At the British Council, we try to keep parents informed about what their child is studying as much as possible. Parents can find out what their child has studied in class by looking at the back of their notebooks or by asking their child about the class.
Asking your child about their class can be a bit challenging in the start, as most children don’t know how to describe what they learnt. Learning to talk about their class can help children understand their progress and give them confidence in their learning. But in the beginning, children might need to be asked the right questions to help them explain themselves.
Here is some advice for helping parents to teach their child to talk about their lessons:
- Ask about the skills they used in class. For example, “Did you do speak to your teacher or you classmates? What did you speak about?” “Did you read something? What did you read?”
- Ask them what they enjoy doing in class? “What is your favourite thing to do in class?”, “Do you like songs/ games/ writing?”, “Which activity did you like best from today’s class?”
- Ask them about what they don’t like in class? “Are there any activities you don’t want to do again?” “Why?”
- Ask about what they have learned. “Did you find anything challenging today?” “Who can you ask to help if you find something challenging?” By using the word ‘challenging’ rather than ‘difficult’ it can help express that having a challenge in class means you’re learning something and that asking for help is a positive step towards improving.
- Ask about how they worked as a member of the class? “Did you help your classmates? How?” By asking about teamwork and helping others in class, we can demonstrate to children that these qualities are something we value in learning.