Tips for Parents

What you can do at home to build the reading, writing and
calculating abilities of your children

(where noted, documents indicated as "pdf" are in Acrobat format
and the Adobe Reader is required to view print them)

1. Welcome to Grade 1  |  Welkom by graad 1  |  Siyanamkela kwiBakala 1
   

   A guide for parents Handleiding vir Ouers ISikhokelo saBazali

2. WCED pamphlets:

• Grades R to 6: How to build your child’s reading, writing and maths skills at home
    English (pdf 189 KB)  |  Afrikaans (pdf 195 KB)  |  isiXhosa (pdf 207 KB)

• Grade 3: How to improve your child’s reading, writing and language skills at home
    English (pdf 134 KB)  |  Afrikaans (pdf 133 KB)  |  isiXhosa (pdf 137 KB)

• Grade 3: How to improve your child’s maths skills at home
    English (pdf 138 KB)  |  Afrikaans (pdf 138 KB)  |  isiXhosa (pdf 141 KB)

• Homework: How you can help your child
    English (pdf 189 KB)  |  Afrikaans (pdf 158 KB)  |  isiXhosa (pdf 165 KB)

3. WCED reading lists:

• Holiday and leisure-time reading:  English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa reading lists
  

4. Video clips on YouTube - tips for parents and teachers:

• Grade R-9 Mathematics: A selection of 14 video clips
  The clips present ideas that can be used by parents and teachers to introduce children to basic mathematical concepts

• Ways to Assess Understanding (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khcnRDbhgNs)
  Approaches that teachers and parents can take to establish whether learning has taken place including observation, questions, demonstrations, interviews and the use of real-life situations.

• Getting every child in your class reading (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX2oaJX_dBE)
  Val Kohler takes you through her suggested steps to getting children reading in the classroom. The principles being applied are particularly appropriate in classrooms where children are at different reading levels. Parents will find ideas for things to do at home.
  

5. The National Curriculum Statement:

• GET: a guide to the Outcomes and Assessment Standards for Grades R - 9 based
  on the Revised National Curriculum Statement (2002)

• FET: An overview of the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (2004)
  (pdf 656 KB)

• FET: Documents relating to the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (2004)

6. Links to a selection of Internet ("online") games and activities to help reinforce your children's literacy and numeracy skills:

• Examples of activities for reading and language skills

• Examples of activities for elementary maths skills

Please note that there are 100s and 100s of such "online" activities available on the Internet: we always advise that parents FIRST assess any such web site BEFORE encouraging their children to visit the site.