Hi, I have four kids (3,5,7,9) all at the local primary school here in France. There are rumours (as yet unconfirmed officially by the school) that the Wednesday half days will soon be ending and I am planning to use those days to give my girls some extra lessons at home, in English. All of them have access to books in English and French at home, but I worry that they are not learning enough about how to read and write in English at school, so I want to use this day off school to help them.
I would love to know if anyone has any advice about how to put this idea into action: do you know of any online teaching resources that would be helpful? Although I’m happy with the idea of doing this, I worry that in practice it may prove more difficult than I anticipate and I certainly don’t want to confuse them more than they seem to be already!
My 7 year old in particular has real problems with sentence construction in English and although she is a very able reader, her spelling is poor and I’m not sure she has a very good understanding of basic English grammar.
Hello Chloe
Great idea to use some time to help your children in this way. A short search has turned up this site with some good ideas. I really like the idea of making learning a fun time and I am sure that this is a less stressful way for all concerned. Anyway have a look at the link and see if you think it may be useful. Good luck !
Hi Chloe, my girls are 5,7,8 - I’ve been giving them the Bond 11+ system to study its 10 mins a day test per subject. Mine are doing
5-6, 6-7 and 8-9 No Nonsense Maths + Assessment Papers + 10 minute tests
5-6, 6-7 and 8-9 Non-Verbal Reasoning (they love this one) Assessment Papers
5-6, 6-7 and 8-9 Verbal Reasoning (they love this one) Assessment Papers
5-6, 6-7 and 8-9 English + Assessment Papers + 10 minute tests
There is also an online version but I quite like them using the books and they often do more than one test once they get going. The idea is they do it themselves so you are not to help them, but make sure you remove the answer papers from each book.
Thank you Ann and Suzanne: both ideas are great! The British Council website has loads of things that look like fun, but I’m particularly grateful for the specific papers you recommend, Suzanne because it gives me a jumping-in point, if you see what I mean :)) I think you’re right too: books are a good idea for us too, it would feel more real to all of us that way… I love that your girls are nearly the same age as mine too, such a coincidence!! Thanks so much x
Hi Meghann! Lovely to get your message I don’t know where you live, but I am similarly in need of a friend to be honest! I just found out that my local post office is being closed which actually made me cry because the lovely lady who runs it is probably the only person I get to speak to other than my crazy family and the sheep next door… Please tell me you’re within driving distance of Saint Lô, Manche!
I don’t know where you live, but I am similarly in need of a friend to be honest! I just found out that my local post office is being closed which actually made me cry because the lovely lady who runs it is probably the only person I get to speak to other than my crazy family and the sheep next door… Please tell me you’re within driving distance of Saint Lô, Manche!