Year 2 home learning

[Ifyouknowyouknowyouknow]

Sorry if this is a silly question (and it’s not a stealth brag).

Ive got some CGP work books (“10 minute tests” - which he does in 5-10 mins) to do with my DS (6.5yo in year 2) to keep him ticking along over the holidays. He has consistently got full marks in the maths ones and usually about 12/15 in the English ones.

Is there any point in carrying on doing these for practice when he can basically do them already? If not, should I not bother with any extra things at all? Or should I get some harder ones? He does them without complaint but also would be happy not to do them! We read a lot to and with him but he doesn’t read independently yet for his own enjoyment.

I don’t rate cgp - I think there are better options out there. I’ve never found much benefit to them tbh, as content / format is pretty dull, usually not much of a stretch but also sometimes torturously reductive in a way that makes them confusing.

you will get flak for making your child do school work on the holidays, but personally I find maintaining a learning routine is beneficial for my dc. They are expected to do ‘homework’ most days, which includes a choice of math, English and music - they can do it all in 20 mins if they are quick, and most days do it of their own accord without prompting before 10am. We use a variety of online and offline resources (Mrs. Wordsmith, spelling shed, Nessy, Cubie maths, times table rock stars, etc.) and they choose one from each category.

in our situation a big part of the reason we do this is routine - one child with ASD who really needs the consistency or else the first week back at school will be awful. If it is just about keeping their brains active then there isn’t really a need for formal work over a 2-3 week break. there are loads of games you can play together that will keep the mental muscles working, and don’t underestimate the value of things like baking, building, reading fun non-school books, etc.

Thank you @Labraradabrador - yes I had thought it was a good idea to keep him in the swing of schoolwork over the holidays. He’s had plenty of days with nothing at all but the holidays are quite long - he’s at state school but not back in until next Wednesday.

I don’t like using computer games or screens even for educational things - he gets enough of that at school, and we do plenty of reading, baking, board games etc etc, so maybe the answer is just not to do anything extra. Agree the CGP books are uninspiring!

If you want some non-screen resources, check out Mrs. Wordsmith for English - lots of options and they are brilliant. We also really like Cubie for maths - we use them all year round as a subscription, but I think she also does a stand-alone summer pack when that time comes.

Thank you! I will investigate!

I agree the CGP books are really dull. I use the My Spelling Workbook series. My son is Year 4 and on Book D so a Year 2/3 child would need Book C.

It has crosswords to build vocabulary with a list of words to pick from, jumbled sentances that need re-ordering and the book is colourful and engaging on the eye to read.

My Spelling Workbook Book D: 4 : RIC Publications: Amazon.co.uk: Books

£6 on Amazon or £3-4 on ebay

The thing about keeping things ticking over in the holidays is that for KS1 this is easy enough to do and a lot less boring than working through a book of worksheets.

reading: books, recipes, cartoon speech bubbles, poems, instructions
writing :stories, thank you letters, shopping lists

maths, counting in twos, fives, tens (combine this with counting money, working out which coins you could use to buy something like an apple which costs 25p or a book which costs 90p).
counting on over tens / hundreds( start at 25, count on in tens)
counting back in this fives tens
Look for shapes , learn their names, compare their properties, use the vocabulary, straight , edge, curve, curved, angle,triangle, rectangle, circle semi circle, square,
weigh / measure dry and wet ingredients for cooking
learn the o clock times. Learn to set a time

yes these all require some input from you, but have the advantage that your child is learning that maths relates to real life, and, if you ask him to talk about what he is doing he is embedding that learning verbally, and developing the skill of explaining his thinking, which is something schools are really beginning to focus on.

Thank you @viques - I do agree that learning through doing is the most valuable, but we already do all of what you describe, which is probably why he is finding the worksheets easy. So maybe the answer is just not to bother with anything else at this stage.

When I was his age I was an utter bookworm, but whilst DS can read fluently, he doesn’t choose to in his free time. I would love to encourage him to do that but at the moment he would rather draw and play with his toys (which is also fine of course!)

OP I have the same question. Yr 2 DS loves the format of CGP books but is now finding them too easy. He has just been assessed at GD in Maths so this makes sense. Ideally I would like an expanded version if Yr2 CGP rather than moving him onto Yr3 books. Does such a thing exist? Also not a stealth brag because there were times when he found the reception and Yr1 books too difficult but maths seems to have clicked for him this year.

@Jonas25 i haven’t tried them yet but a friend told me she uses Bond books, if you’re looking for a formal workbook.

I really rate the CPG workbooks - I don't want all singing all dancing bells and whistles, just reliable, high quality materials, which I find they are.

They do a stretch version of pretty much all year work books if your DS is finding the normal ones too easy.

We also used the Maths Factor online - that was worth paying for.