Holiday is here, School is out. Yes, it’s that time of the year again and you can literally read the joy on the kids’ faces. I hope you are fully ready and loaded? Have you also loaded the kitchen? Lol, trust me they are coming for the store already.  Most importantly how do you plan to engage them for the next 7 to 8 weeks? Many parents see their bills shoot up as a result of the piled-up series of activities to keep them busy like summer camps, outings, vacation and adventures.

However, if you ever plan to spend little or less, here are our few suggestions on some budget friendly activities to keep the kids engaged.

1. Learn Origami – Make paper birds, animals, airplane etc.
2. Invite friends over for a game night.
3. Shoot funny home videos of singing, dancing or just acting goofy. Get creative with your smartphone and flood your Instagram and Facebook with your kids’ creative contents.

• Buy and play cards and board games -Chess, Monopoly, Snakes and Ladder, Scrabble, etc.
• Learn to cook and bake various meals and snacks – Chin-chin, Puff-Puff, Cookies, Cupcakes etc.
• Make your own lollies and Popsicle using juice, Kool-Aid etc
• Conduct fun STEM experiments. Click here to download our STEM eBook on fun science experiments.
• Make a kite and fly it.
• Do Arts and Crafts from socks puppet to paper pinwheel to crazy glasses. Click here to download our craft eBook
• Have fun with water games from water balloons, water guns etc.
• Play balloon sports- Use balloons to play volleyball, balloon tennis,
• Organise a scavenger hunt
• Plan movie nights -Rent movies on DSTV box office for as low as 400 naira
• Create an indoor obstacle course and use pillowcases for sack race.
• Plan a picnic- go to the beach.
• Be a ‘’tourist “and go sight seeing
• Ride your bike
• Play football/Basketball.
• Read books  
• Play 9ijakids game

You don’t have to break the bank to keep the kids engaged and having fun all through the summer break. Click to download our STEM and CRAFT eBook for some more fun activities this summer.

The term is fast ending, where did all the time go (and you mean school fees has ended already)?  LOL

End of term ushers’ exams and awards season. We all await our children to ace their exams. The secret to acing exams is effective studying. It’s always better to start revision early than leave it to the last minute.

Now that the secret is out about getting As, here are a few suggestions on how to make study time fun and engaging.

• Create a Revision Song or Rhyme

Remember this: Thirty days has September, April, June and November. Why do you think I still remember this? The truth is that songs and rhymes form part of our learning from a young age. The act of writing down some words and putting them into song can serve as a good way to revise. With this, when the child needs to remember an important information, s/he can simply sing the song aloud or in the head to find the answer.

• Use Acronyms

Acronyms can be a good way to help kids remember information. Remember BODMAS and MR NIGER D? It helps kids use the first alphabet that starts each word to remember the information when they need it. You can help them memorise and remember easily using acronyms.

• Teach it to Someone

Another fun way is to have your child play the role of a teacher while you listen to him/her. You can have them explain or recite a line to you or define and even explain a topic while you listen. This will help your child understand better and even help them recall easily.

WE REMEMBER
10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see, 50% of what we see and hear, 70% of what we discuss with others, 80% of what we personally experience, 95% or what we teach others
Edgar Dale

• Revision Quiz

I somewhat like this so much because it has a way of creating a cognitive image of the learning process entirely. For instance, the child can always have a playback of the major activities that happened during the quiz especially if you introduce incentives for every question s/he gets right. Have your child join you in drafting about 5 to 10 questions that relate to each of the subjects they are taking and, on another sheet, have them write the corresponding answers. It is also advisable to mix both tough and cheap ones together to challenge them.

• Use of Flashcards

Flashcards can be very effective in helping kids recall easily both in the classroom and at home. Teachers also use the technique to teach kids a variety of important things, such as numbers, words, shapes and more!

•  Practice with 9ijkaids games

Games can be a good revision tool if channelled appropriately.  Educational games like 9ijakids that are developed in line with school subjects can make revision fun for kids. The kids can play maths games, science and English games to revise and get feedback immediately.

Remember that all work and no play make Jack a dull boy. Insert some daily “buffer time” during study time, give your child a choice of doing the things he/she enjoys. Educational games like 9ijakids can also be used as breaks from studying – they serve dual purpose of helping the child to have fun while revising their schoolwork and see how well they are doing with the feedback system.

