First Level

READING

Keep reading time relaxed, comfortable and pleasurable, in a quiet corner, with the television turned off.

Try not to be critical —no child makes mistakes on purpose.

PRAISE encourages your child to try their best.

Be positive about your child’s reading.

Praise them if they do well and help if the book is difficult. Children should feel that reading is a successful activity.

Don’ t correct too quickly . If your child makes an error suggest having another go, searching the pictures for a clue, sounding out the first letter or reading on before you ‘tell’ the problem word.

When your child brings home a book that has been read before ask for a summary before reading it again, then discuss the book at a deeper level than last time.

Look through the book , noticing interesting pictures and words, then read the opening together.

As your child progresses, talk about authors, characters and plots or what new information has been learnt.

Ask your child literal questions about the text, e.g. Where was the boy going? How many wishes were granted?

If your child reads silently ask him/ her to re-tell the part that has been read and encourage the ‘pointing out’ of relevant sections in the text.

Feel free to read other books with your child as well. You could read a recipe, a magazine, comics or something from the newspaper etc. All reading is beneficial.

Below is an example of they types of questions you can use that go beyond simply understanding the text:

Questions First.pdf

PREPARING A TALK

You could help your child to find suitable information (perhaps including props, materials, etc.) and talk about it in a clear and organised way.

Should slides be required, it is recommended that Google Slides is used - this is easily accessed at home and at school.

Preparing notes and practising the talk in front of family members is a very useful exercise as many children are nervous about presenting to larger groups.

SPELLING

Continue to remind your child of the routine - LOOK, SAY, COVER, WRITE and CHECK. This should be repeated 3 times.

Point out any relationships which may exist between the words - often if a child can spell one they can spell them all.

Some additional activities may be given with the words e.g. sentences, identifying nouns, verbs, etc.

LANGUAGE WORK

Encourage legible handwriting, neat presentation and self -checking of spelling.

Your child should be able to spell simple, commonly used words and make a good attempt at less familiar words.

More difficult words can be left uncorrected so that the teacher can see the attempt made.

Always encourage your child to use the best words they can in any written work.

Google Classroom

Every class in the school is using Google Classroom. You are encouraged to sit with your child as they log in and share the contents of their Classroom with them - a little like an online Learning Journey.

Clear instructions on how to access this will be given to pupils in class and each child will be provided with their own log in information.

Teachers may choose to assign homework for pupils to access at home through Google Classroom.

Parents are encouraged to assist their child to use their log in to access the information. (See Google Classroom page for further details on Google Classroom).

If it is not possible to access Google Classroom at home, access can be made at school at an appropriate time or a paper copy of homework activities can be provided.

PROJECT / FINDING OUT TASKS

If required, please help your child to:

Find a suitable resource (please give assistance in making sure books/ websites are at an appropriate level)

Find the answer to the question(s) / problem(s). Answer the questions set in their own words.

Organise their findings / answers in a suitable way.

Please discourage your child from copying / printing out a large amount of information they do not understand .

MATHS

Oral maths work is still very important, especially learning multiplication tables.

Continue to encourage quick recall of the 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 times table ‘families’ and related facts. For example: 4 x 5 = 20 so 5 x 4 = 20 so 20 ÷5 = 4 and 20 ÷ 4 = 5. The 6, 7, 8 and 9 times tables will be introduced at an appropriate point.

Where written work is needed, please encourage your child to show all of their working.

If you are not sure of a method, ask your child to explain to you how they do it.

BIG MATHS

The following Learn Its should be practised regularly.

Big Maths Learn Its First Level

PROBLEM SOLVING / DESIGN / INVESTIGATION

In this type of job there is often no correct answer to such tasks.

Encourage your child to think carefully about the task and discuss ideas with you.

Help as little or as much as you feel is needed but please do not DO the task.

Your child should always be able to tell the teacher what he / she did, used or tried and why.