General hints for parents helping children with learning at home:

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Reading

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Research shows that the most important thing you can do to help your child achieve at school is read with them. Little and often is the key!

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There are three things that your child needs to learn to do:

1. Decode words

2. Understand what they have read

3. Enjoy it

 

Reading with your child should be enjoyable. The more fun you have, the more likely you are to instill a love of reading. Encourage discussion with your child when reading with them. They will probably ask you some interesting questions, so don’t be afraid to stop reading and explore these further.

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Here are some tips for engaging reluctant readers:

• Listen to audiobooks to get them interested in stories

• Show them that you love reading too. Visit the library together and choose some books for you and for them.

• Go for something that you know will engage your child. Perhaps they are really into wildlife, so a non-fiction book may be a good place to start.

• Ensure your child can easily access books in your home. Have shelves at child height and books in each room.

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Maths

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Encourage children to talk about their calculation strategies. Ask questions such as, ‘How did you work that out?’, ‘Can you think of other ways?’ and ‘What if you started with…?’

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Don’t worry if some methods seem long winded or unfamiliar to you. Building confidence in mathematics is crucial so be pleased with their efforts and always encourage with praise. If your child is not in the mood it is the wrong time to be practising.

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With younger children always have apparatus…toys, small objects, coins etc available so that they can work at a very practical level and check their mental calculations with real materials. Older children may choose to support their thinking with rough jottings. Ultimately we are encouraging children to ask themselves ‘Can I do this in my head?’ but they should always work at a level in which they feel secure. To rush and discourage support materials would slow down the development of their thinking in the longer term.

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The best possible way to develop a real understanding of meaningful calculations with money is practise with real money and set up mini shopping situations. Involve older children in budgeting projects such as costing the purchase and weekly care cost of a new pet/the petrol costs of a regular shuttle service to swimming lessons etc.

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A sensible place to develop an early understanding of capacity is in the bath! Provide a range of containers and allow children to experiment. They will soon learn that narrow tall bottles don’t necessarily hold as much water as they thought! With older children look together at labels on food and drink products. You will find some interesting facts! Some ‘liquids’ are measured in grams and millilitres and products such as bark chippings and other garden products are measured in litres.

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Comparing different containers and converting litres to millilitres/kilograms to grams and talking about fractions of measurements is an excellent way to provide practical opportunities for your child.

 

Here is an an excellent link full of 60 short videos (1-3 mins long) on a range of Maths topics based around the new curriculum. 

https://www.ncetm.org.uk/resources/40529

 

Handwriting

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In light of the added requirements of the new National Curriculum we have decided to update our approach to the teaching of handwriting at Stalham Academy.  Even in this modern age of computers, tablets and smart phones, writing is a fundamental skill at which all primary school children should become proficient during their time at primary school.

 

Please click on the 'pencil' button to find a Handwriting leaflet for parents to use to support your child's handwriting development

at home.