Even little changes can make a big difference!
You can help your child by:
- encouraging your child to be more independent, e.g. dressing themselves, making a list of things they need for school
- encouraging your child to talk about how they are feeling
- praising your child, whether for academic performance or for good behaviour
- reading with your child
- helping your child to develop their speaking and listening skills.
5 Top tips: Talk about reading
- Make some time to read stories together (even 5 minutes a day is a good start).
- Read with as much expression as possible.
- Talk about the pictures, drawing attention to detail, e.g. how do you think he or she are feeling?, what is happening behind him/her?
- Encourage your child to predict the story, i.e. what do you think will happen next?
- When you've finished, ask them if they can retell the story - either to you or to another member of the family.
Some general tips
- Talk as you do your jobs around the house (this is sometimes the best time for children to talk to you about their concerns and problems).
- When you are out and about, point out things you see around you and chat about them.
- Watch films and programmes on television together and discuss them afterwards, e.g. What each of you liked about the programme, which character was most interesting? which bits were funniest/scariest?
If you would like to view some useful websites to help your child with their learning at home please visit the relevant curriculum pages.
