Dear Parents and Carers

Last week our parents for Kinder 2020 brought their children to school. Its very hard to predict what the world will look like when they emerge from university in 2036 ready to look for jobs. What advice can we give to parents of these students in terms of academic studies? Three things spring to mind:

1. Read: Where else could we learn about?

History and the mistakes that have been made that should not be made again

Fantasy: where good and evil, prototypes and archetypes, quest and rebellion are explored.

2. Count: Don’t be scared of maths.

We will need mathematicians to analyse what has happened and see what we can learn from that. Others will use maths to predict the way we shop, live and spend our leisure. We held a Mathematics Workshop for parents this morning. We concentrated on the Addition and Subtraction and let parents know what content is taught in each grade and how they can support their children. 

3. Be ethical… follow the example of Jesus

The job applicants of 2036 will need to be well aware of the way society works and be savvy enough to navigate this. They will be subject to targeted technology/news/shopping and politics and so they will need to be capable communicators who have a firm set of Christian values that they apply to their decisions.

So our children are “future ready” we have been working on their reading and mathematical ability. Here are some mathematics tips for our current parents to ensure success.

At this mornings workshop we looked at some of the work of Jo Boaler. Her maths tips for parents are:

1. Everyone can can learn math to the highest levels. Encourage students to believe in themselves. There is no such thing as a “math” person. Everyone can reach the highest levels they want to, with hard work.

2. Mistakes are valuable. Mistakes grow your brain! It is good to struggle and make mistakes.

3. Questions are really important. Always ask questions, always answer questions. Ask yourself: why does that make sense? 
4. Math is about creativity and making sense. Math is a very creative subject that is, at its core, about visualizing patterns and creating solution paths that others can see, discuss and critique. 

5. Mathematics is about connections and communicating Mathematics is a connected subject and a form of communication. Represent math in different forms eg words, a picture, a graph, an equation, and link them. Colour code! 

6. Depth is much more important than speed. Top mathematicians, such as Laurent Schwartz, think slowly and deeply. 

7. Mathematics is about learning not performing. Mathematics is a growth subject, it takes time to learn and it is all about effort. 

Here are some reading tips for our current parents to ensure success.

If your child reads 

• If your child can’t read the book they want to read .. read it to them
• Take home readers are not good literature .. they are used to practise the skills taught in class only
• Children still need to be read to until they are fluent readers.. read above their reading level to supply them with the grammar, vocabulary, concepts and themes of good or “bad” literature. 

I hope to see you all at the fair!!

Regards

Julie Caldwell