Headlam Street, Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2JX | Tel: 0191 265 9881
Learning at Home
There are lots of things you can do to help your child at home.
Reading
Reading is the most important skill that you need to have to be successful in life. We do lots of reading with your child in school to help them to become fluent, confident readers. However, there are things that you can do to support your child at home with their reading.
Reading books
Read regularly and often with your child, at least three times a week. Your child’s reading record has lots of hints and tips about questions to ask to improve their reading. Also make sure you add comments when you read with your child and make sure you use the stickers too!
Reading can happen anywhere at any time!
You can read picture books, story books, non-fiction books, newspapers or comics. Any type of reading will benefit your child.
If you are looking for recommendations for books to share with your child, these are some of the websites you could look at.
100 best books for children | BookTrust
School reading list – recommended books for children and teens
Audiobooks provide a different way of sharing reading with your child. This is a website that you can use to access free audiobooks.
Sooper Books has kindly donated all of their award-winning stories and audiobooks to our school. Use the following links to access the stories and audiobooks free of charge from school or from home:
Bedtime stories — a selection of the world’s best 5-10 minute bedtime stories and audiobooks
Fairy tales — a selection of classic fairy tales retold in a modern and fun way
Sooper Series — a selection of original stories in episode format. Each episode is a separate 10-15 minute story
Rhymes & Poems — a selection of 3-5 minute funny rhymes
Aesop’s fables — a selection of 3-5 minute moral tales, retold in a fun and modern way
Supporting early reading
In school, we follow Little Wandle to teach children how to read using phonics. We teach phonics daily in Reception, Year One and into Year Two. Although we teach phonics in school, there are things that you can do to help your child at home.
Below are links to the Little Wandle website which has a dedicated section for parents.
It shows ‘how to’ videos as well as explaining when each sound it taught.
https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
Top tops on sharing books with children of any age
- Set aside some time.
- Find somewhere quiet without any distractions– turn off the TV and any devices
- Ask your child to choose a book– sharing books they have chosen shows you care what they think and that their opinion matters and they are more likely to engage with the book.
- Sit close together– encourage your child to hold the book themselves and/or turn the pages.
- Point to the pictures if there are illustrations and relate them to something you child knows. Ask them to describe the characters or situation or what will happen next. Encourage them to tell you the story by looking at the pictures.
- Encourage your child to talk about the book- talking about the characters and their dilemmas helps children understand relationships and is an excellent for you to get to know each other or discuss difficult issues. Give your child plenty of rime to respond. Ask them what will happen next, how a character might be feeling or how the book makes them feel.
- Don’t be afraid to use funny voices– children love this.
- And lastly and above all- make it fun! It doesn’t matter how you read with a child, as long as you both enjoy the time together.
Sharing your reading success
We love to hear about any reading that you are doing at home. Feel free to send your class teacher messages or photos of you reading with your child at home- we would love to see them!
Extra ways to support reading at home
Below are some leaflets which can give you some more tailored ideas about reading with your child, whether they are in Early Years, Key Stage One or Key Stage Two.
Maths
Every child in school has access to Mathletics. This is an online resource where pupils can practise the skills they have learnt in maths lessons. It is also how class teachers assign maths homework. Each child has their own login, so please contact your child’s class teacher via Class Dojo if you need their login.
Below are some other websites which you may like to use to access maths activities and games.
Math Games | Math Playground | Fun for Kids
Science
We do lots of science in school, encouraging children to learn about the world around them. Here are some websites which you may like to use to further deepen your child’s love of science.
Home | The Learning Zone (ox.ac.uk)
Home | WowScience – Science games and activities for kids
