Helping Your Child

Helping Your Child At Home

There are some suggestions of ways in which you can help your child to learn and advice of how to help with homework. The most important message to give your child is that learning is fun. Most of the learning you can do with your child at this stage in their development is through talking and playing games together.

Talk to your child about what they are learning at school
Encourage them to find out things for themselves
Read books with your child. Take them to the local library and help them to choose books
Let your child help you around the home
Listen to your child. Encourage them to ask questions. If you do not have the answer, why not find out together?

How can I support my child with homework?

Each week your child will bring homework from school. Please make sure that your child completes their homework as it is important for them to develop good habits which they will need as they get older.

Although homework in Year 1 and Year 2 can be completed by children independently, we suggest parents and carers are actively involved in supporting their children’s homework as this will make it most meaningful.

In Years 3 and 4 we look to develop a greater independence so children are fully equipped to manage the homework set at their next school.

Spread the homework over several days rather than trying to complete it in one long session
Make sure your child has a quiet place to work with no distractions
Talk through the activity with your child before they start
Encourage and praise them when they have completed the activities
Listen to them as they read and show you what they have done
Extend the activities where appropriate

Reading with your child

Children learn about reading by listening to stories, by making up a story as they turn the pages of a book and by reading print of all kinds. Reading with your child is one of the best ways to help your child learn to read. If reading is fun, your child will want to read with you.

Children should read for 10 to 15 minutes each day.

Find a relaxing and comfortable place to read together away from distractions.
Choose a time when you both want to read. If your child is too tired, then choose an earlier time.
Let your child choose which book to read. It is important for them to feel engaged with the book. Children will often choose favourite stories which they know by heart. This is fine and a normal part of learning to read.
Before starting to read the story, talk about the cover, the title and the author and what the book may be about.
Do not always read the book straight through to the end. As you read, pause to talk about the pictures, discuss what has happened and what may happen next.
Try to engage your child in the text as well as the pictures. Even at an early stage, encourage them to read some of the words in the text.
Have your child look closely at words by finding those that look the same, rhyme or start with the same letter.

Encourage your child to:

use the pictures to guess the word
use the sounds to read the word
Find words within a word, for example something
guess/predict what might come next

Always praise your child, particularly when they have corrected themselves. This helps build up confidence and makes reading pleasurable.

After finishing the book, talk about it together. Try asking:

Were you right about what you thought was going to happen in the book?
Have you read any other books like this?
Have you read any other books by the same author?
If the story carried on, what might happen?
Which character did you like best / least?

As your child becomes a more confident reader, encourage them to read by themselves a little each day. This should be in addition to them reading with you.

For more information on this topic, please follow this link to our Curriculum pages.

What Are Phonemes?

Phonemes are basically the sounds of letters, pairs of letters or groups of letters, please see the below phoneme chart.

If you would like to have additional information about phonemes please go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYx1CyDMZSc

If you have internet access at home, there are many good interactive games and activities online to help practice phonics; they can easily be found by searching for “Phonics games.” Please make sure that the programme uses pure sounds.

How Can I Support My Child with Writing?

Learning to write well is an important communication skill. Children learn about writing from watching others and from the writing they see around them – things like adverts, notes, papers and letters. One of the most important ways to encourage your child to write is by providing them with a model of a writer – you!

Always praise your child to develop their confidence as a writer. Be specific, for example ‘I really like the way you write the first letter of your name.’ or ‘The adjectives you used when describing the lizard were really powerful.’

Choose a time when your child wants to write and when you are able to help.

Talk with your child before they begin to write. This will help them clarify their ideas.

Encourage your child to try to write for themselves, even if they make mistakes. Suggest they have a go with words that they don’t know how to spell. They need to say the word slowly and write down the sounds they hear. If they really don’t want to, just spell out the word for them.

Ask your child to read their writing to you as they write and when they have finished. This will help them understand the importance of the reader.

Children need to feel that they are writing for a purpose. This can be in the form of letters to friends, stories, shopping lists, making and writing greeting cards, plans for a party, postcards and diaries.

Handwriting

At school we use a cursive script throughout the school. Each year group will practice different letter joins. Please ask your child’s teacher what they are learning in handwriting if you would like to practice at home.

A common grip taught to children when developing handwriting skills is the tripod grip. The tripod grip is an effective way to use hand muscles when writing. The child holds the pencil with their thumb and index finger, while the pencil rests on their middle finger. See an example below.

Some children learn the tripod grip naturally, while others need help from parents and teachers. It is recommended to teach the tripod grip when a child learns to write his or her own name, generally around age 5.

What You Should Know When Teaching the Tripod Grip

The child should not be gripping the pencil too tightly. Signs a child is holding a pencil too tightly include:

Rips in the paper
Pencil tips frequently breaking
White knuckles when writing

The child’s fingers should be relaxed so their hand will not tire too quickly. Specifically, observe the index finger knuckle for signs of redness or whiteness which would indicate pressure on the joint. Also ensure your child is not making a fist.

For further instructions please see the following link:

https://www.teachhandwriting.co.uk/pencil-grip-tripod-guide-forming-handwriting.html