Maths
We believe in focusing on the ‘Why’ and then the ‘How’, try to apply this to every Maths concept even simple ones that you teach your child. If a child can understand why they are doing something then the how is a natural progression and doesn’t need to be memorised. For long term success at Maths students need to understand the core concepts early.
Make it fun, challenging and most of all make your child feel good about their progression. Keep it positive and engaging.
Being able to add, subtract, multiply and divide quickly and without hesitation, allows a child more time to focus on the more difficult part of a problem. With tables, it’s all about practise and memory, build your child’s confidence early on in first and second class and ensure they are confident when it comes to basic maths. Fun Drills and Games make this kind of practice enjoyable for everyone.
Let them understand that getting the right answer in a problem is not the most important thing, but showing you how they got there. If a child is using the right method but gets the problem wrong due to a small error, this is fine, errors are easy to fix, the method is the key. Focus on a child showing their work or explaining how they got their answer, not on the answer.
Use Maths in everyday life, give your child the opportunity to help you work out real problems and feel the achievement of putting their Maths into practice.
English
- Develop a love of reading. Children who learn to love reading, learn to love learning. Children who struggle with reading, struggle with learning. Reading not only helps children develop a much richer vocabulary, it helps their brain learn how to process concepts and formal communication. Students who read well experience an enhanced ability to learn in all subjects. Read to your child frequently and encourage them to read themselves. If a child decides that reading is boring or frustrating, they won’t want to read. Give them options and let them pick their own books and you will set the foundations for a positive reading experience.
- Focus on your child’s interests. Children will be more engaged and have more fun if they are learning about something they are interested in. If they like football, find interesting books and stories about football.
- Make it fun, challenging and most of all make your child feel good about their progression. Keep it positive and engaging.
Languages
Learn through songs, videos and TV shows. There are lots of great songs, tv shows and cartoons available in Spanish and Irish that can be used to learn in a fun and interactive way. Youtube and Netflix are great resources for cartoons, tv shows and songs in different languages with subtitles. Cartoons are a great way to get started with a new language. Shows for young kids are designed for people who don’t have a full command of the language. They feature simple vocabulary that is easy to understand. Even if you don’t know every word, you can still follow the story. Choose cartoons that are easy to understand, and use short phrases and well-articulated speech like Dora the Explorer and Peppa Pig.
Children have short attention spans so if you want them to stay focused and engaged keep activities short and change activities often. Short learning activities are the best way to build up their fluency without losing their interest.
Learn through play. Playing is the way children learn new things best. Through play children can learn and practise new words.
Focus on your child’s interests. Children will be more engaged and have more fun if they are learning about something they are interested in. If they like football, find interesting books and stories about football.
