As a parent, you surely do understand how important it is to support and encourage your child’s learning from the moment that they start formally learning in the preschool setting. You may also know how crucial parental support is during these early years. If children enjoy a good relationship with their parents, they tend to be far less anxious and stressed in the school setting. We suggest that you work on your relationship with your child while simultaneously reinforcing the learning that has taken place at school.
Supporting your child’s learning from home does not need not be very difficult if you know how to encourage further learning from home.
One of the best ways to support your preschool child’s learning journey at home is by creating a designated learning space. A little table and chair in the corner of the room is enough to set the right tone for learning at home. When you invite your little child to the learning corner, make sure that your child is free from any distractions. Try to spend about 10-15minutes in this designated learning space with your child every day. Make sure to keep the time in this learning space limited so that your child doesn’t lose concentration or feel overwhelmed in this learning space. Reinforce the idea that the learning space is the space that is used only when homework is being done or when your child is completing a worksheet or two.
We often forget the value of conversation and chatter with our kids. By discussing with your child all that was covered at school, you are getting your child to recall concepts that were already discussed and completed at school. Regularly conversing with and starting discussions with your child is a great way to improve your child’s vocabulary. You can also get your child used to the question and answer type of dialogue where questions are asked and your child needs to answer. By conversing with your child, you will understand if your child is paying attention at school or not.
One of the best ways that you can initiate further learning from home is by nurturing your child’s natural curiosity. Give your child the chance to experiment with “safe” materials. By simply pouring water in a bowl and seeing which objects float and which objects sink in the water, you are getting your child to learn an important science concept. Encouraging learning need not always involve covering what has already been covered in the classroom setting but going above and beyond that too.
You will be surprised at how easy it is for children to read certain words when they happen to see these words regularly. If you are keen to assist your child with reading, add some wall art to your living room. You can put up posters that feature the set words that have been covered at school. Encourage your child to read the words featured on the wall poster daily until your child masters all the set words. Once your child masters the words, you can go ahead and add another word wall art poster to your living room wall.
An inescapable part of every learning situation are those strong emotions that children face on a daily basis. If a child is in the right frame of mind, the child will be able to learn better and grasp new concepts rather easily.If the child is feeling anxious, overwhelmed, sad, or even angry, any environment that the child is in won’t be conducive to learning. Love your child by letting your child Let Out VariousEmotions (LOVE) that he or she may be feeling. Teaching your child to express and embrace different emotions is great when dealing with younger kids. Getting your child to talk about how he or she is feeling is a great way to help your child come to grips with all types of emotions. You can also teach your child some strategies to use to cope with stronger emotions. If children understand all the different types of emotions from a young age, they will be better able to cope with these emotions in various different settings.
Learning should never be restricted to pen and paper learning. You want to let your child learn in ways that your child will enjoy too. It is best to find the most suitable educational apps for your child. Choose concepts and topics that your child may be struggling with at school and use fun, innovative, and entertaining apps to help your child understand difficult concepts better. You will be surprised at how much your child will learn when your child is having fun in the process.
You can teach your child certain rules, rights, and behaviors during everyday interactions with your child. You can get your child to understand that sharing is caring by using practical examples in daily situations. You can also teach your child behavioral skills at the eating table or during relaxation time. Every moment at home is a chance to teach your child something. Teaching your child how to say, “please” and “thank you,” as well as other mannerisms is important too. Don’t only teach your child that which is covered in the curriculum.
The best way to get an idea of what your child knows or doesn’t know is to keep the lines of communication open between yourself and your child’s preschool teacher. Your child’s teacher will be able to provide feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of your child so you know where to start with your child. It is important to keep all channels of communication open should you want to ensure that your child thrives both at school and at home.
If you are keen on encouraging learning from home, you need to consider where to get started. It all starts with establishing a routine for your child. Having a daily routine is of utmost importance so that you can plan enough time for communication, the discussing of emotions, and for learning during the designated learning time. You need to look at your child’s schedule as well as your own to see how you can structure a routine that will work for everyone in your household. When you understand what your child’s teacher or teachers expect from you in terms of homework and learning, you can set a daily schedule for your child to follow.
While setting a routine is an excellent strategy when you begin encouraging learning from home, you are also teaching your kids some independence in the process. Having a routine is great for children of all ages.
Make chores seem like something fun so that your child will be willing to help with chores and in turn learn responsibility. You can also show your child that reading in your free time is good, so that your child also reaches out for a book during free time. The best way to teach your children good behavior is by displaying good behavior.
If you show fear and hesitance when teaching your child a new concept or when helping your child with homework, your child won’t feel confident when learning or may feel that the homework is wrong. Parents who are positive about completing tasks and teaching their kids something new rub that positivism off on their children.
In keeping up with a positive mindset, you must see preschool as important for teaching your child valuable life skills. There are times when you will question whether preschool is necessary, but you need to be strong. Not everyday at preschool will be the easiest and sometimes your child will moan and groan to go to school. However, the entire early years journey is a way of getting children to learn how to deal with reality and the raw emotions associated with embracing real life.
While we have given you some suggestions and tools that you can use when approaching learning from home, we suggest that you remember to use some tools daily. When working with your little ones, make sure have these handy tools:
Keeping cool and calm will make learning possible. Losing your cool will be just as frustrating for your child as it will be for you.
It is important to be there to comfort your child when your child is struggling with a difficult problem. Giving your child something that he or she is comfortable with will make your child want to thrive. Making your child comfortable in the learning area is also important.
Being a hands-on parent is great but learning happens when you are hands-on with the materials you choose to use when you are trying to teach your child a new concept. Try to be hands-on in all aspects.
We hope that you feel more confident about the task of teaching your little one and reinforcing learning from home. We also take our hats off to you should you be willing to take on the task of supporting preschool learning from home. The fact that you want to help your child from the get go shows that you are a caring parent.