Most children in the UK learn to read using phonics. We know some parents struggle with how to support their child, especially if they aren’t familiar with how phonics fits with learning to read and English.
Recently we had a call from a concerned parent in the Knutsford area. Her daughter has just gone into Year 2 at a local primary school. They’d worked hard over summer, continuing to read books and working on sounding out words she was struggling with. Her mum told us that she’d come home from school one day in tears, they’d been working on phonics in class and writing stories. Her daughter feels like she isn’t as good as her friends at reading and writing and her confidence is really starting to suffer.
Some parents don’t think it’s appropriate for primary age children to have tutors. But tutors at this age aren’t focused on hot-housing or helping children pass exams. Their focus is on helping a child learn fundamentals (such as the building blocks of English and Maths) so they can progress through school as confident and happy pupils.
We asked our tutors for their top three tips for helping primary age children with English basics:
- Make it fun. Kids feel enough pressure at school so ensure any reading and writing activities at home are light and enjoyable. Remember you can read anything with your child – a comic, packaging, a website – anything that gets them comfortable with language.
- Be supportive. Focus less on what your child is doing badly and heap praise on anything they do well. This well help to build their confidence.
- Consider a private one to one tutor, someone who can come into your home and support your child’s learning. Look for someone with relevant experience with children of a similar age.
If you’d like to know more about primary tutoring for English and other basic subjects in areas including Macclesfield, Knutsford, Cheshire and Manchester contact 121 Home Tutors today.
Tags: english primary tutors, phonics, Primary, primary tutors