Supporting Your Child's Education at Home - What Can You Do? London

With the launch of the Government’s Home Access scheme to provide computers to low-income families, there are several ways parents can help to support their child's home learning.

Sue Walton, a primary school teacher with 30 years’ service in South West England, says you should "provide a calm, quiet place for your child, without too many distractions".

She adds, "Make sure that your child has a brief break every 20 minutes or so; concentration spans are limited, especially after a day at school.

"For primary children, encourage them to do a rough copy of their homework first of all, then offer suggestions on spellings, grammar etc and correct the rough copy before the child makes a neat final copy.

Stephen Copeland at BLi Education , one of the six approved current suppliers to the Home Access programme, says, "It is important that parents work with younger children at the computer and don’t leave them sitting in front of it on their own, expecting them to automatically learn from it.

"Using software which is fun for children, yet has an educational ingredient, works well as a way to learn through play, particularly with primary school-aged children or those with special educational needs."

Secondary school teacher Emma Hall, from Bristol, says you should encourage your child to use the Internet for research, not to copy directly from it.

She says, "Encourage homework to be done on the day it is received, so the support work done in class will be fresh in the child’s mind. Having said that, encourage them to prioritise according to deadline if they have received a lot.

"Encourage a discussion based on what they have done, as this will allow consolidation of what has been achieved. Try not to write letters excusing homework unless they are genuine, as students quickly become reliant on extensions."

Many parents are tempted to just do the homework for their children, but Sue Walton advises against this. "Offer ideas about reference books, websites, etc that might be useful. Praise and encouragement are the greatest motivators. All young children need to be read to, talked to, counted with and played with in order to promote successful learning."

"Children are now introduced to computers from the age of three," says Stephen Copeland. "In nursery and primary schools, so parents should look for software that is already being used in schools. Teachers are a good source for advice on quality educational software and creating a solid school/ home link can lead to improved academic performance.

"When my own son was working on his handwriting, I sat with him and typed the names of his favourite films or toys into the computer using a handwriting package, then printed them out and sat with him to help his handwriting. If I had just sat with him without involving the computer I suspect it would have been a struggle to engage him."

8 February 2010

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