Supporting Your Children’s Education

Published September 18, 2015

Parents often ask what they can do to support their child’s learning – so I thought it would be useful to put a few ideas for parents here. Obviously sometimes tuition can be really helpful, especially if your child is experiencing problems or they are falling behind a bit but there are many other things parents, or indeed step-parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles or even older siblings can do to support their education by creating the right environment at home.

Time & Attention

“The most precious gift you can give someone is the gift of your time and attention”  click to tweet

Children love some one on one time with adults – whatever age they are! Yes it is important for them to develop social skills by interacting with other children and by taking part in clubs etc BUT make sure they get quality time with the adults in their lives too. The focus doesn’t have to be explicit learning – especially when they are young- simply joining in their activities, playing games with them and talking to fm about anything will help them with learning. As they get older make sure that you devote time to reading stories, drawing, playing games, singing songs, playing with play dough or construction toys – the important thing is nit so much the activity but your time and attention!

Make sure you turn off your phone – refrain from to much adult to adult talk and unless TV or music is involved in the activity turn it off.

The message you give is powerful – YOU (the child) are important – I am focussing just on you – that’s how much I value you.

 

Environment & Resources

Obviously a home is a home and you shouldn’t try to replicate a school. But in a good learning environment there is space for work – this could be the dining room table or a small ‘put-up’ table elsewhere but when children want to write or draw or colour it’s good to encourage them and have space for them to do that. As they get older space to work becomes more important but I’m generally not a fan of desks in bedrooms for homework until they are able and willing to take full responsibility for the own learning (16 + perhaps) before that it just makes it more difficult to monitor and support them with their work.

Of course if homework happens in the living, dining or kitchen area it might be necessary to turn of TV/radio etc but that does give a good message to everyone in the house, including younger children, that study and learning are important. It’s also good to have a few resources, –  pen, paper, colouring pencils for example and although the internet is perhaps all you need for research these days a few reference books can be useful too. Phones can be calculators but a scientific calculator means you can ‘get-rid’ of the phone during homework slots. Having books, or other reading material, around the home is a good way of saying reading is important – and of course for very young children, play is learning so allow opportunities for them to play with water, paint, scales, flour etc as it’s important for their learning.

Being ‘in the Know’

As a parent it’s important to make sure that you know what is happening at the school. Teachers and schools want this and value the support parents can give so do talk to your child’s teacher and if the school has a website or homework platform make sure you check that too it’s also  important to dig deep into the rucksack or school bag regularly to retrieve those buried letters or notes form school.

Also make sure you read the homework diary or school communication book and do talk to children about what’s in it. Make sure you know if they have homework or are busying completing a project on the Tudors – it so much easier to get involved with homework when you have some idea of what they are dig. If something doesn’t make sense to you then ask your child but also feel free to ask the school. As they get older it becomes even more important to make sure that you keep in the know – at the very least it’s harder for them to pull the wool over your eyes and again it shows that you think school, homework and learning are important.

However it is ok as a parent not to know everything and I’m sure many ‘methods’ will have changed – as apparent it is also an important lesson for your children to see that if you don’t know something you either have the skills to find out or the willingness to ask someone for help.

 

Patience and Positivity

In terms of learning children are delicate! They are not only learning but they are learning about learning. Some children find things tougher than others, but their self-esteem is easily knocked. When you help them always be supportive. Don’t get exasperated if they don’t understand something, make sure that you give lots of positive comments about the process even if the answers are wrong or they make mistakes. If they are getting a lot wrong or finding things very tough, or you are worried about their progress in any way then talk to the school.

Often it is good not to be an expert if you have to check the meaning of a word by consulting a dictionary you are still teaching you r child skills. If you can’t remember how to do a percentage but look it up and can then help your child then that’s brilliant.

Parents know their children better than anyone and yes some competition and a bit of pushing is ok but it’s also very easy to make children feel insecure and it’s tough to learn if you don’t feel confident enough to make mistakes. So make sure your children know that you love them, no matter what they may or may not achieve at school.

 

Concentrate on the Basics

For many children things fall down when there are problems with the basics. If children aren’t good with numbers and number bonds, simple mathematical processes, shapes and sizes, and the tables then they will find Maths tough down the line.

Similarly if a child is struggling with reading in year 2 or if they fail their year 1 phonics test the likelihood is they will struggle. Sadly secondary school teachers and not generally taught how to teach reading. So if your child hasn’t grasped it by the time they leave primary then they need help or they will be unable to access the majority of the curriculum. If seeking help for a none, or struggling, reader make sure you opt for a specialist rather than a general English teacher and ask what method they use. A systematic synthetic phonic approach – like Sounds-Write – works well for all ages.

Obviously the school can identify the children who are struggling and can offer help but if they haven’t got it first time round and are needing extra help and that is being provided in the school just be sure that something is different (smaller group for example) or there is no reason to assume that they will ‘get it’ in ‘extra time’ when they haven’t the first time round.