[AD] Helping Your Child with their Home Learning

Since schools are currently closed in the UK, parents are finding it increasingly more difficult to ensure their children remain motivated to learn at home. It might help you to know that there are learning experiences all around you; a child doesn’t have to be sat at a desk with their head in their books in order to learn new things.  I have teamed up with an independent school in Hertfordshire to explore this notion further, as a way of providing parents with some advice to help their children learn at home.

Setting up a dedicated study space is crucial at the moment. Without one, they will struggle to complete their homework as there will be too many distractions. The study space must be well-lit, quiet and tidy, so that your child is comfortable and able to concentrate. As previously mentioned, though, studying for hours on end isn’t the only way your child can absorb information outside of a normal classroom environment. The trick is to seek out learning opportunities in other activities.

If you’re out in the garden or taking a walk with your child, use it as an opportunity to talk about the weather and how it changes with each season. You can explore this further by discussing how the different seasons affect the plants and animals. Ask them if they notice anything different about the trees or if they have spotted any new birds recently. There is much to learn about the great outdoors and it’s also great for a child’s physical and mental health.

There are many things you can do with your child indoors as well that will help them with their learning. Board games such as Monopoly are fantastic for helping a child with the numeracy skills, while Scrabble will help them with their vocabulary. What’s more, puzzles are great for aiding problem-solving skills and patience. Sometimes what seems like a bit of fun for the family can actually help children develop various abilities.

If your child likes to read, you could encourage them to write a review of their latest books. Remind them to use lots of adjectives to describe what they liked and disliked about the story and maybe even suggest an alternative ending. Just because a project hasn’t been set by your child’s teachers, it doesn’t mean it won’t be beneficial for them in terms of their overall learning and development.