helping your child learn

Your child learns in many places and in many ways
School is a major source of your child's learning. Learning at home is even more important to your child's development. As a parent, you have an opportunity to make an enormous difference to how much and how well your child learns. You are your child's most important teacher and a valuable partner of your child's teacher in school.

What you do as a parent helps your child

• learn better
• know more
• do better in school
• function better in society
• develop a positive attitude towards learning.

Your child is never too young to learn. The early years of a child's life provide the foundation for later learning, and they can be some of the most fruitful years of all.

A child develops in many ways

• physically
• socially
• intellectually
• emotionally
• psychologically

Children vary in their rate of development,
some mature faster than others
Children's abilities vary too - they do not all reach the same level. Your child is an individual with his or her own rate of growth and his or her own set of abilities and talents. Accept your child as he or she is. Children are not all the same! Try to resist the temptation to compare your child with other children - including siblings.

Children need to learn many types of skills

• understanding the spoken word
• speaking
• distinguishing shapes, colours, sizes
• number skills
• writing
• categories of things
• dealing with others.

Everything will be new to your child and s/he will be eager to learn and understand.

You can help your child. Here are some ideas
Visit interesting places:

• museums
• the zoo
• the library
• historical sites
• other local points of interest.

and discuss them with your child - explain their importance.

Even more ideas for helping your child

• select safe, educational toys such as those that need to be put together
• play games - especially those that have educational value, like number games, guessing games, word games
• encourage your child to do projects with other children. S/he will learn to co-operate and her/his social skills will improve
• take your child on the train or bus
• listen to your child - encourage her/him to ask questions, discuss ideas and tell stories
• select activities that fit your child's level of development, ones that s/he can enjoy and learn from
• set a good example - if you are interested in learning, your child will be too.

Set a family reading time or some other organised learning activity and share experiences. If you are interested in learning your child will be too.

Learning is a skill and like other skills it improves with practice. Give your child the practice s/he needs to develop learning skills. Try to work with the school. We all have the same goal - giving your child the best possible education. You can help the school do a better job if you:

• attend parent-teacher meetings
• communicate often with the teacher
• know what your child is studying
• take an interest in your child's work
• see that your child follows rules and attends school regularly.

If your child is not yet in school, you can still start getting her or him ready. Find out where the school is, show your child the school, the bus stop (if applicable) and talk positively about going to school so your child will look forward to it as an exiting new experience.

A note about homework
Parents can help with homework by providing the right

• atmosphere for studying.
• limit the amount of time spent watching TV
• provide a good work area. This means good lighting,
• a desk to work on, the right tools (a good dictionary is especially helpful) and peace and quiet
• agree on a regular/set time for homework.

If your child does not yet have any homework, you can still help prepare her/him by talking about school work. This will encourage the child to think about school when at home, and homework will seem natural when the time comes.

Don't forget school holidays
Learning does not stop just because the school is not open.

Summer activities and family trips are good chances for a child to explore and see new things e.g. seaside, country, farms - in fact anything that's different from what s/he normally sees at home.

Holidays provide a good chance to broaden your child's
horizons

• point out new things e.g. animals, plants, historical places etc.
• help your child relate new things to familiar things e.g. a new kind of bird can be compared with
• familiar birds
• listen to your child's reactions - discuss the
• experience.

Have fun helping your child learn!