Home Learning at Little Stars
 

Home learning is activities which parents/carers can enjoy doing with their children to support their development. At Little Stars we recognise the importance of this and provide activities for our families to do together. We aim to provide regular home learning activities for our families.  Please look at Tapestry for personalised learning activities which we call "next steps" for your child, or more general and fun things to do at home.
 

There are many factors as to why we hand out home learning activities such as enhancing their development, encouraging parental engagement with children and also working in partnership with parents.
 

When providing home learning activities we base them on different areas of learning, these may be from the children’s current interest within the setting, the different seasons of the year and different prime/specific areas we would like to focus on. By providing these activities it also helps to recognise the simple activities parents can do with their children at home which would be beneficial to their learning.  These activities are always through play.  Play is the learning, and the more fun the better!
 

We provide activities knowing that all children and families will be able to take part. This includes making the resources available to everyone, whether Little Stars provides these resources or the activities can be done with free materials found outdoors or simple objects around the house for example finding a specific shapes around their home.

Home learning activities also encourages parents/carers to take time of their day and enjoy doing activities together. It provides opportunities for one to one time in a world where technology comes freely, replacing screen time by doing something hands on and fun together.
 

Home learning also encourages working in partnership with parents. By providing them with different activities it builds a pathway for open communication with each other. This can be through support during the activity, feedback and also any questions/queries they have about their child’s development.
 

During the lockdown in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic we provided regular home learning activities through tapestry. This provided different learning opportunities for the children to engage in with their parents/carers at home.

Ways in which Little Stars supports Home Learning

• Introduction parent pack for new starters.

• Introduction to the setting and sit down enquiry with room lead or management to discuss starting at Little Stars.

• ‘What to expect when’ document sent home for parents to gain an understanding of child development and a holistic view of where they think their child is developmentally.

• Progress meetings with parents. A chance for the Key Person and Parent/Carers’ to discuss recent progress and any queries they may have.

• Home Learning activities.

• Shared observations through Tapestry.

• Stay and play sessions ( Prior to Covid 19)