Little Learning Links

When I first met this lovely little one, they had big barriers up around maths.
​
They knew they found maths tricky and therefore would shut down if they were presented with anything that came slightly out of their comfort zone, was new or they didn't get something right the first time.
​
This is totally understandable.
​
Together, we started where they were comfortable with their maths and gently moved through the next stages, building upon what they already knew.
​
I’ve had the pleasure of helping this little one see all of the things that they can do. They’ve built up their confidence across all areas of maths, they now ask to work independently and last week when I asked them to pick 2 more questions to do they responded with “Actually, can I do all of the questions?”
​
They’ve gone from avoiding maths to asking to do more maths and I'm so proud of them.
​
It's been an absolute joy to see their self belief, independence and resilience grow.

Over the summer and into the new academic year I've been working with some lovely little ones who are just starting school!
​
We've spent some time looking at recognising letters but I haven't taught them the alphabet ... here's why.
​
When your child goes to school, they will be taught phonics as a way of learning to read. Rather than following the alphabet, most phonics programmes will introduce 6 letters first.
​
S ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ A ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ T ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ P ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ I ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ N
​
When children become familiar with these 6 letters, they can then start to put them together to form words.

These 6 letters are enough to get children started with word building. From learning this combination of letters, they can then move on to putting them together to form words such as:
​
at, in, as, ​ tap, pat, sat, sit, pin, and pip.

Reframing children's negative self-talk is something that's at the centre of my work.
​
In one of my sessions last week, one of my students and I spoke about the words she was using to talk about herself.
​
We were completing a spelling game and we came to a slightly longer word.

She told me "I find this one hard."
​
We first of all acknowledged that it's okay to find something hard, everyone does.
​
I asked her to have a go at the spelling but if she wanted us to work together at any point that was okay too.
​
She had a go at the spelling... and wrote it perfectly!
​
We then went back to her initial comment and added in a key phrase.
​
"I 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 find this hard."
​
She'd proven she could do it, it's ok if she's still a little hesitant with it but she's shown it's not as tricky as it used to be!

Happy new academic year!
​
Whether your little one has started a new year group, key stage or school I hope they've had a brilliant first week back.

Little Learning Links is 5 years old today! 🥰
​
A huge thank you to all the lovely families I have worked with over the last 5 years and to everyone who has recommended and supported my business along the way.

✏️Are you considering working with a personal tutor to help your little one feel more confident with their English and/or maths?
​
​
✏️Are you unsure how it would work or if your little one is ready?
​
​
✏️Are you debating whether to commit to a longer term of investment of support for your child?
​
My sole aim is to help primary aged children feel consistently confident in the classroom, without adding extra stress to your busy family life. Over the summer holidays this can be achieved through my Little Lessons of Learning 4 session programme.
​
Within this bespoke package, you will receive the following:
​
- A minimum of 4 lessons within a 4 week period in the summer holidays.
​
- 1:1 tuition delivered in your home with a variety of session lengths.
​
- Detailed feedback after each session so you're kept up to date with how your little one is getting on
​
- ​ An opportunity to ask any questions you have in regards to feedback from school or your little one's progress.
​
- Ongoing support across the full 6 weeks of summer holidays to help prepare your child to start a new year group and reduce any anxieties they may have.
​
𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝟏 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫. 𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬.

A number of my students got their SATS results last week and I'm incredibly proud of all of them. I can't wait to share their different success stories!
​
When working with children in year 6, my focus has never purely been how to pass the test. There's lots I dislike about SATs (and other primary assessments!)
​
My main focus is for them to leave primary school feeling happy, confident and gaining independence, self-belief and resilience. One of my super star students has done exactly that.
​
When we first met, they often doubted their maths abilities, thought they couldn't do something or were afraid to attempt a question in case they got it wrong.
​
Now, she'll often look at a maths question and utter the words "Oh, I know how to do this!" She'll have a go at tasks independently but still know it's ok to ask for support if she needs it.
​
Despite maths being the subject she initially lacked confidence in, this was the subject she scored the highest mark in. 🙌💓

Being told that your child is finding a part of school tricky can be surprising, especially if the first time it's mentioned is at the end of the year in their school report. That's where my Little Lessons of Learning summer support package comes in - to support both you and your little one! ✨📚
​
As a 1:1 tutor, I'm not just here to teach your child but also to support you as the parent in knowing exactly where your little one is at. I'm here to answer questions, share methods taught in schools, explain reports and enable you to constantly stay updated on your child's progress.

Together, we’ll build your little one's confidence and ensure they are ready for the upcoming school year.
​
Drop me a message to secure one of the remaining 2 spaces available.

