Today I was introduced to a website called TutorFair. An online tutoring service that allows you to put in your postcode and subject to find the best tutor local to you. They have over 6000 tutors who promote themselves through TutorFair, but also recruit through universities and partner organisations. Also, for every child who pays for tutoring, they offer free tutoring to a child who can’t. Isn’t that nice!

Growing up I was pretty good at school. My grades were good and I was in the top set for English, Science and Maths. My parents didn’t need to worry about my education.But, what if I wasn’t doing so well? What if I struggled at one of the three vital subjects? Could they have found me a tutor to help improve my grades? Yes, through someone like TutorFair.

My son is only 2 1/2 so I’m not aware of his educational abilities yet, but education is important to me and I want him to do as well as he can at school, and hopefully go on to further education like his mum.

We all know the summer holidays last 6 weeks. This is a pretty long time to a child in school. A pretty long time to forget some of the things they had learned before the end of term. Something known as the ‘summer slide’.

The Summer Slide is a term coined by educational psychologist Harris Cooper, who found that US schoolchildren regress in all subjects over the summer holidays, by an average of 1 month, and 2.6 months in maths*. What?! Can you believe how much kids can forget in those few weeks.

The director of TutorFair has a few top tips for you to prevent this from happening.

1. Play not work. Kids deserve their holiday, so don’t force them into classroom style learning during the summer. Even if your are enlisting the help of a tutor, the learning can still be fun. What about a treasure hunt where they have to answer educational questions to find the next clue? Get them doing arts and crafts using things they find in the garden.

2. Riveting Reading. According to statistics, on average a student can lose 2 months worth of reading skills over the summer, so reading between 4 and 5 books during the holidays can be hugely beneficial*. Got a child who’s ‘allergic’ to books? Buy a kindle for the family and let them read on that. Or take a trip to your local library and allow them to choose something for themselves. Lamb loves books and we love trips to the library, it’s a fun day out for us! How about a sticker reward chart and set reading challenges over the summer?

3. Marvellous Maths. Ok, so no one wants to sit and work out sums during the summer holidays do they? But mathematics are used in so many ways in daily life. Cooking – how long something needs to be cooked for, how much ingredients you need. Get your child to work out half quantities, or looking at a clock tell you when the food will be cooked. Simple questions that will keep their brain ticking.

4. Whirlwind Writing. Getting the kids to write in the holidays isn’t going to be easy. Bor-ing. Well, here’s your solution. Pen pal! Why not get them to write to their friends or family over the summer telling them what they are up to during their time off. Make it fun by including sketches, doodles and stickers! Don’t forget to write postcards when you’re on holiday.

5. Super Science. This would probably be the most difficult for me. How do you learn about science during the summer holidays?! A top tip from TutorFair is learning about the weather. Draw chalk circles around puddles to teach your child about evaporation as the puddle disappears. Or what about bug collecting? My little bro loved bugs as a child. I always remember my mum telling us he would stand in long grass and just wait for bugs to crawl over him!

6. Summer tuition. Obviously a tutor is the perfect way to improve your child’s grades if they are struggling, or if you just want them to keep their brain active over the summer. Tutoring doesn’t have to be classroom style, and I’m pretty sure the tutors don’t want to be stuck indoors during the summer as much as the kids don’t. If this is something you would consider, then check out Tutorfair for more information on what they offer.

Reading these stats has really opened my eyes to Lambs education. I never really thought about how much they forget over the summer holidays. Apparently children will score lower on the same test they took before the holidays, once they return to school*. That gets me thinking about whether there should even be 6 weeks off over the summer? Should it be broken into smaller chunks?

All I know is I want Lamb to succeed in whatever he chooses to do. Whether that’s work based training or through further education, or to be a premiership footballer (we can dream!) I will support him and guide him to the best of my ability, and will get him that extra help if needed.

Ax

* Collaboration with TutorFair. Statistics provided by TutorFair. Opinions my own.

My answer is no. I don’t have a pension. Oops. I probably should have sorted this out as soon when I was working full time. I’ve kind of wasted the past 7 years but it’s never too late to start saving.

As with all things financial, I’m clueless. I think the hubby had a pension with his previous job, but he was made redundant in December and is now a self-employed apprentice, so he needs to set up his own pension.

I’ve just been introduced to Nutmeg and their ever so helpful pension calculator online. The calculator gives you the opportunity to look at what you need to save to create the sort of income you want from you pension. For example, you might want something equivalent to 20k when you retire. For this you need to save £557 per month.

When you create a Nutmeg pension, their expert team first builds a portfolio that is aligned to the level of risk you’re comfortable with. They then monitor it for you. You can simply pay an amount each month and relax, knowing someone else is taking care of the rest. If you want to take a look at your progress then logging into your account is quick and easy. You can take a look at your progress and monitor your money.

One thing that stood out to me about Nutmeg, is the instant 25% top up. Nutmeg automatically add your 25% government tax relief as you make monthly payments into your pension pot – all out of their own funds. That way, you can start benefitting from the extra contributions to your investment portfolio straight away. Nutmeg are one of few retail pension providers to do this in the UK.

I’m sure you’re wondering what’s in it for them? Well, they charge an annual fee of between 0.3%-1% including VAT, which is apparently amongst the lowest for a fully managed personal pension. There are no set-up charges, exit penalties, or commission fees when they trade on your behalf.

As I mentioned earlier, I know nothing about this stuff. Bad I know. It’s time for me to take some control over my finances and look in to things like pensions.

So, right now I can’t afford to save anything. I mean literally nothing. But at the end of the year I’m launching my new business and keeping everything crossed that it’s successful and earns me a penny or 2. When the time is right I’ll be heading to someone like Nutmeg to find out about starting a personal pension.

As a mother it’s important that I secure my future finances. Not only for myself, but for my family.

Financial vulnerability is one of the biggest downsides of retirement, but it is also one you can avoid. If you own your own home, one way to do so is by applying for a reverse mortgage. It is a loan that pays you with no need for short-term restitution of any kind. One of the positive aspects of such a mortgage is you have no mortgage bill to pay each month. One of the negative aspects of a reverse mortgage is the balance is due as soon as you move out of your home. You also have to consider other aspects of a reverse mortgage agreement before applying. For instance, you have the freedom to select how to receive payments, but the total amount you can receive might be lower than anticipated. Government regulations and fees apply.

Ax

* PR Collaboration