The Tutoress is nominated for a Women2.0 Award

We're incredibly pleased and proud to announce that our founder, Victoria Olubi, has been nominated for a Women2.0 Award! The award recognises the achievements of the leading female founders in the tech and business world.

Established in 2006, Women2.0 has quickly grown to become the world's largest community-driven media brand for technology leaders. Women 2.0 creates content and events for entrepreneurs and innovators in technology.

This years nominees for the award include some of the world's most prolific tech leaders such as Arianna Huffington (Huffington Post), Lizzie Dwoskin (The Wall Street Journal) and Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook).

The ceremony will be held on February 12 in San Francisco. You can see the full list of nominations here .

7 books that every child should read

Great stories never grow old. There are thousands of books available for children that are worth reading.

However, only a few stick with us that we pass along to our children. The books we are going to discuss here are some of the great books that have thrilled children for years and are still flying off our shelves.

Below are the 7 books that every child and adult should read.

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

Every parent and child should read this book. The story is about son and a mother’s relationship and the changes that comes when the child grows up. This story reminds you no matter how grown up you are, you are still parent’s child.

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

There are two main characters in this story; a boy and a tree who can talk to each other. In his childhood he plays and enjoys with the tree by climbing her trunk and eating its apple however, as the time passes and the boy grows up he starts asking her for different things. The story is about friendship and the joy of giving.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

This story is centered on a young boy named Max. Due to his misbehavior his mother sends him to his bedroom without his supper. There he imagines a world where he is the king of wild things. However in his imaginations he decides to return to his home and when he enters his bedroom he finds hot supper waiting for him.

The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

Harry potter series is one of the bestselling books in the world, read by men of all age. The whole series is concerned about a boy named Harry Potter who finds out at the age of eleven that he is a wizard. The story tell us how this young boy overcome different obstacles in his life and defeats the Dark Wizard.

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

The story is about two children who create themselves their own world. A world where the boy is a king and the girl is a queen. The story tell us how powerful a friendship could be and there is nothing impossible in this world.

Matilda by Roald Dahl

The story is concerned about a girl who is neglected by her parents. She learns about the world through reading and soon discovers that she has extra ordinary powers. She uses her powers to rid the school of the evil and finally win respect of every child.

Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

The story is about a boy named Christopher who becomes a friend with animals in Hundred Arce Wood. By living together with different animals he learns valuable lessons. The whole series is full of fun and entertainment, recommended to children of all ages.

Smart Marketing For Tutors

Since writing my book Become A Private Tutor, I've received tons of emails from people who are unsure about how to market their tutoring business without spending tons of money.

If you're a tutor or aspiring tutor who'd like to discover the best and most effortless ways to market your tutoring business then grab a seat on my course Smart Marketing For Tutors.

The programme contains 4 self-paced videos (so you can study in your own time) that each cover important areas of marketing.

These include:

• How to overcome the poverty cycle that many tutors experience
• What the best tutors do to guarantee that they have enough income and enough clients
• Income generation ideas that most tutors overlook
• How to charge high fees from day one and much more

Click here to take part and watch your tutoring business grow!

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5 Ways To Help Your Child Improve Their 11+ Vocabulary

Vocabulary is one of the key areas of importance when it comes to the 11+ exams.

However, it's one of the areas that most children (and parents) struggle with. This is partly because many schools do not place a great emphasis on teaching vocabulary during lessons and children therefore fail to extend their vocabulary beyond the everyday words they see or hear.

Furthermore, a lot of children read regularly but are not encouraged to look up the meaning of new or unique words which results in them recognising difficult words but being clueless about what they mean.

To help your child with vocabulary, here are 3 things you can do.

1. Make General Knowledge a part of their at-home curriculum.

General Knowledge questions are brilliant at helping your child to improve their memory, retain information and learn new and exciting things. These are some of the very skills that many prestigious grammar and private schools look for when selecting students. By incorporating General Knowledge into your child's learning routine, you'll expand their cultural, historical and social awareness which will in turn increase and improve their vocabulary. Furthermore, it's fun! General Knowledge can be taught through quizzes, tests, games and other activities.

2. Increase your child's potential.

Many parents think that the 11+ exam is a test of intelligence. Yes, to some extent it is. However, it is truly a test of potential. Your child should therefore demonstrate a mix of potential and intellect. To do this, don't be afraid to push them a tiny bit so that they go beyond the scope of what the National Curriculum teaches.

Quick tip: Prestigious schools like Eton College and Cheltenham Ladies College actively seek students who show great academic potential. Potential is one of the most important attributes that schools are looking for in students. Your child therefore doesn't need to have the vocabulary of Shakespeare, but rather, great potential and a strong enthusiasm for learning and discovery.

3. Get them reading ahead.

If your child is aged 10. It's okay to encourage them to read books for 10 year olds. However, it won't do much for helping them to be ahead of other 11+ applicants. However, encouraging your 10 year old to read books that are suited to gifted readers or children aged 12-13 will challenge their reading and comprehension skills whilst also helping them to come across new words. As a rule of thumb, they should be reading classic stories (like Charles Dickens and R.L Stevenson) or good modern texts like books by Phillip Pullman, Roderick Gordon and Malorie Blackman.

Quick tip: Encourage your child to have a specific exercise book where they write down new/complex words, their meanings and one antonym and synonym for each word. Test their vocabulary skills once a week. 

Should you skip questions in the 11+ exam?

When you're in the 11+ exam, it can be natural to feel nervous and as a result, there's a possibility that a question that would normally seem 'easy' might appear to be very difficult.

This means that students often spend long periods of time trying to figure out how to answer one question and therefore neglect other questions.

In the 11+ exam it's crucial for your child to be mindful of time. On average, students have about 30 seconds to answer each question and that includes the time given to read the question as well. There's very little time to mull over questions and spend twice the desired time on them.

To stand the best chance of doing well even when sitting a tough eleven plus exam, it's important that your child learns to skip questions that they find to be too difficult to complete within the allocated time frame. Simply put, if a question is too difficult, move onto the next BUT encourage your child to leave a few minutes at the end (about 5 should be enough) so that they can go back and complete any unfinished questions.

Also encourage your child to spend the last 5-10 minutes of each exam checking through their answers to ensure that they are correct. 

If you'd like more tips on how to help your child prepare for the 11+, take a look at our very affordable new book 11+ Exams. It's a quick but effective guide to helping your child pass the exam with flying colours! Click here to buy it on Amazon.