We've almost complete one half term of school life and my daughter is loving it. I have already seen so much progress from her and we are really enjoying the start of her school career. Being a teacher myself (secondary age), I know just how important primary school is. Early Years Foundation and Key Stage 1 lays the foundations for the whole of your child's future education. At this stage, ideas are introduced that form the building blocks for the more complicated subjects which will be taught later in their school life - this is why these early years are considered to be the most critical. Something else I know from my own teaching career is the importance of parental support. Young children are naturally inquisitive and are excited to learn (something which a lot of my older students lack), so it's really important to take advantage of this by supporting and fostering that enthusiasm in order for them to continue grow into keen learners. Currently, I'm working with a fantastic family run company, Education Quizzes. Their company was born after they took their love of quizzes and wanted to create family type quizzes for when their nephews came to stay, which propelled them into starting this wonderful business.
It is suggested that you spend between 10 to 30 minutes each day (one-to-one) with your child and do a reflective learning activity. Education Quizzes offers quizzes suitable from KS1 through to GSCE, this fun way of learning helps to reinforce the knowledge from the same subjects that your child is being taught in the classroom. For the same cost as a DVD (£9.95) you can get a month access to this wonderful resource.
We've been trialing the quizzes with our daughter and she's been really enjoying them, it's a great activity to do at the dining room table post dinner. They cover a huge range of topics from recognising uppercase and lowercase letters to quizzes surrounding the Battle of Hastings!
I have also had a good look that the quizzes aimed at older students and have been very impressed, such a valuable resource when it comes to revision time in GCSE and may even suggest this to some of my own students.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this great little website and what your own tips are to help support your child's learning.
Mummy B xoxox *Collaborative Post