What do you do to support your child's learning?

[Sallyssss]

Just starting yr1. I really want to support her school learning, but I don't want to be overly pushy or put her off. Just wondering what most people do?
At the moment I listen to her read a couple of pages almost every day (unless she really doesn't want to do it and then I don't push her).

Read to her. It really helps children to understand and process new vocab etc. And sometimes "early reader" books are so deathly dull, so at least you can be reading something interesting with her.

Have a time each day when you can just talk through what has happened that day. You can see what she is processing. At this age it is often more important for her to be able to make sense of something that has happened in the playground than actually in a formal lesson.

Yes, we do story time every night before bed, in which we read to her. Just wondering if anyone does additional school work or if there are any good games that may support her learning?

We don't. Lots of reading, lots of vigorous play (which in term time in a city tends to mean clubs in their fave couple of sports), and messy preferably outdoor muddy stuff whenever possible.

Try to coax them into doing homework.
Reading if they are at all amenable.
Spot maths questions when the opportunity arises (fun stuff, like adding up the coins in their purse).
Encourage them to play games that require maths or spelling nounce.
Explaining science facts, techniques and theories to them, to the best of my understanding!

My DS has just started Y2. Last year, we read a lot of the Usborne See Inside books as he loves non fiction. Loads of info presented in a fun way, flaps to lift etc. His favourite is See Inside the Human Body, he especially liked showing the builders who were here last year inside the lung flaps so they could see the damage they were doing by smoking.

He's also really into the Usborne Search ones, which are a bit like Where's Wally but with learning built in.

Btw, I don't work for Usborne, I just think their books are great.

He also occasionally did a maths wizard computer thing that came with the computer, and asked DH and I regularly to write out 50 or so sums for him to complete.

Scrapbooks are also a fun way of practicing spelling, writing etc, good for holidays.

He also really got into word searches last year, and this year is into polygons. So fun stuff works for us.

DS1 started Yr 2 today. he writing is poor. reading fine. intend to get him to do a bit more writing to help his handwriting. what lese can i do ? teachers says lots of the boys need to improve their writing, has only sent home a couple of sheets, which we have done. i assume he is doing fine unless i am told otherwise.

-Here them read a little each night.
-Practise key words.
-Verbal maths as and when an opportunity arises.

The biggest thing IMO is the experiences we try to give them. Visiting new places, country walks, beach combing, problem solving (we did a raft building day recently) and just talking to them.

What I'd love to do but don't do enough of is let them spend days amusing themselves. I mean they do play by themselves but I often worry that I'm so busy arranging 'experiences' that they're not learning how to deal with boredom in the way we did when we were their age.

Bake cakes
play board games
talk about what you are doing
read/tell stories
sing songs
go to the park

Provide endless supplies of sellotape and blu tac.

The rest of it is general 'letting them be kids' stuff and doing our best to provide a stable happy family home. DS does read if he thinks its not reading, but stick a Reading Book in front of him and he doesn't want to know.

Good point River, if they think it is "Work" they wont do it.

Since day 1 in Year 1, we did homework every single day even if teacher didn't give any, because once they have the routine and habit of sitting down (for 10, 20 , 30 minutes depending of the day and topic) and do some work it makes everything easy. There are plenty of websites with games for words or math, or choose an animal, a country (the more bizarre the better ) and do some research,.... Of course, I don't give extra work when DS1 has already homework for school.
Reading isn't considered homework in our house but a real pleasure and essential (like eating and sleeping).
I ask him to read aloud while I prepare dinner, our DSs have a reading lights near their beds and they are allowed to read as long as they like.
Oh, and with red lipstick I write simple addition on the tiles in the bathroom and while the kids are taking a bath we do math games, ...
Be there and be interested

Agree with gordon, set a habit of 10-30 mins a day -ds going to year 1 and does reading book or look over new words OR time or writing and also does kumon maths each day.

I like that idea of 10-30 min/day. Difficult if you go straight from school for a playdate or have some childcare though though. Must think about that (dd also going to yr1).

I am an Usbourne non-fiction fan like taffetacat and also have a similar series from the US. Some non-fiction dvds - current obsession is Walking With Dinosaurs. There're a ton of great BBC series out there.

Dd loves to be read to but is not crazy about reading to me While she's stil in the learning phase - she needs confidence boosting constantly and reassuring that it is normal not to be able to read fluently overnight.
She absolutely adored Mythical Maths 5-6 - I'm going to look for the others. I have bought the occaisional workbook but only do it if she wants to and they generally languish sadly in a corner - so I was pleased to get some enthusiasm for this one. She just loved the enchanted forest business. It would be easy to adapt this style to do more of at home - either with drawings or stickers.

