How you can help – praise and encourage

As a parent you have tremendous power to strengthen your child’s confidence – and confidence is vital to learning.

If your child is unsure about the homework, read through the tasks with them and ask ‘prompting’ questions, such as:

“Can you explain to me what you are doing?”
“How are you going to do this?”
“How do you know what to do?”
“What do you need to find out?”

When you discuss homework in this way with your child they can take the role of the ‘teacher’ and explain to you what’s expected. This in itself can be an important learning exercise.

Always be generous with support, praise and encouragement!

Try to give specific praise that focuses on a particular aspect of their work, saying something like:

“I like the way you have…”

When you praise, also try to find ways to encourage them onwards, such as

“Do you think you could try the same thing using…”
(for example, an even longer sentence/an even bigger number)

And always encourage your child to take a real pride in their work.