• Give your child extra homework which can build and reinforce the basic skills in English, Mathematics or Science which are taught in the classroom

• Give your child extra work if he or she needs more practice in a subject

• Extend your child at home for motivation and challenges.

 

No matter which of these reasons apply, it is a good idea to start your child with one of our Core English and Mathematics books which will provide you with immediate feedback.

 

• The core books have been carefully written to reflect the expected level of ability that a child should have reached at each year level, so you can use them as diagnostic tools to gauge your child’s ability for his/her year level.

• From the feedback you receive you can then take the necessary steps to help with your child’s education.

 

STEP 1: Sit with your child in a quiet place so he or she can concentrate. Be encouraging.

STEP 2: Start with the appropriate year level Core English and Mathematics book, eg. if your child is in Year 3, choose the Year 3 Core English and Mathematics book. Set your child a task, eg. Unit 1 in English one night, then Unit 1 in Maths the next.

STEP 3: You will be able to tell immediately how easy or hard your child is finding the work by how long they take to complete the units of work and their general attitude. Observe closely.

STEP 4: When a unit has been completed, mark it, as this will give direct feedback on your child’s progress. Reward your child with positive comments.

STEP 5: Continue to go through the book, completing more units of work and observing the steps above. Stop at four units of work for English and Maths. You will see a pattern developing as to how your child is progressing in these subjects.

STEP 6: If your child is clearly finding the work far too difficult and is getting answers mostly wrong or simply not answering questions:

 

• Have your child work through the Core English and Mathematics book which is a year level lower than the one previously attempted, and explain that it is for revision. This will build confidence.

• Use the grid at the beginning of the book to see what areas your child is having some difficulty with and use Excel specific topic books written for the same year level as the core book just completed. This is to ensure that your child’s foundations in particular areas are sound. Complete as many books as you think necessary.

• Go through the core book for your child’s year level again and check for improvement.

 

If your child is only having difficulty with selected areas:

• The marking grid inside the book will be invaluable to you as a diagnostic tool.

• If your child is having repeated problems with a subject area, Excel has a range of specific topic books to help you in specific areas. For example, if your child is having trouble with problem-solving tasks then look for Excel Problem Solving books.

 

If your child is clearly excelling at the work:

• Choose books that you feel will be challenging, either by going to a year level higher in the core book, or by choosing a specific topic book a year level higher.

• Some specific topic books are separated into two separate year levels, eg. Excel Problem Solving Years 3–4 has separate sections for Year 3 and Year 4. So your child may find the Year 3 material easy but find the Year 4 section more challenging. You could even try the Excel Problem Solving, Chance, Data and Graphs book which spans Years 3–6 levels.

 

 

These are important as they contain feedback from your child’s school. Make an appointment to see the teacher if there is anything you are concerned about. It is best to do this earlier rather than later.

 

 

Remember that Excel has a core book for each year level as well as the following books in other subjects:

• Years 1–2: 4 Mathematics, 2 English, 1 Science and Technology and 1 Computing Skills.

• Years 3–4: 6 Mathematics, 5 English, 1 Science and Technology, 1 Computing Skills.

• Years 5–6: 4 Mathematics, 5 English, 1 Science and Technology, 1 Computing Skills.

 

Some other handy books to have for your reference are:

• Pascal’s Basic Primary Spelling, Pascal’s Basic Primary Grammar and Signpost Maths Dictionary. These are great books to have beside you if you need to look up a rule or a definition. 

• Excel Years 3–6 Extension Work in all Subjects books. These four books for each level will enrich and extend your child in English, Mathematics, Society and Environment, Science and Art.

• Excel Mathematics Study Guides (Year 5 and Year 6).

These two books are invaluable learning aids as they contain worked solutions (not just the answers) to all exercises. As a parent, this means you have the security of having a worked solution if you are not sure of an answer. They also contain many examples of a range of problems. These are much longer books (around 200–250 pages).