Dd also likes word searches and other puzzles. I try to capitalize on the things she naturally wants and find versions of those to get her into areas she's not so keen on (like reading to me).

As a teacher I would recommend 10 mins daily 30 mins is too long for many primary children better in short bursts

I would listen to your child read everyday and read to him/her.
I still do this for my secondary age children. It allows us to enjoy books as a family.

Then I think it's all about the talking. Be preapared to listen to their natter, answer their endless questions etc. Your throat will bleed, as will your ears, but this is how children learn imho.

It's also important to teach by example. Let them see you reading. Tell them how great your book is. Show them a website you've been looking at etc. Tell them what you've learned.

Most importantly perhaps, children learn best when they're happy. So it's your job to make school a happy experience. Invite friends over for tea. Take an active interest. Don't let your LO stress over spelling tests or horrid teachers.

Listening to them read is very important, but also add lots of fun learning activities, e.g. cooking, playing games (amazing how much Maths there is in some very fun games!) and lots of opportunities to talk (great for vocabulary building!) Keep reading to them as well - I found Yr 1 the time to move on from just reading picture books to longer books with chapters and fewer pictures, although we still (Yr 3) read some of the favourite picture books! I'd also recomend having paper and pens/pencils readily available so if they choose to do writing they can without pressure.

Read to them everyday - stop and chat about the characters etc at bedtime
Hear them read everyday for 10 minutes and enjoy their book (not at bedtime).
I found it useful to start a routine for homework by doing the school reading book as soon as we got in from school. If anything else was asked from school we would complete it as part of this time. I don't think doing any formal 'homework' activities such as workbooks is a good idea. They have so much homework intruding into their freetime as they get older.
Go with whatever they want to do and join in..play is the best way to learn. When they play Sylvenians or Barbies they are making up stories and its the start of story writing. As said before baking is great for maths (using onzes is better than grammes as numbers are much more manageable).
What is so important is time to chat, share ideas and so on.. if possible we have always eaten as a family if that's not possible then stop and sit with the children when they eat and talk with them.

I agree that making the time to chat to your kids is vital - and just listening to them and taking a genuine interest. I am also a big fan of reading to children, and feel very strongly that this shouldn't stop just because a child can read well alone.

The other thing that I think is important is to lead by example. I want my dd to see that I am curious about the world and to know that I relish the opportunity to learn new things. I want her to witness the fact that I am not afraid to make mistakes and learn from them. And I want her to feel my love of books and share in that. How can I expect her to read and learn if I do not value opportunities to do this for myself?

TALK :)

not just about school, about anything and everything.

leading by example is a good one - WRT school specifically, be positive about it, especially homework (i.e. "ooh, what homework have you got today then? that looks fun" rather than saying how boring it is)

and definitely agree about letting them see YOU read, write, find out, ask questions etc.

"Be there and be interested" love it!

also - recently read the book Toxic Childhood, and IIRC in the small teacher survey the top two reasons given for pupils' lack of achievement were too much TV, and not enough conversation at home :(

Years ago, I read a book about parenting and the part I still remember was about the way to talk to your children: talk to them with respect and talk to them as you would to your best friend. All the while being a parent (not a friend).
I am not against TV, some programs are pure fun. But it can become an addiction (like Munsnet!), at the same time, no TV at all can become an obsession. So there need to be a balance. Most of the time, if offered a nice alternative (reading, playing, cooking , painting, sorting and printing pictures, youtube in 10 different funny languages...) they won't even ask for it, but if they do, and homework are done, why not. I have lazy days.
Kids are curious and that's great. I see too many parents killing that curiosity with harsh comments or impatience. Kids are fun and like to have fun, that's the secret

after reading stories in bed we always have a quick game of eye-spy, it helps loads with the whole phonics thing then later on helps with learning the names of the leters rather that just the sounds.

I'd agree with all the posters who have said read to them and talk to them. I'd add - if at all possible - have dinner together as a family, it's the perfect forum for everyone to discuss their day. (And yours too)
Support them with their homework but don't do it for them - and if you don't understand the teaching methods being used, ask the teachers - most of them love to help because they like engaged parents!
Using entertaining/educational websites is great, but so is straightfowardly Googling anything they're interested in together - I learned a lot about Roman banquets that way (not to self - do not accept time travel dinner invitations unless bringing sandwiches).
Bake biscuits and cupcakes and make pizzas, make things out of Play-Doh, sit down and draw with them (even if your drawings are worse than theirs)
And I agree that TV is definitely not all bad, but it's best if you're watching with them and then talk about what you've watched.
Anything that comes to mind and feels like it might be fun - do it with them.

And go to the library a lot. DC get 95% of their reading material from the public library.