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).

Another teacher here. Lots of chatting and access to non-scheme books is good and is hopefully not likely to turn children off learning. Don't equate 'working' and 'learning' to sitting and writing, practical real-life tasks are just as good and more interesting. Thinking about it, one reason why I had such good general knowledge and knew how/ why things work (despite very laid back parenting) is partially because my mum had Radio 4 on constantly and I think I just absorbed it whilst getting on with day-to-day life. You can still listen whilst doing other stuff (unlike tv which has a zombiefying (sp?) effect).

I hate the Wii, DS, PSP.... it kills communication, and when I see families at restaurant with each kid with his own nintendo I feel so .
When we sit at restaurant or in the bus or wherever it is always story-time. Of course as they get older you need to add some juicy details, for example Sherazade is every night more bright and beautiful, Ulysses stronger, or Edmond Dantes stays longer under water.
There are so many books, so many stories and yes libraries are a must but don't limit yourself to the children section. Pictures books for adult (the coffee table kind) are incredible. Animals, insects, bridges, lighthouse, .... there is no limit, and children love BIG books.

yes, I agree that TV isn't entirely evil. we're actually planning to disconnect ours, but that's mostly because we don't want to pay licence fee when we hardly watch any tv! DD has a few DVDs and you can get loads of stuff on iplayer etc so they won't miss out on knowing all the characters.

*when I see families at restaurant with each kid with his own nintendo I feel so "

yes, me too. or ipods. have a conversation FGS. I recently saw a group of mid-teens out for lunch for a birthday party, and they were all eating/going to the salad bar etc with headphones :(

I'm not getting obsessed about it though... I accept these things are a part of modern life. that's why I like the book toxic childhood, it's quite realistic about the fact that you can't eliminate all this stuff - it's about finding a good balance.

Just to say that the wii doesn't have to kill communication as games can be played together. DH, DS1 and 2 love to take it in turns on the wii fit obstacle course, competing as to who can get the furthest - it's been a great father/son activity and very funny for me and DS3! Same with TV - the question isn't if they watch it, it's how they watch it. Sharing and talking about programs can be a fun experience which boosts their imagination and communication skills. Having children plonked permanently infront of TV or computer games is not.

@moajab - couldn't agree with you more. I really enjoy playing on the Wii with my daughters - they know it's rationed and so enjoy it all the more, and it definitely isn't there instead of books, conversation etc.

I am sure the Wii is fun, but I still believe it isn't good for communication nor learning capacities. Have you ever tried talking to someone playing on the Wii, PSP or DS? They prefer going on playing than talking to you. Zero communication Or put 5 children in a room and a Wii, you'll have 2 kids playing and having a great time and 3 sitting on the floor bored, in silence and upset. Zero communication. Put the same 5 kids in an empty room, they'll come up with a game involving all.
Nintendo etc... may become a family activity, but my fear is that children may drop creativity, imagination, curiosity...
I know, we have to live with our time, and all those games are part of it, and one day, I guess we will have one in the house. But right now, I prefer to let them invent their games day after day.

Drawing pictures will help them with the motor skills they need to write. If you expose them to lots of fun comic strips then they may want to add the speech bubbles which will give them writing practice.

I used to get the kids to help me read the bedtime stories in illustrated books - I'd do the big lumps of descriptive text and they'd do the dialogue/speech balloons/notices/sound effects etc.

And go with whatever they're interested in - it can almost certainly be turned in an educational direction.