Supporting Your Child's Learning
On this Page
Getting Involved In Your Child’s Education
As parents, you know how hard it can be to find ‘extra’ time to get involved in your child’s education. But your involvement helps your child tremendously, and enriches your school community. Research has shown that children of parents who are involved in their education tend to perform better in school.
Here are some suggestions for how you can get involved in your child’s school and some tips for helping your child enjoy and benefit from school:
- Become active in your child’s school: help out at school events, attend school events, volunteer in your child’s classroom, or share an interest of yours with your child’s class.
- Speak regularly with your child’s teacher: share information about your child, visit the school regularly, and contact your child’s teacher when you have questions or concerns.
- Encourage a positive attitude towards learning: discuss school activities with your child every day, speak positively about education, encourage your child’s best effort, assign home responsibilities your child can learn from, and take the time to listen to your child talk about school.
- Encourage good work habits: help your child with challenging assignments without doing the work, review your child’s school work and homework assignments every day, discuss appropriate expectations for your child with the teacher, and provide an opportunity for play and rest each day.
Welcome To School
You want to make your child’s first experiences at school positive ones. Here are some tips to help your child with the transition:
- Introduce some time away from your child's caregivers. For example, begin with story-hour at the local library.
- Discover the route to and from school. Practice the route several times to build your child’s confidence and establish safety-conscious routines.
- Discuss personal safety, busing and block parents.
- Raise concerns related to faith and culture with the school's staff.
- Help your child build a positive attitude to school. Find out the teacher’s name and use it when discussing school activities.
- Use a calendar throughout the year. Circle the day on which school begins, and other dates important to your child.
- Visit the school at every opportunity. Take advantage of open houses, interviews and registration to make the transition easier on yourself as well.
Raising A Reader
Making reading a part of your relationship with your child will help your child at school and establish a life-long love for learning. Reading with, or to your child can:
- give your child a head start
- help develop your child’s attention span and listening skills
- increase your child’s vocabulary
- help you know your child better
- make you a reading role model
- help develop your child’s confidence in a supportive environment
- teach your child that learning is fun
- make your child feel secure and valued as you spend time reading together
- help your child learn about your family and life as you talk about the book together.
Read every day. Here are some ways to incorporate reading into your day:
- become a book carrier everywhere you go – doctor, dentist, grocery store
- cook and read recipes together
- share quiet time with your child reading a favourite story…again…again…and again
- note signs and print around you in the environment
- open a board game, read the directions, and play together
- play word games in the car
- read together – labels, cereal boxes, signs
- use appropriate web sites
- visit the library often; try attending story hour events.
In addition to reading aloud to your child, it is valuable to listen to your child read to you. Here are some ideas to use when listening:
- be patient, encouraging, and positive
- when an error is made, say something such as, "That was a good try."
- if your child is becoming tired, offer to finish reading the story.
Have a look at this 
guide to early reading to get some more ideas on helping your child read. It’s currently available in French and English and will soon be available in seven other languages!
Family Math
Communication between home and school is an important part of the mathematics program in Ontario’s elementary schools. Be positive about math and encourage your child to have fun while solving problems. Highlight the math that you do in your everyday activities such as measuring ingredients when cooking and doing mental math when making a purchase. Encourage your child to explain how they solved a problem.
Other math ideas for at home include:
- talk about shapes and sizes in your environment
- track the weather over the summer and discuss the number of sunny or cloudy days
- look for patterns around your neighbourhood (e.g., interlocking bricks or gardens)
- measure objects around your home using found objects (e.g., a paperclip) and a ruler
- estimate the length or height of objects in your home
- compare the length of different objects around your home
- count objects around the house - remember to count by 1's, 2's, and 5's
- identify numbers everywhere in your environment
- play games and do puzzles with your child
Most of all have mathematical fun together!
Have a look at this early math guide for parents for more tips on how to help your child with math skills. It’s currently available in French and English and will soon be available in seven other languages!
Encouraging The Whole Child
Each child is unique and comes with their own skills, experiences, talents, and dreams. In the classroom, your child’s teacher is key in identifying your child’s talents and nurturing them. Is your child a math whiz? An imaginative artist? A skilled softball player? Or all of the above?
ETFO supports the whole child – encouraging and engaging each child in their many talents and goals.
Every child is a world of possibilities!
Nurturing Your Child's Self-esteem
Self-esteem is formed at a very early age, as children begin to gain a sense of belonging and acceptance in our world. The respect, love, and confidence that is shown to children by the significant adults in their lives become the basis on which they form their sense of worth.
Research indicates that self-esteem is a key factor in an individual’s:
- academic achievement
- creativity
- leadership
- social relations
- future success
Children with positive self-esteem have a sense of security, identity, purpose, and a sense of personal competence. You can help your child develop a positive attitude towards themselves by:
- encouraging your child to build on their strengths [page 1 | early adolescence]
- show love by spending quality time with your child
- set a good example; be a positive role model
- enhance their sense of belonging by providing opportunities for them to spend time with other children in play
- acknowledge that friends are important
- help your child feel capable by experiencing learning through their successes and mistakes
- focus on your child’s behaviour; separate the ‘deed’ from the ‘doer’
- offer fair, reasonable consequences
- be consistent with expectations and limitations
Early Adolescence
Early adolescence is a critical phase of development - a period of accelerated growth and change, second only to infancy. The period from 10 to 14 years of age has been described as a time of opportunity and risk, a time to shape enduring patterns of healthy behaviour. It is estimated that at least one quarter of all adolescents are at high risk for engaging in dangerous behaviours. In order to limit involvement in risky behaviours, young adolescents must be provided with a nurturing, secure environment, at school and at home. Parents need to stay involved in their children's education, especially through this period.
The Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development has identified a number of needs that must be met to ensure that adolescents grow up to be healthy, constructive adults. Read more about 
Early Adolescence on this site.