Do you wish you had more time to support your children with creative play, reading, writing and number practice? Although I’m usually relieved when their day ends to hide the toys, pour a glass of wine and have some adult time, I’m sure I’m not the only parent who often finds myself secretly wishing that there were more hours in the day. Living with young children is just so hectic and it’s easy to feel you are rushing from one thing to the next. We all want to do the best for our kids but whether you’re a working family or a mum or dad at home, or a combination of both, it’s just not always easy. So how can you support your child with their learning?

Firstly, think little and often. Fortunately this is perfect for young children as they only want to do things for a short time anyway. But capture their attention whilst you have it and focus it on what you want them to do.

Keep them motivated. Find out what appeals to them and make it fun. Children are like sponges and will soak up their new found knowledge, so if you can channel their endless energy at this critical learning stage then your child can really benefit. Try to work out how they learn and what makes them tick. Use a mixture of activities to support different learning styles. Your child may have a strong bias towards auditory, visual and/or kinaesthetic learning so use a mixture of activities so that you are appealing to all these learning preferences.

With very young children, encourage your child to pick out pictures in a storybook, on a poster or colourful, write on wipe off placemat. Say what the picture is, get them to listen and copy. Look for a picture of a car, say car, encourage them to listen for the ‘c’ sound, draw a cat and a car, make up silly rhymes, make letter shapes and draw pictures in sand, make a model of a car out of junk or a cat out of playdough. With older kids, make it fun – make a times table grid with stickers, use number beads to practise times tables, give them something that interests them to encourage them to write, etc. And don’t forget kids’ motivation changes all the time, so if something’s not working at the moment, try something different and give plenty of variety – many kids get bored easily.

Give them loads of encouragement, however small their achievement may seem to you. For example, as soon as they start showing an interest in holding a pencil, encourage them to draw you pictures. Ask them what they have drawn. It really doesn’t matter if it looks nothing like a dinosaur to you! If they see you are pleased they will do more and more. So don’t forget to label the picture with their name and show it off or give it to a relative as a thank you ‘card’.

Stay one step ahead. This is tricky when you most probably feel like you have less time and energy than your child. But a few small details can really help. For example, when your child is starting to hold a pencil or crayon, encourage them to use a tripod grip and think about the next stage. Look at letter styles and teach yourself how to form letters ‘correctly’ so that they can do that right from the outset. Use a style that will be easy to join up later. Schools vary in the styles they use at present but if you start off with a similar approach then it will pay dividends. For example, form letters eg an ‘a’ in one pencil stroke, rather than as a ‘ball and a stick’. Even if your school teaches lead in strokes or varies a couple of letters – f and z seem to vary widely – your little one will still have an early grasp of the basics. Start with their name and encourage them to learn those letters first. Use lower case letters only apart from the first letter of their name. Watch your child and make sure they are making a letter shape in the right direction. It takes ages to learn to write but if you are just a bit prepared you’ll be able to save lots of unlearning later on.

In these ways you can build their confidence and encourage them to do more of what you want them to do. Use a little and often approach – five minutes here and there are helpful until they are much older and have a longer attention span.

When it comes to reading and your child is starting to read words, then try having a post it note or sticker each day with a new frequently used word on it. Build up the set of words until you have a few and make up a sheet of them and cut up into cards and play with the words – you can laminate them if you have a laminator so they last longer. Get your child to find ‘and’, or a word that begins with ‘a’, make a sentence, etc. When they can write, get them to write the word, make up a sentence with them and get them to try to write that. What about a whole story? If they can’t write yet, do it for them and talk about it, get them to think but work within their ability. Stretch them a little if they are enthusiastic but be cautious to ensure you don’t turn them off.

With numbers, there are endless things you can do. Numbers are all around you. So play counting games. Count backwards from 10 and blastoff in a rocket. Look at door numbers when you’re out in the street. Count cars, lights, stones, people, beads, pasta. Buy or make up number cards, posters or mats so you have something to hand. Sort number cards into order, and backwards. Use a 100 square grid to count in 10s, 5s, 2s. Count in odd numbers and even numbers. Get your child to help you share cakes amongst siblings or friends. And of course, there’s shopping – encourage your child to play with money, buy toys, pieces of fruit, sweets if you dare, etc etc.

Lastly, don’t worry. If they don’t want to draw or write, don’t get hung up on it…..give them some lovely paint and paper and get them to make a lovely colourful picture. Or simply read with them every day and take them out to run around in the park. They are only children and they will learn when they are ready with a bit of guidance. If you are really concerned talk to your child’s teacher or carer, but otherwise, have fun and enjoy being with them. Before long they will be wanting to go out to nightclubs without you……..

Jackie Allen is Managing Director of AlphaLearners™, a range of educational products specially designed to help motivate children to read, write, spell and with numeracy. The idea came from when her daughter was 3, when she got frustrated with writing out dotted letters for her to trace over. Pastel pink stickers, now affectionately known as ‘Bellas’, did the trick and have been added to with a set of ‘Ben’ colours. The range has grown to accommodate kids from 3 through about 8.

Visit their website at www.alphalearners.co.uk and join the mailing list. You will be entered into our prize draw to win a pack of KidsArt™ ‘design your own’ AlphaLearners™ stickers. Alternatively, call Jackie Allen on 0870 285 1662 or email alphalearners@btinternet.com.