"I have no problem waiting, wouldn't trust anyone else"
​
This was such a heart-warming message to receive. 💗
​
I'd worked with this lovely family a couple of years ago and they got back in touch to ask if I could support their youngest child. Obviously it was an absolute yes from me but unfortunately at the time I was fully booked. Their willingness to wait until I had availability, rather than going elsewhere, meant so much.
​
Trust is the cornerstone of any relationship, and it's even more crucial when it comes to children's education. When I work with families, I don't just teach, I build a connection with the child and the family.
​
Trust is a theme that runs through our time working together - both with the student and their family. My students trust me with their feelings if they're finding something tricky and to create a safe and nurturing environment where they can truly thrive.
​
Parents trust my opinions, recommendations and strategies. They'll often ask my thoughts on something before approaching school - in our sessions together I'm able to see what their little one really can do, without the noise of the busy classroom surrounding them.
​
I'm so happy to be working with this lovely family again. If you are looking for bespoke support for your little one to boost their confidence in English or maths over the summer break, drop me a message.

I'm so proud of this superstar!
​
When we first met, this little one panicked if there was any time element involved in maths at school.
​
She found times tables tricky and the prospect of moving from one times table to another didn't sit comfortably with her.
​
Now it's a completely different story. 🤩
​
✅ We've built up her confidence with each table individually.
​
✅ Then we looked at questions that covered 3 different times tables.
​
✅ Once she saw that she could answer the questions by herself, we mixed in questions that went all the way up to 12 x 12.
​
✅ Finally we introduced a timed element so she could practise this in a safe space but knew help was available as and when she needed it.
​
As you can see, she's flying with this skill now. ​ She's doing so well the following things have happened:

🎖️ She's happy and confident completing times table questions - in fact when I visit each week she's often on TT Rockstars practising them independently.
​
🎖️ She's not only happy completing questions up to 12 x 12, she can use this to complete other calculations such as 256 x 4.
​
🎖️She is no longer phased by the timed element as she knows she can do it.
​
🎖️ She completed 25/25 questions on her year 4 multiplication tables check (and only let this achievement slip a whole day later!)
​
If you're looking to build up your little one's confidence within their maths or English over the summer holidays, I still have a limited number of spaces available.
​
Drop me a message to find out more information.

School report season is almost here and this can often be tricky for you as the parent if, right at the end of the year, you're unexpectedly told your little one has been finding something hard in school.

The six weeks holidays then appear and then it's time to jump into a new year group.
​
My Little Lessons of Learning summer package of support is there to help you and your little one fill in any gaps they may have so they can start their new academic year and year group with confidence.
​
They can start September seeing all of the things they can achieve.
​
They can build up their confidence in areas they once found daunting or tricky.

They can feel happy starting a new year group knowing that a particular subject or subjects won't feel as hard as it used to.
​
​I now only have a small amount of availability left, DM me for more information.

What a lovely message to receive last week!
​
When I first met this little one, she was finding maths incredibly hard. A phrase that was used at the beginning was "She just doesn't get maths."
​
Now, she absolutely does get maths.
​
What has enabled this is:
​
- ​ time to build up her confidence in the foundations of maths
​
- an opportunity to practise and repeat things as much as she needs

- encouragement to have a go and for her to see that she can do it.
​
I'll miss her too!

This week I was delighted to be told one of my lovely students had reached the expected level for year 6 writing. 🤩
​
They've found writing tricky for a while and I am so proud of their hard work and achievements.
​
​
Writing has so many elements to it and the image below shows the journey we've been on.
​
🖊️ We began with initial letter formation, working through letter families.
​
🖊️ We looked at joining patterns.
​
🖊️ We focused on dictated sentences to move from handwriting in isolation to applying it within sentences.
​
🖊️ We moved on to looking at different grammatical techniques and sentence structures.
​
🖊️ We've spent time looking at different types of punctuation and how to apply them within writing.
​
🖊️ We've looked at upleveling vocabulary.

My superstar student has brought all of his fantastic knowledge, skills and new-found confidence together to become a wonderful writer - a huge achievement!

Has your little one lost their way with a particular subject or subjects in school?
​
Let's transform your current concerns into feeling certain that they're back to thriving in their school life through my Little Lessons of Learning summer programme.

This 4 session, bespoke programme is there to boost your child's confidence before starting a new year group and help you as the parent to understand where your little one is with their learning. I'm here to support both of you along the way.
​
There are only a few spaces remaining, drop me a message to find out more information.

Sometimes children can guess, miss out or become unsure when they're asked to read a longer word in a text.
​
They might look at the start/end sounds and say a word they know that sounds similar.
​
They might miss it out.
​
They might stop or miss out shorter words that they do know, in the run up to an unfamiliar word because they know there's something coming up they're unsure of.
​
Here's a strategy I use with my students, when it comes to reading 'bigger words.'
​
1. Write the 'bigger word' out.
2. Use colours and model how to break the word into sounds or smaller chunks.
3. Say each of the parts
4. Say them quicker
5. Put them altogether to say the full word.
​
Here's an example of how I did this with one of my students this week. ⬇️

Realising your little one finds certain elements within education challenging can be daunting, especially if you're unsure where to start or who to go to for help.
​
This lovely student of mine was finding English really tricky when we first met. Letter formation, spelling, reading and creating sentences all felt challenging. The classroom pace was too fast and it all felt a little too much.
​
Now, she's thriving.
​
She shares with me her achievements in school, she's confident to have a go at a range of tasks independently but is also brave enough to let me know the things she still finds a little tricky.
​
She's meeting school's year group expectations in reading, her letter formation is unrecognisable from when we first met and she can use a range of techniques within her sentences.
​
I've worked closely with her lovely family in regards to accessing support from other places and decoded reports and assessments for them along the way.

