How to help at home

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

1. Make some time to read stories together (even 5 minutes a day is a good start).
2. Read with as much expression as possible.
3. 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?
4. Encourage your child to predict the story, i.e. what do you think will happen next?
5. 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.

https://shawcloughprimaryschool.schudio.com/Curriculum