can but canít speak
-Rochelle Castine, Clinical Psychologist

Imagine being able to yabber all you want at home and some places, but being unable to speak at all at school or elsewhere. Thatís what itís like for kids with selective mutism, though itís not a conscious choice! 

These kids are misunderstood and stick out. Boys are seen as difficult and naughty, girls as shy and dumb. Obvious approaches ñ like bribes or punishment ñ donít work. Such kids ìchooseî to miss out rather than risk failure, and they do miss out, both socially and academically.

Mutism is related to anxiety but itís much more than that. Selective mutes are strong-willed and tough to manoeuvre or manage when theyíre worried about doing something. The problem grows for parents too as they deal with comments, criticisms, blame and helplessness. 

It is important to know:

• itís almost certainly not your fault.

• itís rarely due to trauma.

• you can get information and help.

For more information or help contact Rochelle on 9244 5212.

Step by step success

The best way to know whether or not a course is worthwhile is to find parents telling other parents just how good it is. That is whatís happening here.

The course, ëMake Reading Fun,í helps parents who are concerned that their child:
ï           Has widening gaps in learning skills and achievements levels
ï           Missed out on learning basic phonics in years 1-3
ï           Has difficulty accepting mumís help
ï           Is not being given time, or is too shy to ask questions in class
ï           Has little perseverance
ï           Has limited reading ability
ï           Has low comprehension skills, yet reads well
ï           Has spelling problems
ï           Has poor punctuation
ï           Has few organisational skills
ï           Has inconsistent sentence structure/grammar

Underachieving children need this tried-and-true course. It teaches perseverance in action, which is the secret to slow but sure success.

For enquiries call 9375 7764 or 0438 946 621.

Creating happy families

The Clareville Life Enrichment Centre is running an eight-week course for parents of children 0-10years entitled Creating Happy Families.  The course aims to help parents clarify the values they want guiding their family life, increase confidence in their own parenting ability, strengthen bonds between family members and develop resilience in the face of parenting setbacks. It is practical, thought provoking and fun.

Creating Happy Families starts September 10, 9.30-11.30am at the Sereene Studio, Lathlain, and costs $10 per session. For more details or to register, phone 9328 6262. The course coordinator is Letitia J Allan, Clinical Psychologist.

Clareville is a community and counselling centre in operation since 1983.  It is staffed by dedicated and highly qualified people committed to providing low-cost, professional services to people with limited resources. Clareville has run a range of highly successful family programmes over the past 20 years.

Smart kids should not have to struggle
-Julia Gilmore (M.Ed.,B.Ed.,Dip.Tch)

In each class, in every primary and secondary school, there are five to ten bright children who are struggling to reach a satisfactory level in reading, writing, spelling and maths. These students may have learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, or fall behind for many other reasons.

Furthermore, there are others in each of those classes ìcruisingî within the satisfactory range of performance. They could be extended ahead and laterally.

Many of these children are very creative with Lego and love to draw, do craft work and chatter, but have difficulties performing in some or all subjects at school.

My heart goes out to the parents of children whose self-esteem is being continually worn away.

The parents of these children have many relevant concerns with class numbers creeping up to 35 per class in some instances. They are also worried about the lack of extra support teachers for their children within the school.

Many parents bring their children to me for assessment so that the childís strengths and weaknesses may be determined and an action plan devised and carried out. Weekly teaching sessions are available at the centres or in the studentsí homes.

Each child improves rapidly, within weeks, as self-esteem and confidence grow.

Contact Julia Gilmore for more information on 9402 5080 or visit the website: a1learning.q-net.net.au

The importance of creative play and their developmental stages 

Eighty-five per cent of your childís skills are acquired in the first five years of life and children learn through playing.

Play promotes physical and mental wellbeing. It enables children to develop their gross and fine motor skills, hone their cognitive skills, learn language and social interaction and acquire emotional wellbeing.

Educational toys offer a variety of play experiences and develop a wide range of skills. Choosing your childís toy is very important. Toys that require interaction and problem solving can only help them in their development; toys that switch on and are used for entertainment are not stimulating or benefiting your childís development.

Playwaysí next workshop, ëThe Importance of Creative Playí (0ñ5 years old) covers the topics of child development and the most beneficial toys available for the childís skill level and individual needs. This workshop will help you gain a deeper understanding into your childís development as well as providing you with loads of ideas for ways to enhance their play.

Space is limited, so be sure to book early.

The workshop will be held on Wednesday 22 September, at 7.15 pm (registration 6.50 pm), and will last approximately 2 hours.  Refreshments will be provided.

The cost of the workshop is $7.00 per person (or per couple).

For more information, or for any of Playwaysí products please phone 9381 3368, or email Playways Playways@iinet.net.au or visit us at our new website, www.playwayswa.com.au

September Sale

Twenty per cent off Little Tikes and Wheely bug or layby now for only $5.00. Now until Christmas.

Order your Step 2 or Little Tikes Playhouse and have it in store ready for Christmas.

(Layby excludes sale item; condition applies).

Help for dyslexia
-The Reading and Learning Centre

At least 10 per cent of children suffer from dyslexia. Most of them are highly creative, bright, gifted underachievers. The Reading and Learning Centre is a specialist clinic set up 10 years ago for dyslexic children by Dr Peter Sloan, an internationally recognised consultant who has devised specific remedial programmes for these children.

At the request of parents and with their support, the centre continues to run entirely by parent-to-parent word of mouth due to the outstanding results achieved in literacy improvement. Over 5,000 children have attended the centre in the past decade, many from regional WA. Family and Childrenís Services, Department of Defence, principals, teachers, psychologists and other specialists regularly refer children to the centre.

The strength of the clinic lies in a specially devised, multi-sensory programme, which helps fix the underlying cause of dyslexia, unlike other remedial programmes that largely focus on the symptoms. Unless the underlying cause is addressed, extra remedial tuition will be of little long-term value.

Children attend the clinic for one hour a week per 10-week term, for a total cost of $195. Excellent results are expected within a termís tuition. Clinics are also held during the second week of the school holidays. The clinicís primary aim has always been to help those children in need and hence rates are very reasonable. If we can be of any help to your child, please phone 9343 0333.

Kindergarten and Pre-Primary in 2005 

Now is the time to apply to enrol your child in a government kindergarten or pre-primary program for 2005. Applications should be made by 10 September 2004 for the best chance of obtaining a place in the school or community kindergarten of your choice.

Kindergarten and Pre-Primary programmes provide your child with a wonderful opportunity to develop and learn in a caring and safe environment. Children love the excitement of exploring and learning about their world, making friends and sharing with others as part of their early school years.

There is a place for your child in kindergarten if he or she turns four years old by 30 June 2005, and a place in pre-primary for those who turn five years old by 30 June 2005. Kindergarten is the equivalent of four half days a week and pre-primary is five full days.

Donít forget that if your child is in kindergarten this year you must re enrol for a place in pre-primary next year.