Inspired by another thread about a month ago I thought I would brain dump down everything I know and think about how to make your child academically high achieving at primary school.
I am a primary teacher, mum of three, I’ve taught in several year groups and I have a masters in primary education from UCL. Not blowing my own trumpet – I am just qualified.
Also, I have thought about this A LOT. I grew up working class, we were on benefits and for me, education has been the route up (I know!). I think about what got me up and what could get others up. Whether we like it, or not most good jobs and high paying professions are middle class. Working class people are sociologically excluded.
As I am now an expert I feel I am able to prioritize the things that will have the biggest impact. So here goes.
- Oracy / speaking- speak to your child as much as possible; get them to speak to you. If they form a sentence or word incorrectly, correct them. Get them to repeat word’s and sentences several times. It is through our speaking that we learn to write and we organize our thinking and understanding.
- Reading – read high quality texts to your child. There are lots of lists, but my favourite is bookfortopics / books by age. When you are reading model your thinking and don’t always ask your child questions. Eg – I’ve noticed that’s the second time the author has highlighted Bobby feeling sad, I think there’s a problem that’s going to come up for Bobby. I think the sky darkening in the east is hinting the journey is going to be dangerous.
There are lower order skills (retrieval - find facts) and higher order skills (implication – show not tell (when you see someone in a t-shirt you know it’s summer for eg ) and predicting) with reading. Do a range. Children obviously find the higher order skills more challenging.
Don’t worry about always reading high quality texts (let them read Rainbow Magic and Beast Quest - they are good for repeated vocabulary), but you must read them sometimes and get them to read them independently when a bit older.
Reading needs to be every day (you to them, them to you or independently or all).
- Maths – If they are strong at arithmetic (plain number and calculations (add, subtract, divide, times etc)), they will be good at problem solving. The SAT’s at the end of Y6 are weighted heavily towards problem solving (two thirds). (Caveat – I disagree with SAT’s are not important idea – you should tell your child that every test is important. It feels good to do well in a test. The only bad thing about them is the high stakes nature.) Back to maths…
Focus on arithmetic, depending on the year group, this is number. In early years that’s counting, adding on 1, taking off 1 etc. Each year group builds on the previous one. By Y2 they are adding / subtracting 2 digit numbers, add on one digit per year group. By Y6 it’s 6 digits. Give your children either verbal or written calculations to solve. Discuss with them how they did it. (Eg – 23 plus 42 – I added the 20 and 40 together and then the 3 and 2; eg 12 times 6 – I did 6 times 10 and then 6 times 2, then added.) Again, model it to them.
Of course do problem solving, (but make sure your child’s arithmetic is very strong.) (Eg – we are driving to Manchester – it’s 12 miles away. On the way home we have to go to Grandma’s which is 7 miles further on from Manchester – how many miles will we drive to Grandma’s house? Age adjusted.) I do all my maths when in the car or walking.
- Trust your child’s teacher. Thank them. 99.9% of teachers are brilliant. Teach your child that if the teacher says jump – they say how high. This will be better for your child overall. (Obviously occasional exceptions). It’s a trust game – either you trust the school – so trust them and back them or move your child.
- Extra-curricular activities – do as many as you afford / can do without putting strain on family. I am fairly strict and don’t do too many. BUT make sure you have good teachers and coaches. How can you tell? Ask your child – they will be great at assessing and also is your child making progress? Many sports clubs have parents as coaches – this can be fine, but can be bad too. It also depends what you want, be honest with yourself, if your child is not great at football, but loves it, find an inclusive and warm team. Make sure you are getting what you want and don’t be afraid to move. It’s a big effort for families!
- Everything else – take your children to places – anywhere – small, big, free museums, beach, shopping. After this follow their interests. If they get onto cooking, cook, if they get into collecting shells, do things with shells, if they get into animals, go to more animal places, but above all TALK TO THEM. In the supermarket ‘oh look buy one get one free -if I buy two how much will each one cost, what colour is this courgette – say courgette, how many carrots do we have?
- Normal parenting stuff – specifically praise. Learning is hard. When you learn to read your brain actually creates new connections (people who cannot read when having an MRI have different / less connections). Praise. Praise. I noticed the way you joined that w to that l was perfect.
Educational theory and vocabulary (ignore this bit if you want) –
Maths learning – children learn in this order – using concrete apparatus (blocks etc), then using pictures, then in abstract (2 plus 2). If they don’t understand something go back a level.
Bar model / partitioning – We use pictures (after concrete) for everything in maths. These are methods we use (look up vids on youtube if you want to know more).
Modelling – an example. ‘An adjective is a describing word – A red scarf – this is the model – A red scarf.
Be active – let’s clap why we count; Lets jump up and down why we spell chapter.
Lower and higher order cognition (thinking) – Some learning skills are lower than others (remembering, repeating) and some are higher (evaluate, compare). Create is the highest. If you can create something - you are a master. See Blooms taxonomy for more details.
Linking – We learn deeply when we link ideas to other ideas. Eg – I could not teach you imaginary numbers (degree maths), without taking you through the 100 steps before.
Pitch – You are very powerfully placed to help your child. Your child’s teacher has 30 children. Some will be working 2 years above the year group, some possibly 3 or 4 years below. Find out exactly where your child is and keep building from there. (Eg – they can add two digit, plus one digit, under 30, then build.
Sociology – The unwritten rules of life. We, as humans, want to surround ourselves with people that dress like us, speak like us, know what refectory means, have the same lamp as us. To get access to places we need the same cultural capital as the people that have the power in that place. If we want to access the darts we need our cultural capital to match that environment (how to order a pint, what is a double 20), to access Oxford we need to know what La Cross is and what prep means. WILD GENERALISATIONS!
To summarize – you speak clearly, talk to them, get them to speak clearly and precisely, read great books and discuss them, ask them maths questions (add / subtract / divide / times) and take them to places and talk there too.
(If anyone wants me to write an 0 – 5 age one I can).