Top Tips
Children can achieve well at school when their family and friends take an interest in their school and schoolwork. Getting involved in your child’s education, even in the simplest way, shows that you care about their school life. Often, the more supported a child feels at home, the more effectively they will learn at school. Whatever your lifestyle, or family situation, it is never too soon (or too late) to start helping a child develop a positive attitude towards learning.
Key Points:
- Try to give encouragement and show appreciation of your child’s achievements, whether great or small, as this can help boost their confidence
- Learn together, do things together, visit interesting places, talk about things you’ve seen on television and encourage your child to ask questions
- When a child comes home from school, they may be tired so try not to fire too many questions of your child as soon as they walk through the door!
- Mind your language! Saying things like 'I was never good at maths at school' could be making it OK for your child not to apply herself fully in lessons. Instead, 'Can you teach me how you got to that answer' can help reinforce your daughter's knowledge
- Try to give feedback rather than criticism, e.g. saying ‘that didn’t seem to work’ rather than ‘you got it wrong’. This helps them think about where they went wrong and how they can improve in future, rather than just feeling like a failure.
