9 Tips for Teaching Your Child at Home
We love our kids, and we want to ensure our little ones have the best start to their education. Whether it be giving them the tools to ensure they are school ready or supporting what they are learning in class, we simply want to do what’s best.
Often, that means we seek ways to support their development at home. Home is a wonderful environment to help your child foster a positive attitude to learning that will serve them well life-long.
How do we make home a great place for our child to learn? Here are our tips on how to support your child to learn and skill build at home.
SET THE SCENE
The learning space
Firstly, you do not have to replicate the classroom environment at home but there are some things to consider when choosing a physical space to do homework or learning activities.
It’s a great idea to provide your child a comfortable place to learn. To boost performance and wellbeing aim to provide a clutter free area, free from noise and distractions. Aim to pick a space that has access to natural light, the more natural light the more conducive the environment for learning. Try to provide a chair that supports their growing body but also provides back support.
Although you may have the option to create a dedicated study zone, not everyone can, and a space at the kitchen table can be as effective. The goal is providing a comfortable space they can return to each time, and they know it is their place for learning.
Materials
Kids are wonderfully adept at learning from engaging visual stimuli. Allow them to experiment with a range of materials and implements such as lots of colorful crayons, pencils, and markers. Provide plenty of paper, cardboard, and notebooks. And it can help to have some of the fun stuff on hand like stickers and stamps.
Tap into the energy
Any parent knows that a tired and hungry child will be a reluctant learner. And equally, a tired parent can quickly run out of patience! Make sure that everyone is well hydrated and snacks before they begin activities. If you are supporting homework, make sure there is enough time to transition from school to home so they can recharge their energy. Learning new skills and information can be very tiring for younger learners, sometimes it’s best to work with the energy available and keep the session time short.
LEARN ABOUT YOUR LITTLE LEARNER
Every child learns differently
Kids at this age are remarkable learners. They love to explore, observe, and ask questions. Yet, all children are different and may approach learning in different ways. My eldest struggled to sit still, he learned better when he could get up and move around. My youngest was a methodical learner, she loved to sit at her desk and make her way steadily through any task. Expecting some children to sit still for extended periods of time can be as efficient as scooping water with a sieve – lots of work, no reward!
As your child experiments with home learning, you will start to notice their own unique learning preferences and the techniques that help them focus. Don’t worry if it doesn’t match yours. Remember, the goal is to keep them motivated to learn and to steadily build their skills.
Realistic Expectations
Mastering new skills requires a child to reach certain developmental milestones and it’s important to recognise that children need to progress sequentially through many stages to achieve proficiency. For example, learning to write requires the development of fine motor skills to ensure that wrists, hands and fingers have sufficient strength and dexterity to manipulate a writing tool.
When supporting home learning, it’s important to set realistic expectations for what your child may be ready to learn and how quickly they can master a skill. There are many age-appropriate activities available from workbooks to online printables and lesson plans. Your kid’s teacher will set age-appropriate homework tasks and will be a great resource if you are concerned your child is not picking up skills as you would have expected, or if you think they may need more challenging activities.
Attention span
Children will not be able to concentrate for long periods of time. Developmental experts say that a reasonable attention span is typically two or three minutes per year of their age with an upper range of five minutes. A four-year-old can typically focus on a task for eight to 12 minutes up to 20 minutes. Of course, these are general guides, but the principal lesson here is that a child’s attention span is not infinite!
To help with focus, mix up the types of lessons your child is doing to keep them interested. Make sure they are not hungry, tired or distracted. Give them opportunities to take breaks, to get up and physically move. A ‘brain break’ is essential.
KEEP THEM MOTIVATED
Practice, practice, practice
Building skills is not easy. Try and write with your non-dominant hand and you quickly come to realise that as it doesn’t come naturally, it would take some considered practice to write like a pro! Children really do need to keep practicing, and it is important to inspire the motivation to do so.
Explain why the task is useful and important. It may be important to practice so they can do the same things as their classmates, or it maybe they want to learn to read their favourite book. Tasks with purpose have more value.
Kids tend to feel thrilled by their progress, even when it proceeds slowly and steadily. Keep a track record of their progress and celebrate their milestones with stickers, stamps or even a high five!
Be careful not to fall into the trap of bribing or rewarding your child to practice. If you give the impression that the learning activity is not as good as the reward, you squash the intrinsic desire to learn. Take away the reward, and what then?
Encouragement
This is where parental and carer involvement can make a big difference. Show lots of interest in what they are doing and ask questions about the task at hand such as their choice of colors, or the shapes they’ve used in a drawing. Comment on their progress, let them see that they are steadily improving. Praise their effort.
Keep it positive
You want the best for your child, but sometimes we can turn these learning experiences into a battle ground. No one benefits from a power struggle, or from nagging or punishing a child in a bid to get them to complete a learning task. If you start to feel frustrated, or that a storm is brewing, then take five. If they start to get frustrated, let them take five! When everyone has taken a deep breath it is important to reset the mood and allow your child to return to a positive learning space.
Motivation can come from ownership. If it is possible, let them make choices over what they do. Let them choose which task to do first, which color pencil to use, or when to have a sip of water.
The final word….
As parents and carers, we can feel responsible for each step of our child’s learning journey. That’s ok but it’s important to remember that you do not have to be an educating superhero! Take time out when you need it, step away if you must, but most of all, try to enjoy this time with your child. This is the time when they are keen, eager and excited to explore the world and their place in it!