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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

advice please!

20 replies

iliketurquoise · 09/01/2010 16:06

i have ds in yr4.
i am struggling how to programme his studying.
it is nearly impossible for me to find out exactly what they learn in class and how to match it to revise books we have at home.
i try to study regularly with him but other than that he doesnt do much himself which is worrying me.
for example if i say study the times table, he sits and writes but not much goes into his head i guess.
doing it together is tiring me out mentally.
i am a lone mum and quite busy. all over that sitting and studying with him is more hard than anything.
what should i do? and i dont want to stress him telling him study many times, he will hate it in the future.
thanks in advance for your advices.
last term we repeated all yr3 maths at home together.
science not exactly going in the order we have in our book.
what shall we do i dont know.

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LeightonCourtDiscoQueen · 09/01/2010 16:11

Does the school give homework? That should be enough to keep him busy, but if not, search on the internet for teaching ideas that go with it?

Re: times tables, my DS has a test once a week - 100 random sums from a set table, if they get them all right, they move onto the next table. It seems to be working for him. I think they did
10x
5x
2x
3x
4x
11x
6x
7x
8x
9x
12x

teachpeach · 09/01/2010 16:21

The school should be able to provide a list of topics for the year at least to give you an idea of what they do. My boy is in Year 4 and we do very little 'formal'extra study- he reads a lot and we discuss his homework, which is set once a week, but other than that - not much else. He has sports activities and drum and piano lessons and he needs time to play! We have got timestable laminated sheets I got from WHSmiths that we use from time to time.
Is he going to sit an entrance exam for secondary school?

Original poster

iliketurquoise · 09/01/2010 16:24

thanks LeightonCourtDiscoQueen.
what you mean by '100 random sums from a set table'?
i think i will check their yr4 targets and go on that one.
but sitting and studying with him is so hard.
how can i make him do that? by finding internet sites? perhaps bbc/education?
then he will skip and start playing on net

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Original poster

iliketurquoise · 09/01/2010 16:29

i am not sure if he is going to sit entrance exam for secondary school teachpeach.
but he will have sats in yr6.
i want him study regularly. not only in year 6 for sats.
but to make it a regular thing is the hard bit, because i am not a teacher.
he gets homework from school, had a project last term, which i had to help a lot.
other homeworks not seem enough to me to make a child sit and study regularly. i feel like i have to organize all these myself. but i dont know how to do.

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Original poster

iliketurquoise · 09/01/2010 16:31

i want to go along with the school but dont know their programme very well, for example what they are going to study next week.

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cat64 · 09/01/2010 16:34

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Original poster

iliketurquoise · 09/01/2010 16:35

he is behind them some in the class cat64.

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teachpeach · 09/01/2010 16:41

I wondered if that was why you wanted him to study. At this age, I'm not sure any children want to sit and study- when my DS1 had homework on the Tudors, we went to a tudor house and he took some photos and did a 'project' when he got home. We use Googleearth for all sorts of things. You just need to keep him interested in learning- in an enjoyable relaxed way- rather than studying at a desk.

Feenie · 09/01/2010 16:44

What about some games linked to Numeracy/Literacy? This site has games clearly linked to y4 objectives, and Mathszone tells you which year group the activities are suited to.

bb99 · 09/01/2010 16:44

Have you asked the teacher what you could target at home to help him with his school work and is he behind in general, or just not 'at the top' of the class iyswim?
Does he get extra help/programmes in school or is a SENCO involved, as if the SENCO is involved the child will usually have an IEP and there will be focussed tasks/targets on the IEP?

What do you think he is behind in and is the teacher worried?

cece · 09/01/2010 16:57

I am a teacher and also a mother of a Year 4 child. My DD does the homework set by school. She reads. That is as regards formal work at home.

There are loads of things you could do with your DS which would help his learning.

cooking; he reads the recipe, weighs the ingredients and so on. Plenty of learning going on there. Perhaps he could double up or half the recipe if he wants more or less of something.

shopping - help to write the weekly shopping list, help you to shop, great for working out money, change etc. My DCs go car booting with me. My 6 year old is now excellent at working out his money!

visit a library - regular visits help him select a good range of interesting books to read.

computer games, loads to help with times tables if that is what you are concerned with. We have magnetic times tables on our firdge. DD practises with them during breakfast. But I would like to emphasise it is fun and she usually initates it.

board game; these offer various opportunities for learning.

TBH I am not convinced of the value of Year 4 children 'sitting and studying' in addition to their school homework. Children do work very hard at school and I find mine are usually too tired for more work when they get home.

If he is 'behind' has he got an IEP with targets on? Have you discussed all of this extra work with the classteacher?

JustGettingByMum · 09/01/2010 17:08

"he is behind them some in the class"
Is he actually educationally behind, or just not top of the class?

Original poster

iliketurquoise · 09/01/2010 17:08

i may say he is not so bad in class, i know some are behind him.
but im getting the impression he is not learning much in class. i understand this when i study with him. here i am not blaming the teacher or school or anything. but i wish i knew what they were doing in school more, and i would go along with it at home, practise about it at home, so he wouldnt forget what he learnt.

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JustGettingByMum · 09/01/2010 17:15

IMVHO if you are genuinely concerned that he is not learning, then talk to his teacher. He/she should be able to tell you what NC level he is working at and how this compares with his level in September. Hopefully that will reasssure you, and then you can spend your time with him just having fun.

Once he gets to secondary school he will get lots of homework, try to enjoy this time with him as it will be over very soon.

Original poster

iliketurquoise · 09/01/2010 17:15

teach peach, we went to see a tudor house, too.
the thing that was hard for him was; to collect the information from the websites and put them in an order to write the task.

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Original poster

iliketurquoise · 09/01/2010 17:16

thank you JustGettingByMum

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Original poster

iliketurquoise · 09/01/2010 17:17

thanks to everyone really for your advices.

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cece · 09/01/2010 17:22

If you want to help his learning then I would like to refer you to my post below.

I noticed too that you are worried about the Year 6 SATs. Please do not give them another moments thought. These are designed to measure the school and really will have no relevance for your child's future.

cat64 · 09/01/2010 18:29

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Message withdrawn

cece · 09/01/2010 18:35

Thank you cat

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