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Happy Holidays from Kids In Perth  - The Parents' Paper 

Christmas and New Year is a time to stop and reflect on the year that has been and the new year that is to come.

There have been a lot of changes to Kids in Perth - The Parents' Paper over the past year. We have introduced a Just for Babes feature to cater specifically to expectant and new parents. This month we have produced a lift-out featuring a range of products and services specifically for these parents. It includes maternity and health sections, as well as some more generalised information. We will be continuing this special feature into the new year, so if you have any information that you think can be of help to new parents, then please let us know.

We have also been developing our Just say Aaah section which is a focus on children's health and medical issues. The HBF family doctor has been a welcome edition and has helped out parents across Western Australia.

We have also extended our distribution throughout the Perth metro area and have made it out to regional centres this year, including Dongara, Narrogin, Northam, Albany, Broome and Karratha. We are also now available at all metro McDonalds Family Restaurants.

There have been some controversial issues that have been covered, and some very different points of view. To us, this means we are doing our job. If you ever disagree with any of the articles from us or our contributors we encourage you to write in, tell us your view, and we'll do our best to publish it to give a balanced and fair view of the issue. The Parents' Paper is designed as a forum for the parents of Western Australia.

Our website continues to grow, now having an online poll section, extended diary pages and a convenient listing of all advertisers in the paper, in case you misplaced that old edition of the paper.

Our aim is to grow bigger and better as we head into our tenth year of operation. After 105 editions of the paper we will continue to grow and improve to better suit the unique needs of Western Australian parents.

Kids in Perth - The Parents' Paper would like to extend a very merry Christmas to all of our readers and wish you all a very safe and prosperous new year.

January holiday turbo boost for kids: off to a head start in 2005
- Julia Gilmore (M.Ed., B.Ed., Dip.Tch.)

At the end of the school year, students are working at their highest levels for the year and have established themselves in their current class. Then along comes Christmas and New Year, when all thoughts of school are banished and much merriment and holidaymaking is enjoyed. When the festive season winds down, there is still a long way to go until school starts again.

Without academic stimulation, children can regress rapidly over the long summer break. Even one hour per week of reading, writing, spelling and maths can make a huge difference and boost self esteem when school starts again. This applies to students from pre-primary to high school.

The new school year usually means a change in teacher and often friends are in a different class. Students who struggled with their schoolwork in the previous year can often take the entire first term to catch up. Even average-to-above students struggle to regain their skills in term 1 as 'jelly brain' syndrome has set in.

For more than 15 years (since 1988) students from Kindy to year 10 have been attending A1 Learning Centres for a range of interesting and educational holiday programmes including:

reading, writing, spelling and maths; self esteem and confidence boosting; study skills; transition to year one and year eight; remediation and extension; essay writing and editing; and handwriting

Julia Gilmore is a highly qualified, experienced Specialist Teacher who provides individual programmes for each child from Kindy to year 10.  At A1 Learning, the students, their parents and teachers are offered educational assistance and support so that the child's potential may be achieved.  All of the students are intelligent and capable, but may need remediation or extension work in one or more subject areas.

Children respond well to activities that are fun and also help them to learn. Whether or not they need help with any areas of difficulty from previous years, they will enjoy the tremendous boost of having insights into the type of work they will be facing in their new class in 2005. The programmes run throughout the year, as well as during holiday periods. By term 4 parents are often concerned about how far behind or ahead their child is performing in maths and language.

Current school reports and Portfolios reveal very little about the child's actual academic levels, so parents often opt for an objective assessment in term 4 and bring their children in for the January holiday programme. The programme is flexible to allow for time spent away on holidays. Students are welcome to come in for just the January period but always have the option of staying on in term 1.

The best feedback received from parents and students is how effective the holiday programmes were for them. For example, 12-year-old Adam was delighted with himself when he was the only one in his class who could understand a new maths concept (with fractions and decimals) presented by his new year 7 teacher.

Fifteen preschoolers attended the transition programme in January 2004 and were off to a flying start in term 1. They had started reading, writing and maths and had been given a handwriting programme to boost their self-esteem.

Years 1 to 3 parents have reported major leaps in enthusiasm for reading and writing stories and how their children had not regressed over the summer break.

Mathematics can be a painful subject for many year 4 to 7 students.  9-year-old Jess scored high marks in year 4 maths and is now confidently accepting extension work.

Last year's year 7 to 10 students responded very well to the Study Skills programme as it helped them with organisation, essay writing, research skills and much more.

We have many students returning year after year for another dose of 'turbo boosting'. Some are years ahead and some need to revise the basic maths and English skills, but all of them are intelligent and respond positively to the success they enjoy at the centres and at school.

The programmes start in mid January and students attend for a two-hour session once per week or for one-hour sessions twice per week (for the younger students). A total of six hours is all it takes!  Costs are kept to a minimum and there are discounts for advance payments and for families with more than one child attending.

For inquiries, bookings or if you just need advice, contact Julia on 9402 5080 or visit the website: a1learning.q-net.net.au

Is this your child?
-Peter Slyth, The Reading and Learning Centre

Why is it that some children in WA schools don't fit the system and struggle with literacy, despite being gifted in many areas such as artistic ability, musical ability, 3D visual-spatial skills, mechanical ability, vivid imagination, athletic ability, creative, global thinking, curiosity and tenacity, intuition and problem solving skills? It is almost as if they think differently, or more laterally, than most children, and see many different ways of doing a task.

Yet at school these children are often reprimanded for being mischievous, chatterboxes, inattentive, easily distracted, daydreamers, losing things, have difficulty following instructions and are always running late to class. They often make decisions impulsively, before they think of the consequences. Other symptoms can include poor concentration and listening skills, left and right confusion, messy handwriting and sometimes hearing problems in the early years.

These children have good oral language and can be gifted at making things, often mechanically adept. However, when it comes to reading and comprehension, however, these children tend to struggle. It is almost as if they think in pictures, not in words. They learn by watching, not by listening. Theirs is a hands-on world of visual images and making things, not a world of academia they are forced to fit into.

Yet when these children grow into adults and commence working, it is these very special talents that come for the fore. Their intelligence, superior intuition, lateral creative thinking, and ability to see things most others can't, make them incredibly successful. These children become our scientists, builders, inventors, musicians, artists and sporting stars and without them the world would be a very dull place indeed.

What these children need is a special programme designed specifically for them, focusing on their strengths and self-confidence and improving their literacy skills in a fun, positive way that makes them feel safe and secure. Only then will they achieve results equal to their ability. The Reading and Learning Centre is a unique, private tuition clinic for these children, who are praised for their special gifts. The centre runs a multisensory programme developed by internationally acclaimed literacy expert, Dr Peter Sloan, from over 30 years of research.

Children with learning difficulties think in a muddled, disorganised way. The programme fixes this underlying cause of the problem by exercising the brain to process information in an organised and efficient way, so that symptoms of poor reading, writing and spelling begin to disappear. Excellent results are expected within eight to ten weeks.

If the above description sounds like your child, please call the clinic on 9343 0333 for term tuition or enroll your child for the January 10-14 school holiday programme. The centre was recently awarded the prestigious Children's Week Award at Government House for outstanding results in literacy skills. The nomination was make on behalf of 5,000 parents whose children have attended over the past decade.