Education - Lessons to learn before

These key skills underpin everything we do in life and it takes Lessons to learn before you’re 10 just a few minutes a day to boost them so your child learns more effectively and confidently. What’s more, growing these skills can be fun! Developed by experts who understand how children’s brains By Gail Hugman Older children ages 7+ might be able to order the objects in a sequence or a develop and form, try these starter activities to set your child off on the right path. story. Working memory The more children play the game, the better they will get at recalling the Play Kim’s Game. objects. Why not see for yourself and To set up, gather ten objects together on a tray. Give your child play along too! Keep a tally so they can one to two timed minutes to look at the objects, then cover them track their improvement and praise them up. Depending on age and ability, ask them to tell, draw or write for being clever. Explain that this is more than just a fun challenge, it’s all about which ones they remember. As they progress, add more objects or give them less time to remember them. teaching their brain to have a really There are ways help brains recall objects; the trick is to make good memory. You can say: ‘When your links and spot patterns. teacher shows you something in school, your brain will remember it better if you Give them these tips: We live in a world where it’s easy to become overwhelmed. So teaching young children sort the information first. You’ll be able to remember names, countries, lists, linked facts and even do magic tricks by remembering a bunch of playing cards in order - how cool is that?’ To start with, count how many objects you’ll have to remember. Look to see if any can be linked together, by colour or by material, such as all plastic or all wood, by shape or by use; eg knife and fork go together, tools together, toys together. to make good use of their working Older children ages 7+ might be able to order the objects in a memory, exercise self-control and get Gail Hugman is the bestselling author of sequence or a story. organised will really help them develop the skills they need to succeed in life. It takes just a few minutes a day to boost these skills so your child learns more effectively and confidently. 100 Things to Learn Before You’re 10. A children’s life coach, she owns and runs Human at Core (www.humanatcore. com), which helps parents motivate and engage their children in developing a bright future and provides science-based The more children play the game, the better they will get at recalling the objects. Why not see for yourself and play along too! Keep a tally so they can track their improvement and praise them for being clever. Explain that this is more than just a fun challenge, it’s all about teaching their brain to have a really good memory. Developed by experts who understand online personal development courses for how children’s brains develop and children and parents. You can say: ‘When your teacher shows you something in form, these key skills underpin everything we do and growing them can be fun! Try these starter activities to set your child off on the right path.

school, your brain will remember it better if you sort the information first. You’ll be able to remember names, countries, lists, linked facts and even do magic tricks by remembering a bunch of playing cards in order - how cool is that?’ Self-control Self-control Ask your child to tell you really quietly

Ask your child to tell you really quietly what colour socks they are wearing. Then ask them to tell you again as LOUDLY as what colour socks they are wearing. Then ask them to tell you again as possible (it may not be such fun for you, but they will love it!)LOUDLY as possible (it may not be such

Each time they whisper or shout, give feedback to their brain fun for you, but they will love it!) by telling them ‘that’s great whispering, can it be quieter?’ or

‘excellent LOUD voice, is that the loudest you’ve got?’Each time they whisper or shout, give feedback to their brain by telling them

Do this exercise a few times and congratulate your child on their self-control. Tell them that taking charge from the inside is a very grown up thing to do. ‘that’s great whispering, can it be quieter?’ or ‘excellent LOUD voice, is that the loudest you’ve got?’

Decide one thing you’d like your child to get under control. For example, it may be to resist the impulse to call out in class. Or leave their desk when they should be sitting quietly. Make it a Do this exercise a few times and congratulate your child on their selfpositive. control. Tell them that taking charge from the inside is a very grown up thing to do. Explain to your child that you’d like them to focus on this one thing every day for a week. Remind them each day, ask how they got on and praise their progress. In this way, you’ll support their Decide one thing you’d like your child effort to control their impulses. to get under control. For example, it Gail Hugman is the bestselling author of 100 Things to Learn Before You’re 10. A children’s life coach, she owns and runs Human at Core (www.humanatcore.com), which helps may be to resist the impulse to call out in class. Or leave their desk when they should be sitting quietly. Make it parents motivate and engage their children in developing a a positive. Focus on it for a week. Each bright future and provides science-based online personal day, ask how they got on and praise development courses for children and parents. their progress so you can support their effort to control their impulses. For more reading advice and access to a huge range of phonics reading books and others, visit ReadingChest.co.uk, the children’s book rental service. Use discount code FAMSW to get £5 off your first month’s membership.

Working memory - play Kim’s Game

To set up, gather ten objects together on a tray. Give your child one to two timed minutes to look at the objects, then cover them up. Depending on age and ability, ask them to tell, draw or write which ones they remember. As they progress, add more objects or give them less time to remember them.

There are ways to help brains recall objects; the trick is to make links and spot patterns. Give them these tips: To start with, count how many objects you’ll have to remember. Look to see if any can be linked together, by colour or by material, such as all plastic or all wood, by shape or by use; knife and fork go together, tools together, toys together.

4

Organisation

Good habits created early on pay dividends in later life! Help your child put together a homework kit so all the stationery they need is at hand before they start working. Teach your child to get ready the night before, setting out tomorrow’s clothes and any extra kit they will need. Time homework. If it’s supposed to be thirty minutes, don’t spend longer on it. If they’re not finishing on time, either the teacher needs to know or your child needs to focus more effectively.

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Time management Time management Organisation

Organising time is a great skill, but children first need to grasp Organising time is a great skill, but Good habits created early on pay dividends in later life! how long things actually take. Our ‘just a minute’ might take five or ten minutes and young brains may understandably be fooled into thinking only a minute has passed. Have fun using a timer to count how many of the following things they can do in one minute: hops, writing their name neatly, reading words out loud, starting a colouring-in page. Show them a timetable of their day with blocks of playtime in which they can plan their own fun. children first need to grasp how long things actually take. Our ‘just a minute’ might take five or ten minutes and young brains may not understand this. Have fun using a timer to count how many of the following things they can do in one minute: hops, writing their Help your child put together a homework kit so all the stationery they need is at hand before they start working. Teach your child to get ready the night before, setting out tomorrow’s clothes and any extra kit they will need. Time homework. If it’s supposed to be thirty minutes, don’t spend longer on it. If your child is not finishing on time, either the teacher needs to know or they need to focus more effectively. name neatly, reading words out loud, starting a colouring-in page. Show them a timetable of their day with blocks of playtime in which they can plan their own fun.

Phonics & More - Save £5!

At school, children are taught to read using synthetic phonics. They learn letter sounds (phonemes) in groups and then work on blending them to make words. The first group is normally ‘s, a, t, p, i, n’. Once children know these phonemes, they will be encouraged to blend them together to make words. Later, children learn that one phoneme can be represented by different letters, such as the sound in the middle of ‘rain’ can also be represented as ‘ay’ (play) and ‘a-e’ (tale). Phonics reading schemes, such as Bug Club Phonics, Red Squirrel Phonics, Big Cat Phonics, Floppy’s Phonics are carefully written so that children can sound out all the words using only their phonics knowledge. When helping your child learn to read, the most important thing is to encourage a love of books and reading for pleasure. Whilst phonics is an important learning tool, it is part of a much bigger picture.

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