Homework
As the children have now settled back into the rhythm of school life and are rising to the challenge of their new learning, we feel that the time has come for some additional home practise to help them to make more rapid progress in their learning.
We will not be setting or collecting in specific homework for Year 2, but any practise which is done at home, independently or with adult assistance, will go a long way to helping your child with their learning and progress in school. In addition to daily reading, we ask that you encourage your child to have a go at these other activities, throughout the week.
- Practising their times tables: at school, we have been learning to count in steps of 2, 3, 5 and 10. Being able to do this confidently and fluently is an essential mathematical skill, which will help them when it comes to learning to tell the time, handle money and solve real-life Maths problems. We have attached a list of these to refer to – you could practise them out loud whilst waiting for the bath to run, or when walking to school or queueing to come in to class each morning. In addition, your child can access 'Times Tables Rockstars' (link below) as often as they like, at home.
- Phonics and Reading basic skills practise: each day, the children spend approximately 20 minutes on ‘Lexia’ on iPads. This is a reading programme which helps to accelerate their progress with phonics and reading. The children love their sessions on Lexia. Extra sessions at home are always welcome. A letter came home just before half term explaining how to access this from home.
- Spelling practise: By the end of Year 2, it is expected that children will be able to read and write a set list of 100 ‘High Frequency Words’ (they also get called ‘Common Exception Words’ and we call them 'Red Words' in Phonics, because they don’t necessarily follow clear spelling patterns and should be learnt to read and write by sight). These are words which we use a lot in our spoken and written English. Below is a copy of this list along with a ‘spelling menu’, which gives you lots of fun ways to practise spellings, to keep this activity interesting. Please encourage your child to practise reading and spelling the words on the list frequently, to aid them in their writing.
- Measures such as time, money, length, height and weight: These are crucial life skills but are also a part of the Maths curriculum. However, we do not spend as much time on these areas of Maths as we do on the four number operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) and fractions. Helping your child to learn to tell the time, recognise coins and add up and subtract amounts of money, and measure things in practical contexts such as baking or building, are vital to helping them to keep on track in Maths throughout school and help prepare them for the real world.
- Similarly, helping your child to learn simple independence skills, such as tidying away their own school bag, getting out their own uniform, making their own bed, tying their own laces, brushing their own hair, etc. are excellent ways to instil confidence, problem solving, a growth mindset and independence in your child.