Home learning support ideas
Ideas for Supporting Reading
• Encourage your child to pretend to 'read' a book before he or she can read words.
• Visit the library as often as possible - take out CDs and DVDs as well as books.
• Schedule a regular time for reading - perhaps when you get home from school or just before bed.
• Look for books on topics that you know your child is interested in - maybe dragons, insects, cookery or a certain sport.
• Make sure that children’s books are easily accessible in different rooms around your house. Read yourself. Your actions really do speak louder than your words. When your kids see you reading the newspaper or curling up with a book, they will want to follow your example. Make sure your children read every day. Like other skills, it gets better with practice. Researchers have found that children who spend at least 30 minutes a day reading for fun - whether they read books, newspapers, or magazines - develop the skills to be better readers at school. Get the library habit. Make sure everyone in your family has a library card. Schedule regular trips to the library. While you are there, check out a book yourself! Read aloud to the children. In *The Read Aloud Handbook*, Jim Trelease reports on research showing that this is the most important thing parents can do to help their children become better readers. Here are some tips from the book:
• Start reading to your children when they are young. It is never too early to begin reading to your children, according to Trelease.
• Don't stop reading to your children as they grow older. You will both enjoy the chance to do something together.
• Set aside some time each day for reading aloud. Even 10 minutes a day can have a big impact. Bedtime is a natural reading aloud time. Other busy families read aloud at breakfast or just after dinner.
• Read books you enjoy. Your kids will know if you are faking it. Here is a way to use your newspaper to encourage reading: a scavenger hunt. Give your child a list of things to find in today's newspaper. Here are some ideas:
• A map of the UK.
• A picture of your child's favourite athlete.
• The temperature in the city where a family member lives.
• Three words that begin with "w".
• Football scores Give books as gifts. Then find a special place for your children to keep their own library. Make reading a privilege. Say, "You can stay up 15 minutes later tonight if you read in bed." Or you might say, "Because you helped with the dishes, I have time to read you an extra story."
• when you read to your child, make the experience interactive - ask questions about the story, the pictures and what they think of the characters • as their reading skills grow, gradually let them turn the tables until they're reading to you • use dictionaries together for difficult words - a picture dictionary can make exploring language more interesting
• enroll your child at the local library so they can try new books regularly
• keep an eye out for the themes that catch your child's imagination at school - and help follow it up with more reading
• when you come across an unusual or funny-sounding word, help your child find out what it means and write it on the fridge door with magnetic letters As your child gets older encourage them to pick up other books around the house to boost familiarity with 'grown-up' language. Suggest a reading list, and encourage your child to write down thoughts on the books they have read
Ideas for supporting maths
• Point out the different shapes to be found around your home.
• Take your child shopping and talk about the quantities of anything you buy.
• Let your child handle money and work out how much things cost.
• Look together for numbers on street signs and car registration plates.
• Talk about and involve children in the situations in which you use maths in everyday life;
• Play games involving numbers and/or logic, such as card games, dominoes, darts, draughts, chess etc.;
• Stimulate their thinking at times of boredom, (such as when travelling), with mental activities;
• Sorting things out and putting things away, e.g. shopping, toys, cutlery, and clothes. Talk about which things go together and where things go, giving clear instructions for position such as ’in the cupboard, on the bottom shelf‘.
• Matching pairs of socks, shoes, gloves.
• Ordering and sequencing when getting dressed, going to the shops, having a bath etc. Talk about what you do first, what you do next, … and last of all.. • Comparing objects according to size, weight or capacity, e.g. the longest spoon, the lightest shopping bag, the cup which holds the most, the shortest person, the widest hand, the bottle which is half full.
• Matching and counting when setting the table, preparing food, sharing out food, etc.
• Counting, weighing, measuring capacity and timing when cooking
• Talking about time, referring to the clock at different times throughout the day, (preferably a clock with hands), setting times for certain events, e.g. ‘We’ll have lunch at 1 o’clock.’, timing events, e.g. ‘How long will it take to wash the dishes?’
• Handling small amounts of money when shopping, counting small totals.
• Talking about directions when walking around or playing with toy vehicles etc. (e.g. forwards, backwards, straight on, turn left/right.)
• Making models with building bricks, Lego, boxes etc. Talk about shape and position; count the number of similar shapes etc.
• Playing games involving matching, recognising numbers and shapes or counting such as snap, pairs (pelmonism), dominoes, board and dice games (e.g. snakes and ladders).
• Counting particular things on journeys, e.g. red cars, fields with cows in, churches etc.
• Sharing books. Sit together when you read to children so that they can follow the pictures. Go back over the story and talk about the order of events, the number, position and shape of things in the pictures etc.
• Weighing, measuring capacity and timing when cooking. Converting a recipe for 4 people to one for 6 people.
• Being involved with measuring and calculating how much curtain fabric is needed, how much wood for shelves, how many wall or floor tiles are needed, how much carpet etc.
• Talking about time, e.g. How long is it until lunch time? The journey takes 2½ hours, when will we arrive? We need to be there at 2.00 pm, when do we need to leave home? Many children will still need practice with reading clock times, particularly minutes past and minutes to the hour.
• Handling amounts of money when shopping, working out total costs, working out change, checking receipts. Working out prices of sale items, e.g. 20% off. Managing pocket money and saving for things. • Working out distances and directions from maps.
• Discussing and comparing house prices from newspaper house sales pages.
• Working out how much petrol will be used on a journey, working out average speed for a journey, costing journeys or holidays etc.
• Card games such as sevens, cribbage, pontoon etc.
• Any games involving calculating scores, e.g. scrabble, quoits, darts, and bowling.
• Beat the calculator. In pairs, one with a calculator, one without, each works out the answer to a calculation aiming for the one without the calculator to say the answer first.
• Games involving strategic thinking/logic, e.g. draughts, chess, mastermind. • Specialised computer games designed for using and developing maths. • Using the mad4maths website
