From education to employment

Support for Parents Struggling with Their Kids” Homework Offered

More and more parents are admitting to feeling out of their depth when it comes to helping their children with homework. Parents find it both frustrating and embarrassing if their child sees them stumped by a homework question.

Just recently David Beckham admitted to the Mail on Sunday that he has been baffled by 6 year old Brooklyns Maths homework, finding the sums in Mathematics are done differently nowadays compared to when he was at school. Addressing this issue, Bolton Community College has been offering a wide number of courses. Also, the college is working in partnership with schools to explore what and how children learn at school, particularly in English and Maths and how to help and support them.

Life Changing

It was one of these courses that changed the life of a young single mum from Bolton. Suffering from very low self esteem, and wanting to help in her young childs learning, she took part in a Family Learning Course on “How to Help Your Child with Early Maths and English Skills.” She went on to achieve a Level 1 City & Guilds Skills for Life qualification in Literacy and Numeracy and is currently studying towards her Level 2 and an ECDL in Computing.

This young mums name has been put forward for an Adult Learning Award and thanks to Bolton Community College she now has the confidence to encourage others to progress on the Family Learning courses as well as helping her child with their learning.

Delight at Making a Difference

Lynne Syddall, Family Learning Manager at Bolton Community College is delighted to be making a difference. “We try to inform parents about up to date methods and strategies used in schools,” Lynne said, “and show them how to make fun resources to encourage their childrens learning – often new methods and approaches are different to the parents own experience.” Courses are being held in schools across the borough, at times to coincide with the school day. These are proving to be very popular, not just with Mums and Dads, but with Grandparents and Carers too.

Also on offer are several one-off sessions, taking place at libraries and Community Centres on Saturday mornings or during school holidays, including educational, fun activities to encourage parents and children learning together. Ofsted recognised the success and progression of the Family Learning and Skills for Life department in a recent report, awarding the team good grades for their work.

Schemes like these help parents and children get together not only to do homework, but also for quality time to bond and engage, which is difficult to arrange as more and more families have both parents working nowadays.

Sudakshina Mukherjee

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