Total Teaching Blog

We have our second installment of books with children. This time the books have been chosen by Billie (repeat offender) and joined by the youngest member of the Total Teaching team, Billie’s little sister Ruby.  Billie is 4 years old and she loves reading. She loves listening to stories and discussing them, Billie also enjoys reading stories that she knows on her own. Billie likes to point out the letters she knows and the sounds that they make.  Ruby is 18 months and is a handful. She has taken a real shine to books and reading in general. We read close to 50 books a day, not at her parents' request, Ruby is always carrying a book and loves to repeat the same 2 words… Book, More. She is a big fan of any books that are interactive, loves to touch and feel the pages. A bit of onomatopoeia and she loses her mind.  We hope you enjoy their book selection. Billie has chosen some stories that may not be as well known as her previous choices whereas Ruby stuck with the classics....

Alarmed by the news of NZs declining results in Maths? https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/124512951/a-generation-has-been-failed-in-maths--can-new-zealand-turn-that-around Or are you concerned about the growing trend that kiwi kids just don’t like reading? https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/117952158/classroom-disruption-decline-in-reading-blamed-for-poor-test-scores?rm=a Or just worried about the issues facing our education system as a whole? https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/81496845/student-achievement-is-improving-in-new-zealand-but-internationally-kiwis-are-slipping--report?rm=a Total Teaching is here to help.  First of all - in a hurry, getting the kids in the car, the bath or to bed and you don’t have time to read all of this? Click here and one of our teachers will reach out soon. Now, for the slow and measured approach - It is not all doom and gloom. We believe that our teaching is here for all students. Every student benefits from additional sup...

Maths in the Early Years There are many ways you can begin to introduce maths in the home in the early years. We at Total Teaching believe in the 2 Minute Noodles method of making short but frequent conversations with your children about learning a routine in your home. With this series Maths in the Early Years, we hope to give you ideas of how you can weave math skills into your everyday routines. Counting at Home We are very excited to be joined by one of the youngest members of the Total Teaching Team. Billie (4 years old) will show us some of the different ways she practises her counting at home. She also talks about a show that gets her excited about Numeracy - Numberblocks. You can find them on Youtube or Netflix. Counting Bears As she counts up to 5 and up to 10, you can see that she is touching one bear for each number as she lines them up. This is a great strategy you can model with your own children.  Joining Groups of Bears When adding a group of 3 bears to a group of ...

Interaction In the classroom teachers can connect to their students. Students can better read a teacher's expressions, body language and energy, therefore drawing on many more cues to learn from. They also have their peers to learn from and interact with. Students are developing their whole self by interacting with others. They learn social norms and how to be a part of a community. One of the biggest drawbacks with online learning is isolation. Students are learning in isolation. They may not be alone, they may have family members in the home with them, but the learning is taking place without the interactions of their peers to cement what is being taught. Learning Environment In a classroom teachers invest time creating a learning environment that best supports the needs of our students. This is done in a variety of ways. Firstly the organization, students have all materials on hand and readily available. Secondly the visuals, classrooms are filled with stimulants to help student...