[AD] There are lots of difficulties when it comes to parenting. Each age seems to hit you with new dilemmas and new emotions to deal with. My eldest daughter is currently at the beginning of her school journey. With this comes the worry of how as a parent can I assist with her learning. How can I bring as much out of her educationally as possible? Luckily I've been able to find some amazing resources that make learning enjoyable and entertaining. In collaboration with Creative Fabrica, here are some ways to support your child's learning at home in a fun, engaging and creative way.
[Photo by Alexander Dummer on Unsplash]
The importance of supporting your child's learning at home
As a parent it's imperative that you support your child's learning at home. Taking an interest in their learning journey can have a huge impact on your child. Research suggests that parental involvement in learning can improve your child's well being. It's also said that being involved in your child's learning has a greater impact on their achievements later on in life.
As a mother of a school age child one of my worries is being able to keep up with her education. I was always very academic in school myself, but since leaving it feels like any knowledge I once had, has completely slipped out. I have a very inquisitive child and google has become my best friend over the last couple of years. (She asks some very bizarre questions sometimes!) One of my strengths however is my creativity. We're actually a very creative family. When it comes to home education, no matter what the subject, we always inject some form of creativity into learning.
Thankfully Creative Fabrica are here to assist with home learning. It's their mission to spark creativity in our youngsters and believe this should be started at an early age. let me tell you a little bit more about them.
Using Creative Fabrica to support your child's learning
Designed for both parents and teachers, Creative Fabrica have created the Teachers Club Card. This hub of resources has been designed to support your child's learning in the classroom and at home.
The Creative Fabrica Teachers Club Card
As parents we can use the Teachers Club Card to access over 12,000 learning resources. We're able to download 5 worksheets a week meaning we have an incredible 260 learning resources each year. And what's even more incredible... It only costs £2.99 for the year. That's less than a penny a day! And as with all good subscription services you're never tied into anything. You're welcome to leave at any time.
The resources available have been supplied by teachers from all across the globe. Creative Fabrica support these teachers in an excellent way by ensuring 100% of Teachers Club Card subscriptions are paid directly to wonderful teachers supplying the worksheets. I think it's fabulous (and excellent business) that Creative Fabrica give back to their creatives.
What can we expect from the Teachers Club Card
Although there's a mass of resources available through the Teachers Club Card, it's broken down really easily for us. Sectioned via your child's age range, Creative Fabrica make assisting our children's learning really easy.
For my daughter's age range alone I have over 2800 learning resources to choose from. There are seasonal activities, worksheets to help with STEM subjects and those that can help with language development. There's an enormous amount of resources available. I'm super impressed with the variety of worksheets.
If you're looking at these worksheets and still feeling overwhelmed, firstly, you've got this!.. And secondly I have some top tips for initiating home learning and providing an engaging educational environment.
Top tips to support your child's learning
1. Include their passions
My favourite thing when learning at home is to bring my daughters passions into the environment. She's a big dinosaur fan! She'll school you the differences between an ankylosaurus, mosasaurus and an oviraptor. I should know, I've been told off on numerous occasions! But, when it comes to learning, she loves figuring things out with dinos.
2. Have a (semi-flexible) routine
Families run on routine. As much as we like to be spontaneous and adventurous, we're not. Whether you're full time home schooling or assisting with homework outside of school a routine can be really beneficial. Doing so means your child will understand what's expected of them and when. It's a skill that can be transferred later on in life. With that being said, children will always be children (if you know, you know) and sometimes routine goes out the window. I think it's important to have a routine put in place, but equally as important to realise that if your child's having an off day, they're having an off day. No pressure should be applied.
3. Talk about it
Something I've learnt to do during my parenting journey is over communicate. This comes in handy when we have to leave somewhere at a certain time. But it can also be advantageous when it comes to supporting your child's learning. Letting your child know exactly what's going to happen means homework never comes as a surprise to them. The boundary has been set and they should be ready (and most importantly) willing to learn.
4. Be a motivator
We're all our children's biggest cheerleaders right? When it comes to homework or learning at home this should be no different. This encouragement and motivation will only spur them on to do more. Heck, they might even enjoy it! I'm big on motivation and rewarding positive achievements whether that's with sweets or staying up and watching a couple more episodes of Bluey.
5. Eliminate distractions
My final tip for home learning is to eliminate any distractions. You have your designated time for learning, you should also have your designated space. This space whether it be the kitchen table, a desk in your home office or simply on the sofa should be a safe space for learning, with distractions at a minimum.
Have you homeschooled before? What do you find is the easiest and most fun way to support your child's learning?
Do let me know in the comments too what you think of the Teachers Club Card from Creative Fabrica. It's such a bargain right?
I like that these are paid back to the creators. Great idea. We've used worksheets before through lockdown to support the first paperwork he had from school, but less needed now he's at secondary.
Obviously I’m not a parent but I do think that children learn SO much more at home than we give them credit for. Great post, Claire xxx
As someone who used to work in schools, I nodded in total agreement at this post! It's always encouraged for children to do some learning at home! It may not be possible because of time etc, but it's important to give it a try! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Love this! We loved doing worksheets through lockdown! My kids did so well learning at home, I think they learn so much on a one to one basis and this addition seems great! I always try and learn in a fun way!
Such great resources. And I agree, learning at home is a must! Checking these resources out now!
Great post, Claire! Though I haven't become a parent yet, I often picture myself motivating and supporting my future children to engage in some creative learning at home. This article has given me some excellent advice for the future 🙂
Wow… this is sooooo great. I wonder if this service is available in Malaysia. I can recommend it to my cousins and friends who already have kids. Thank you for sharing.
I'm not a parent but this sounds like such a helpful tool. I like that it's also super affordable and you have access to so many great resources!
Wow this is going to be the best tool for me as Jack grows. He's at an age now where he wants to get into everything and I love nothing more than watching him master things!
Rosie