Home Learning
Home learning is really just fun activities you can do with your child to help them develop.
The most important aspect of a child’s learning happens in the home; parents are the child’s first and most important educator. Children learn from what they experience, hear and see from their very first moments.
This is why Home learning is a vital part of a child’s development. Providing a stimulating and caring home environment, with lots of opportunities to learn and play, is critical for young child’s brain development. A baby learns so much in their first 2 years! The picture below shows the amount of connections there are in your brain at different ages.
Photo source: Corel, JL. The postnatal development of the human cerebral cortex. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1975
Young children learn by exploring, experimenting, observing and asking lots of questions! Children develop by being actively involved in their own learning. This could be as simple as:
- Talking about the colours of the socks as they come out of the washing machine.
- Counting the first few steps as you go up or down the stairs.
- Baking a cake together and measuring out the ingredients.
- Whilst Reading to your child let them turn the pages, encourage questions and act out the story.
- Encouraging mark making in a Messy Play activity.
- Learning a new nursery rhyme with your child.
- Exploring new places. This could include visiting a library and choosing a book or going on a nature walk and collecting items to make a picture.
Here is an example of a simple home learning activity:
- Mark Making using a toy cars, crayons and scrap paper. Sellotape a crayon to the front of the toy car and have hours of fun mark making.
Hungry Little Minds
For tips on simple fun things you can do with your child go to: https://hungrylittleminds.campaign.gov.uk/
For slightly older children or to complete as a family, here is a time capsule activity
