Every day you can create learning opportunities for your child. Here are some ideas to help your child with reading and comprehension:
- Get your child to sort washing into colours
- Place labels all over the house - great for young readers. Ideas: pose a challenge to find six objects beginning with T, objects that rhyme, objects with blends
- Get your child to help write a shopping list or a ‘to do’ list before you head for the shops
- Encourage your child to write letters to a friend/relative who you know will respond – there’s nothing like getting a letter in the mail
- Encourage him/her to write thank-you letters for playing at friends, staying the night and for gifts they have received
- Baking is great fun and also YUM! Read instructions together when baking
- Help your child to make books using photos from holidays and adventures. Pets, friends and school trips are also great book topics. These become treasured items and they’re fun to read to others (like grandparents)
- Let your child answer the phone and learn to take messages
- Make poetry with words cut from magazines
Helpful Hints for Maths
Numbers and mathematic concepts are everywhere. Check out some of these ideas:
Numbers and mathematic concepts are everywhere. Check out some of these ideas:
- Building and construction provides opportunities for planning, measuring and creating shapes/objects. Use boxes or wood
- Plant seeds and measure the plants as they grow. Gardening is also a great opportunity to learn about the seasons
- Train your child to set the table. He/she will learn how to work out the correct number of knives, forks, spoons and place mats
- When baking and cooking, get your child to do the measuring
- Board games use number skills – have a family board game night once a week
- Search the web for maths games – there are hundreds of them out there