Helping families to support their child’s learning from home

Improving the home learning environment for children is a key task for early years practitioners.

As the new school year arrives, early years practitioners may be wondering how they can partner with and support families they haven’t been able to reach in the past.

Home learning in the early years is vitally important but many settings are still struggling to reach families who need this information most. Research has long demonstrated the importance of the home learning environment in the early years of children’s lives, helping them to do better at school as they grow up.

However, a recent report from the Social Mobility Commission suggest that while parental engagement in their child’s learning has increased since 2001 for both low and higher income families, the message about the importance of the home learning environment still isn’t getting out to families, particularly those who are identified as ‘hard to reach.’

Unfortunately, barriers can keep families from even showing up to a school or nursery, let alone listening to a practitioner tell them about changes they need to make. Breaking down these barriers and creating meaningful positive relationships with families isn’t easy. However, if early years practitioners can fully engage families as partners in their child’s learning, the benefits to the child could be tremendous and long-lasting.

Previous negative experiences in education settings, a lack of parental confidence, and an unfamiliarity with the language have all been cited as barriers for families to important information about how to support their child’s learning. Settings can also struggle to find the capacity to support these families because of heavy workloads and lack of training.

There is no single solution for supporting all families, but practitioners can focus their efforts on a few that can be particularly effective. With time, patience and an open mind, these activities may help settings reach more families, and improve the home learning environment for a greater number of children.

1. Go to them! Instead of hosting workshops and events at the setting or school, try hosting events at a local community centre or other neutral venue. This can be a very effective way of reaching parents who have had negative experiences with the school in the past.

2.Engage families in activities unrelated to education. While it may seem counterproductive, inviting families into your school to support projects or activities unrelated to education may be the best way to reach families who feel intimidated by ‘formal’ education classes. It can also be a way to show families that they can support their child’s learning just by playing and talking at the park. Learning doesn’t always have to be about reading and writing.

3. Ask parents what would be helpful for them! While we may think they need information on their child’s language development, they may first need help getting their child to sleep each night, or behaving appropriately on shopping trips. All of the support we give them leads to an improved home learning environment so it’s key to give the people what they want!

4. Reduce paperwork. Avoid setting up programmes that require parents to fill in a lot of paperwork or read a lot of literature. This can be intimidating for some parents, especially those who don’t speak or read English well, and others may simply be too busy to complete it.

5. Consider your marketing materials. The photos and language on flyers and brochures should reflect the demographic you’re trying to reach. So, for example, if you want to host a program for teenage single mums at your setting, make sure the photo on the brochure or flyer isn’t one of a 40-year-old couple reading with their young child.

6. Embrace all the languages and cultures at your setting! Use visual maps and timetables to support families who don’t speak or read English, or use our translated tips about the home learning environment in their language. Take the time to learn to pronounce names of all children and families. Don’t be afraid to ask if you’re feeling unsure about pronunciation.

This year, why not try and focus on one or more of these activities to make your setting easier to reach for all families?

If you do, it’s important to remember that just as every child has different needs and goals, every family does too. What we know for certain is that a closer setting-home partnership can only help young children to grow and develop, giving them brighter futures in the long run.