The post below shares the beautiful journey she has been on.

My Little Lessons of Learning Package is back, where you can book some short term support for your little one to help support their learning over the summer break.
​
This 4 session, bespoke programme is there to boost your child's confidence before starting a new year group and help you as the parent to understand where your little one is with their learning.
​
7 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧, 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Telling the time is something I've been focusing on with a few of my students recently.
​
Although this is a maths skill we use a lot in life, the school curriculum doesn't allow a lot of time to be dedicated to it (pardon the pun!)
​
Here's how I break down the order of time with my students.
​
1. O'clock times
​
2. Half past times (I explain half past by linking this to fractions and splitting the circle in 2)
​
3. Quarter past times
​
4. Quarter to times
​
5. 5 minute interval past times
​
6. 5 minute interval to times
​
7. Understanding AM and PM
​
8. The 24 hour clock

In sessions, sometimes my students will tell me that they can't do something.
​
They can.
​
They just need to be shown a method and given phrasing that works for them, alongside an opportunity to practise.
​
In one of my lessons last week, there was a perfect example of this.
​
One of my lovely students told me "I can't find half of a number."
​
We started with a method for 1 digit numbers, built upon this to find half of 2 digit numbers and I gradually reduced my support.
​
10 minutes after her initial "I can't" comment she told me she knew what to do. 🥳😍
​
She then took the whiteboard, created her own 5 digit number and halved it independently!
​
What a turn-around from her initial "I can't" thoughts!

If my students are finding their spelling homework tricky this is what I suggest...
​
​
Just learn some of the words!
​
​
It's better to know 3, 4 or 5 words really well rather than feeling overwhelmed or struggling to remember the full list of words.
​
​
Retaining more words can be built up but feeling truly confident with a few words to begin with is a great place to start!

Before half term, I asked one of my students what they'd done in maths at school that day. Their response led to a very important discussion.
​
They shared with me the topic they were doing and then paused.
​
After asking if they wanted to tell me anything else, they began to share with me how they'd found it hard but their friends kept saying how easy it was and they didn't understand why.
​
We spent some time chatting about how it's okay to find something tricky and this happens to everyone, whether we realise it or not.
​
I thanked my student for trusting me with their feelings and we wrote down the topic that they were currently unsure of.

They then asked if I could add something else to the list that they'd done a while ago but wanted to look at again.
​
Since half term, we've been working our way through this list and making those initially tricky topics easier a step at a time.

My Little Lessons of Learning Package is back for the summer holidays, where you can book some short term support for your little one to help keep things ticking over across the summer break.
​
This 4 session, bespoke programme is there to boost your child's confidence before starting a new year group and help you as the parent to understand where your little one is with their learning.
​
𝟓 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧, 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

How I ask questions to promote independence, confidence and the knowledge that it’s ok to look at something again.
​
“How do you think/what do you think…”
​
It might be:
​
“How do you think the word because is spelt?”
​
“What do you think 3 x 5 is?”
​
“What sound do you think these two letters make?”
​
I add in the word 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌.
​
Why?
​
It changes the dynamic of the question, softens the question and allows children to feel like they can have a go.
​
If they share what they think and it’s correct first time - wonderful!
​
If they share what they think and it’s not quite there the first time, that's ok. I celebrate something with them about their initial response and then support them to get the right answer.

“𝑰 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝟏 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚.”
​
My students often ask me why I now do this job rather than work as a teacher in a school (very good question!)
​
One of my students answered it for me at the end of our session last week when she said the above comment.
​
We’d spent the last part of the session looking at short division with the bus stop method. This was something she’d experienced looking at in class but was unsure how it worked.
​
We began simply by looking at how to set out this method and then I showed her the first stage of short division.
​
Her response “Oh, is that all you do?! This is why I learn more with you because you teach it for 1 person not everybody.”
​
A perfect example of why I do this job now!

I'm always very honest with the families I work with in regards to SATS - yes they measure children's progress but more so they're used to compare schools.
​
Here's the advice I've given to my students who are completing the tests next week.
​
🥰 All you can do is try your best.
​

🥰 Think of it as an opportunity to showcase all of the things you do know, rather than worrying about the things you're not sure of.
​

🥰 You don't need to answer all of the questions, concentrate on the ones you feel most confident with first of all.
​

🥰 Ask the questions to be read to you.
​

🥰 Take your time
​

🥰 Have a go - writing something is better than nothing.