Setting up for academic success

PARENTS of children entering their first year of school are advised to resist the urge to complete homework for their child and must not send them to tutoring at such a young age because it will make them dislike learning.

They are just one of a range of tips that experts have offered parents of children in the crucial first years of school as part of a News Corp series on how to best set a child up for academic success in class.

Veteran kindergarten teacher Cheryl Turi and author of The Parents Guide to Kindergarten said enthusiastic mums and dads should resist the urge to help too much, especially when it came to homework.

“Always encourage your child to do it and never do it for them,” she said. “They won’t learn from the process and it does not allow them to learn from their mistakes.”

The same rationale of helping their child discover the right answer for themselves rather than telling them applied to reading, writing and maths, she said.

“When your child asks mathematical-related questions, don’t just give the answer – use everyday objects to work it out together,” Ms Turi said.

Former education minister Adrian Piccoli and author of 12 Ways Your Child Can Get The Best Out Of School said one of the first things a parent could do was model respect for a child’s teacher by not speaking negatively about them at home.

“(Teachers) have to have an ongoing relationship with your child … so you want that to be a positive one,” he said.

The biggest lesson a child could learn in kindergarten was to enjoy learning.

“If you’re jamming tutoring down their throat in kindergarten, they’re going to think school is a pain in the neck.”