WHAT DID YOU LEARN TODAY?

What did you learn today?

Many children will answer this question with the frustrating response - "Nothing!"  In order to get a better idea of how your child is doing at school and how they find school life in general, try asking questions that encourage your child to discuss their learning with you.

Ask your child to tell you about their favourite part of the day or what they found easy or hard during the school day.  Follow their answers through with these questions; "Why do you think that? Can you tell me more?  What else would you like to know about …?"  All of these questions can lead to you and your child making predictions, recognizing similarities and differences, as well as making links to real life events and people.   In turn, this may lead to you and your child visiting the local library, researching a subject together on the internet or sharing their learning with a family member possibly using a webcam app.

Another approach to use when encouraging your child to discuss the day's learning is to ask them to complete activities. For example:

Tell me three facts that you learnt today.

Give me 5 keywords from your lessons.

Draw a picture or build a 3D model about your learning.

Ask your child to quiz you on a topic they are learning about.

Play 'Just a Minute' where your child tells you everything they can remember about a lesson in a minute.  You can join in by telling them everything you know about the subject.

Sometimes your child may tell you about things that happened at play time. Although this is not strictly about their academic learning it can still be significant to your child.  Playing, forming friendships, sharing, collaborating and socialising with their peers are important parts of learning and developing life skills for every child.

It's ok not to know 

but 

it is not ok not to try!

Perhaps the most important things about sharing learning with your child is to let them know that it is normal to find things difficult and to make mistakes; this is part of the process of learning.