Teaching Your Kids

Today there is a lot more focus on kids education and both teaching and learning methods employed by teachers and parents are far more advanced than ever before. Gone are the days that parents would say “well Johnny did his best and that’s all I could ask for”.

Now, schools and the parent body are extremely interested in children’s progression with respect to Maths, English and Science at an Infant and Junior level, plus Languages and Social Sciences at Secondary level. Levels of attainment are measured and recorded at specific points in the year (normally as part of the parent evening process where your child’s progress is discussed) and culminate in recognised exams (SATS) for specific year groups whilst the child is at school:

Key Stage 1 SATS, Key Stage 2 SATS and Key Stage 3 SATS

With such close scrutiny of children’s exam results, it is becoming more common that parents become more involved with their children’s learning on a day-to-day basis. In some cases where the parents do not feel they can provide the assistance themselves, they employ a tutor to work with their child to help with their studies. Whether you decide to help your child yourself or employ a tutor, you will need to know which subject areas require more work.

If you need some help with identifying which areas your child needs help with, then firstly speak with the class teacher. They can provide example questions and some websites that you can visit to obtain great learning materials for your child. You can supplement this by purchasing educational workbooks, which focus on specific areas such as learning English, learning Maths or learning Science. These workbooks generally follow the school curriculum and allow your child to work through them at their own pace. They usually allow the awarding of “star” stickers, which are given as the child progresses through each section and has proved to be great encouragement in keeping the child interested and wishing to learn more. You can also purchase multimedia learning CDs or DVDs, which your child can use on their computer at home. These interactive learning materials are a fantastic way to engage your child and encourage their learning. These learning CDs and Kids DVDs cover all age groups and all topics, so take your time to select the right ones for your child. Look out for recommendations or user reviews on the software as that is a good indication from people who have already tried the software. Use a variety of educational software so that your child does not get too bored with just one CD or DVD.

Finally, ensure you have regular meetings with the class teacher so you can check on the progress of your child and to see if you need to continue working on the same subject areas or if you now need to focus on a different learning area. At the end of the day, you just want what is best for your child to progress and develop. Give them plenty of praise and try not to focus on mistakes or incorrect answers that they might give you. Your encouragement will directly influence how your child approaches learning, so just make sure you display a positive attitude to all they do and attempt to do. It also may take some time to see the results, so be patient and do not overwork or put pressure on your child. The rewards will be worth it.

Resources:

Kids Education: Article on how to feed kids minds as well as their bodies.
Kids Learning: Great learning products for kids – choose from a selection of fantastic toys, games, CDs and DVDs.