Reminders & Homework

Some important reminders:

• By the end of Week 4, each student will need a long cardboard roll (e.g. paper towel, wrapping paper, foil or glad wrap) to make a musical instrument.

   

The Homework expectations and Home Learning ideas for this term are:

• Reading: Hearing your child read their take home book daily. 

  When reading with your child, encourage them to think beyond the words on the page by asking questions that develop their understanding, recall and critical thinking skills. You could ask your child to retell the story, identify the main characters and setting, describe the problem and its solution, and explain how the story ends. Encourage them to describe character traits, identify the story’s message and make connections to their own experiences.

   

  Help your child think more deeply by asking what they learned, how the story made them feel, what they imagine beyond the text, and what they are still wondering about. You can also explore the author’s message, important words and illustrations. Most importantly, encourage your child to explain their thinking by asking, “How did you work that out?” or “What makes you say that?” This helps children use evidence from the text to support their ideas and become confident, thoughtful readers.

   

  After they have read, ask them questions focusing on who, what, when, why and where. Also ask them questions that will make them infer meaning and think beyond the text. 

   

• Phonics helps children develop their reading and spelling skills, build confidence and tackle unfamiliar words. You can support your child at home by encouraging them to sound out words, recognise letter patterns and read together regularly.

  Key Phonics Terms

  • Phoneme: A single sound, e.g. the sounds in cat.
  • Grapheme: A letter or group of letters that represents a sound.
  • Digraph: Two letters representing one sound, e.g. sh in ship or ai in rain.
  • Trigraph: Three letters representing one sound, e.g. igh in night.
  • Segmenting: Breaking a word into individual sounds to help with spelling, e.g. beach → /b/ /ea/ /ch/.

   

• Maths: Children build confidence and understanding when they have regular opportunities to practise their Maths skills at school and at home. Here are six tips we shared in a recent newsletter to help children develop a positive attitude towards Maths:

1. Make Maths fun: Enjoy puzzles, games and everyday activities that encourage mathematical thinking and number sense.
2. Encourage effort and learning: Rather than simply telling children they are wrong, explore their thinking and help them understand different strategies.
3. Focus on understanding, not speed: Children do not need to work quickly to be good at Maths. Give them time to think, explore and solve problems without pressure.
4. Model a positive attitude: Avoid saying you are “bad at Maths” or that you dislike it. Show children that Maths is something everyone can learn and enjoy.
5. Build number sense: Encourage children to explore numbers, recognise patterns and find different ways to solve problems.

6. Develop a growth mindset: Remind children that making mistakes, persevering and tackling challenges are all important parts of learning. Praise their effort and encourage them to see challenges as opportunities to grow.

    

   Maths is all around us! From cooking and building with Lego to reading maps, playing games, keeping score and spotting patterns, everyday experiences provide wonderful opportunities to develop Maths skills. Enjoy exploring Maths together as a family and help your child discover that learning Maths can be both rewarding and fun. We also encourage you to explore this Maths games website . Many of these games are familiar to the children, as we use them at school to reinforce learning in an enjoyable, relaxed way.

Kind regards,

The Year 1 Team

Lauren Frattin and Carolyn Platt (1A), Rachel Buntz (1B), Joey Wilson (1C) and Anita Sheppard (1D)