Supporting dc's education - what do I need to know?

[PourquoiTuGachesTaVie]

Over the summer holidays I will be focusing on making sure ds is capable and comfortable getting himself dressed and undressed, managing the toilet on his own and eating with a knife and fork. He can do all of these already to an extent but I'll just try and help him do them a little better to make September easier for him.

Firstly is there anything else he needs to know how to do before starting reception?

Secondly, as a parent, what can I do to best prepare myself to support his school and ds?

I have a phonics book for parents so I can familiarise myself with the concept.

What about maths? Is there a particular method that's used nowadays that I can read up on?

And is there anything else I need to know? I just want to be able to support ds as best I can by understanding how he is learning.

You really need to talk to your child's teacher about how they approach different subjects and any particular programmes they follow once he starts school.

If I were you I would focus on reading - read him lots of different stories and talk through them, especially inferencing ("why did X do Y" sort of questions). A wide oral vocabulary and the ability to understand stories are excellent precursors to early reading.

Make sure he can recognise his name e.g. on pegs, drawer, bag, jumper etc.

When practising getting changed for PE and back again, don't lay all the clothes out neatly for him (because of course 4 year olds don't take them off like that - silly me!)

Reading, reading and more reading.

Plus lots of talking.

Good tips thanks, (I'm making a list ) he can recognise his name when it's written down so that's good. He get's read to at least once a day before bed but I'll step that up during the holidays.

Anymore for anymore?

Teach him to put his clothes into the PE bag as he takes them off. That way, you will definitely get fewer mix ups and losses. Also, don't know about yours but teaching mine to put her shoes on the right way round fairly reliably was quite a struggle. I have no idea how she couldn't tell by the feel.

make sure he can recognise his name (read it).

Getting dressed, not just from tidy clothes, but also from clothes that are inside out, with one sleeve in and one out, scrunched up in a tangled heap. Which is the default state for school uniform when they return to class from PE.

Also, we count things into school and count them out. eg four things today (jumper, lunch box, book bag and water bottle). If we don't come out of school wearing or carrying (particularly) the jumper it will Never Be Found. The counting is a desperate attempt at personal organisation.

Fin my yr5 DD1 still has to have arrows drawn inside her shoes to put them on the right way. I think she just has no feeling in her feet and will probably hack them off with a spade one day and not notice.

For maths I can recommend getting Numicons, and use them as toys to make patterns. They are great to help children understand numbers, and later on things like half, pairs, double,s counting in twos, five, etc.

Also, just play school at home, take the register, have 'carpet time', song time, etc. explain to him what is good listening (not interrupt or call out, put hand up to speak, look at the teacher when he/she speaks even if there is noise around or toys), how to ask to go to the toilet.

Play games to teach taking turn
Jigsaws teach concentration
do arts and craft for fine motor skills

I would wait before reading up on any topic as each school has their own ways to teach.

TheHappyCamper - our school actually prohibits the children to stuff their clothes into the PE bags, they learn to fold them and put them on a chair, always boy -girl-boy-girl. In 3 years we had one T-shirt mix-up

Academically - just read books and have fun.

The teacher will have her own way of teaching literacy and numeracy so it's often easier to wait and see how they do it. My kids learned to read with the read, write, inc scheme so I had to do a lot of googling and asking for copies of things from the teacher so I knew how to describe writing certain letters (e.g for a it's round the apple and down the leaf).

I did/do very little at home but have always done a lot of reading and a huge amount of talking about things all day long, and that seems to have really helped my dc's a lot.

Pourquoi:

As many here will agree - I'm a jaded old thing with DD1 (Y6) soon to be finished with this primary school lark.

My advice for Year R is respect that the entire first term is about settling in and developing a routine (for you as well).

I think the advice above is helpful but I think you need be aware that in most countries starting school at age 4/5 seems pretty harsh - and as far as I can see with 2 years extra schooling now that English pupils are required to stay in education until 18 - I can't really see there's much benefit.

In essence YR/ Y1 would be equivalent to pre-school elsewhere and much the same activities play out in these 'non-school' environments.

First off be prepared for your child to be really tired the first few weeks.

I also think it's important to understand Year R isn't really formal learning - it is effectively a transition from nursery/ pre-school to school.

It's also about developing social skills.
It's about adjusting to a more formal environment.
It's about developing early reading/ maths skills.

most importantly

IT'S NOT A SPRINT. PRIMARY SCHOOL IS A MARATHON.

There will be things your child picks up quickly and with ease and other things that they'll really struggle with.

My advice is enjoy this last summer with your infant. Blow dandelions or bubbles, chase butterflies, build forts, paddle in a pond/ the sea - enjoy this carefree relaxed summer before school starts (as much for you as your DC).

Recognising their name is important but not essential - I found sewing patches (H&M sells them very cheaply) onto the school bag and PE Kit meant that my DDs could tell which were theirs when very small - in fact they kept their patches on their bags all the way through.

My top tips would be these:

Find out if there are drop in reading mornings/ afternoons - and make time for them (supports your DC, gives you a chance to see the class in context, gives you a chance to see how your child is doing in comparison to others - not competitive but for example it was obvious DD1 wasn't reading anywhere near as well as her classmates from these sessions - that's what alerted me to trouble - the teachers said nothing for 18 months of schooling). [NB prepare yourself for organised chaos - this will be you reading to your child over 20 other parents reading to your child and a TA reading to the rest - but in return the teacher will get to know you & you will get to know him/ her].

Find out if there's maths activity mornings/ afternoons - this is worth attending for early maths skills/ ideas for activities. (again organised chaos is the mode of play).

Find out what phonics method they are using - most have workbooks. Certainly Jolly phonics, which is popular, has lovely little workbooks which are more like colouring books - they work on forming print letters with traditional three line system and then forming words by joining phonemes. Very helpful to see how it all builds.

Recommend joining Oxford Owl: www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home - lots of advice for supporting early reading/ phonics/ maths & free e-books/ resources/ games.

Highly recommend CBEEBIES alphablocks: www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/alphablocks/ - the tv shows are still available on this link and the songs in the shows are a very catchy way of understanding how letter sounds work & combine to make words.

Highly recommend counting games: snakes & ladders for example - play forward for adding on to 6 and backward for taking away up to 6. Add a second die for numbers up to 12, 3rd for numbers to 18 and 4th for numbers to 24.

Woodland Junior School has a brilliant maths zone - now Year R may be too early - but when you feel your DC is ready for simple additions (maybe numbers under 10 - so 4 + 3 for example) - there are some lovely games in the number skills section under addition: resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/ - but this will be a brilliant resource to help support maths skills from Y1 onwards.

Toward the end of Year R learn about the new national curriculum programmes of study for various subject areas (remember national curriculum starts from Y1 - Y1/ Y2 = Key Stage (KS) 1 and Y3 - Y6 = KS2: info here: www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum#programmes-of-study-by-subject - It's now clearly laid out by individual school year - so you will get a better sense of what a Y1 child should be covering and in theory mastering.

Finally - don't be intimidated by the school/ teacher/ Head Teacher - if you don't understand ask. If you can't get in e-mail. Our school system is funded by taxpayers on the premise that schools will do their best to educate the next generation for the benefit of us all. If you feel you don't understand what is going on, need advice or there's a problem you should raise the question - because your tax money & mine is paying for this and getting that answer/ advice/ help may just help your child go on to achieve great things.

I sincerely with you and your DC a brilliant time at primary school!

Have a lovely summer.

PSBD

Sorry that should have read - wish you & your DC a brilliant time in primary!

PSBD