Follow 4 simple steps to download 9ijakids educational games app today and let the kids select from our over 200 games for primary school covering all subjects.

A child once asked me in church to help him buckle up his shoe and I couldn’t help but ask “How old are you”? because to me , I expected that a child of his age should be able to fix up his shoes conveniently even without his parent’s supervision. There are some basic life skills that our kids should have acquired or started acquiring as they journey through life. We don’t have to wait till they are teens to start equipping them with these skills.

Read mhttps://9ijakids.com/?p=15707ore

When you say the word “homework” you can literally hear parents sigh and roll their eyes. Homework has always been a touchy subject even from way back. It was practically one of the things I particularly dreaded and of course doing anything possible to avoid. It’s still the same today when you tell your kids “Do your homework’‘, the whining, procrastinating, and even tantrums that often ensue are a pointer to the fact that homework is not fun. But does it have to be this way? No, it doesn’t. Perhaps if it were made fun (while still educational of course) there wouldn’t be much fuss!  Here are five suggestions to make homework fun your kids

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Do you want your kids to become adults that get along easily with other individuals in the society? Then start improving their social skills. Just like many other adults, children are more naturally socially adept than others. Socially adept kids are the ones that become the kind of people others gravitate to and who can easily form meaningful relationships with other members of the society, work together and build lifelong connection.  It is the core of the 4 Cs of 21^st century education; Critical thinking, Creativity, Collaboration and Communication.

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Asking the kids questions and trying to engage them everyday after school is a great way to reconnect after a long day apart and this is not as easy you are reading it right now.  Many parents get tired of hearing the word ‘’Fine“, ‘’Nothing’’ and other single syllable responses that may not really elicit further questions.

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The Easter Holiday is over, and its back to school next week. Have you started reminding your kids that school resumes on Monday? How was the look on their faces?  Or You haven’t yet? We need to start helping them with a Mind-shift from 100% play especially as we enter the last term of the academic year.

FACT: Kids do better in school when parents are involved in their academic lives

So, have you gone through last term’s report card? What areas did your child do well in? What areas does he/she need help with? What are your expectations of your child in this term? What should you be saying to his teacher at the start of the term? Having realistically high expectations for your kids is essential to successful parenting. Often, children rise to the expectations set for them.

Every parent wants their kids to be successful. It is the purest wish a parent can have. Making this wish a reality is an entirely different matter.  One of the habit of parents of successful children is active involvement in their academics which includes an active relationship with your child’s teacher and attending parent-teacher conferences (just to name a few).

What kind of things should you discuss?

Here are few questions you should ask your child’s teacher to spark up some productive discussions that can help your child this school term.

1. What is my child expected to learn this year?
2. What are your expectations of my child?
3. What is my child’s strongest and weakest subjects?
4. Does my child hand homework in on time?
5. Is my child participating in class discussions and activities?
6. How are my child’s social skills?
7. Does my child seem happy at school?
8. Have you noticed any unusual behaviours?
9. Do you think my child is reaching his/her potential?
10. What can I do at home to help support his/her academic progress?

Teachers can provide a lot of useful tips and resources to help your child exceed. And of course, to make learning fun for them, don’t forget to download the 9ijakids app for fun games they can use to learn and revise. 9ijakids is now available on App Store, Google Play and Amazon App Store.

Download today for free 14 days trial. Also follow up on Facebook and Instagram @9ijakids

How can you teach the resurrection story to kids this Easter season? Unlike Christmas, the story behind Easter celebration can be a little difficult for parents to teach their kids. You would even agree with me that every parent should delay particularly, “The Passion of Christ”; (the movie that narrates the horrible violence that Jesus Christ endured before His death on the cross) until the kids are older. However, as Christians the meaning of Easter is an important part of passing along the Christian faith to our kids and this period offers a good opportunity to give the kids some understanding of the essence of Easter. 

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When I say we are in exam season, it’s not a joke. My son keeps going on about how Year 6 is not an easy class (because he wants to be exempted from household chores). I’m like are you the first person? Lol.

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Just one more week and School will be out. Perhaps its about that time of the year again when kids sing Mummy I’m bored to your hearing. Why not keep your kiddos busy while they enjoy every moment of this holiday? Here are just a few suggestions of fun things to do during the holidays!

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