How to support your child’s learning
I always swore I would not be a pushy mother. My mum was my biggest and best ever learning support but she was never, ever pushy. She held my hand when I dropped out of university and held it again when I re-entered education. She tested me till 3 in the morning on my A-level history and she painstakingly typed up my thesis at university because I did not have a computer.
She taught me about civil rights through inspiring stories and she taught me about how to nurture people and plants and hopes and ideas. She was an awesome educator and I am indebted to her. It was all done with love and care and a few sleepless nights.
As a consequence of being parented by this awesome lady I have never felt that it is the job of a school to educate a child alone. I feel that I have a huge part to play in my child’s education…not just in the early years but throughout their development. I babble away to my son in bad French over breakfast and tell him silly French jokes which make us giggle. I also tell them about great figures from history as we travel in the car and he cannot get away. He is a proud feminist and for that, I take full responsibility.
I teach both my children to cook and I listened to and guide their reading until they were both fluent and passionate. Even now, older and more independent as readers I still ask them to tell me about the books they have read and the themes and threads within them. I will never stop being interested in a and a part of their learning. I see it as part of my parenting role. Check this article the importance of family engagement in early childhood to inspire with professional parenting advises from learning experts.
Informal learning
A lot of supporting my children learn is informal, measuring whilst baking cakes, helping me budget a day out, reading flat pack instructions out and having a go. I call for them to let me know what time it as. I even ask if they want to earn 50p and proofread my blog posts. This is all relaxed and fun but with ( for me) a goal in sight of stretching them a little and keeping them learning and applying their learning throughout their days.
Formal learning
I also support my children with heir formal learning from testing my littlest on her spellings to even devising quizzes for them.
Typeform is an online platform to create forms and questionnaires. They have different templates on their site which are free to use. One of their templates is an online quiz maker, which can be a great tool to help children with revision. The test maker can be used to devise a multiple choice test, a quiz, or an exam and inspire learning. This is so useful for teachers but it is also a great tool for parents who want to give their child some extra support.
I really love helping my children learn new things and consolidate their learning. Do you get involved with your child’s learning? I would love to hear about how you go about this so do leave me a comment below if this is an area that interests you.
Collaborative post
