Helping your Child at Home

Reading

For many children learning to read happens easily and naturally and unlocks the key to all sorts of stories and information. For children who are struggling the best way to help is to be patient and encourage different ways of building up reading skills at home eg by:-

• Looking up favourite TV programmes in a newspaper
• Finding out where a football team is in the league
• Making a scrapbook around your child’s interests

Reading to your child is important – it leads to discussions about new words and sequences of events – and helps develop language skills.

When you share a story with your child please …

• DO try to spend about 10 minutes reading each evening
• DO try to find a time that is convenient to both of you
• DO sit comfortably close together
• DO give time to look at the pictures
• DO talk about the pictures and the story
• DO try to make reading fun

BUT

• DON’T have the television on
• DON’T make a fuss over mistakes
• DON’T compare your child with other children

Click here to read the school’s “Notes for Parents on Home Reading”.

Spelling

When children are learning to write there are lots of things to consider. First we want them to be able to express themselves in written form as well as they can, then we can build up kills of handwriting and spelling

The method generally recommended for helping with spellings is called the “ Copy, Look, Cover, Write, Check” method

• Copy – write the word down and get your child to copy it
• Look – encourage your child to say each letter sound or syllable
• Cover – with your hand or a book
• Write – your child tries to write the word from memory
• Check – check against their original copy

Maths

Make the most of opportunities at home. Talk about weights and amounts when you cook. Talk about prices when you shop. Talk about time and distances when you are travelling.

Play games – card games or board games or home made games.

Visit www.mathsyear2000.org or www.dfes.gov.uk/parents for more information on helping at home.