What do I need to support year 1 child this year?

[LookingUpAtTheStars]

We read together everyday, but that's about it so far. What do/did you do with your 5 year old at home to support their learning at school? Did you have a routine or did you play it by ear? Also, are there any books, resources, activities or websites you would recommend?

Mine will be bringing home spelling lists so we'll do those.

We will continue taking opportunities to write (birthday cards etc) when they come up and maths whenever we see it (counting socks in 2s etc).

I am also doing the first NVR bond book but that is probably not necessary unless you know NVR will be crucial at some point.

We do stuff related to topic too. I'm considering what we can do this term related to 'weather'- may get a little weather station for home and start a logbook.

Lots of language, talk about time, quarter, half, count in twos, tens and fives, talk about days of the week, not sleeps (i hate that) talk about months of the years, december is x birthday, teach then their address and phone number, and how to ride a bike, do weight in cooking, and use guess games, how many steps to the next shop, how many spoons of sugar in this cake, guess and well work it out,

Thanks both, lots of inspiration there. And thanks for reminding me about the 11+, I didn't do it so it slipped my mind but I will definitely factor that in.

Have you tried Mathletics, we found it a good site for working on basic mathematical concepts and I'm sure our Ds made good progress in maths because of the extra time he spent on it.

Also, I'd bought a My First Calendar (magnetic) when DS started school and he got a lot more familiar with the months, days, weather, etc with that. I made a point of making sure we changed it every morning. The strong point of this calendar is that it shows the progress being made through the week, the month, the season, unlike conventional calendars - once a month is past it's gone... This one. It gives a stronger sense of the cycle of time and I think it really helped my DS to get a fix on the days and months.

I love the calendar idea thanks. I think the school uses mathletics to I'll ask about that too.

Keep an eye on handwriting. I didn't follow this and ds made little progress over the year. If things aren't moving forward find out why. We tried various pencils and grips and found one that suited but an OT spotted he has hyper mobile hands so exercises and practice drawing shapes will hopefully help him catch up. Ask if the teacher thinks grip is good etc early so you can work on it if not. Good luck!