Indigenous Education and Research Centre Information for families Growing Confident Learners Ideas to try together at home

Ideas to try together at home

You already teach your child all kinds of things - how the world works, why we do things the way we do, what words mean. The ideas here just give you a few more ways to do that, using the everyday moments you already share.

You don't need to be an expert, and you don't need much time. Five minutes in the car or at the kitchen bench counts. Pick something that catches your child's interest, and come back whenever you'd like a new idea. There's no order to follow, and no wrong place to start. Children come back to the same ideas again and again, and each time a little more makes sense - so it's fine to try something twice, and fine to skip a week.

Have a look around

🧪 Science Activities: Prep to Year 10

Your child is already a scientist - asking why the sky changes colour, what makes the car stop, why the ice melts. At school they look closely at living things, materials, forces, the Earth and space, and get better at asking questions and working out answers. The ideas here follow the same thread, using things you can see and do at home.

Pick your child's year and have a look.

Boy with science book

🧮 Mathematics Activities: Prep to Year 10

Maths is one of the ways we make sense of things - spotting patterns, sorting and sharing, working out how much and how many. You already do it together every day: splitting a pizza, counting out change, checking who's grown taller.

The ideas here follow what your child is doing at school and give you a few everyday ways to talk about it. Pick a year and have a look.

Child counting

Learning doesn't only happen at school

Your child spends only part of the day at school. The rest of their learning happens where it always has - in your conversations, your kitchen, the walk home, the stories you tell at bedtime.

You already bring a lot to this: your language, the way your family does things, everything you know from your own life. That isn't something to make up for. It's some of the most valuable teaching your child gets.

If you'd like a few more ideas, the Family Learning Guide has simple ways to build on what you already do together - from telling stories and asking questions to cooking, shopping and sorting out everyday problems. It's there if you want it, no need to read it all.

Have a look at the Family Learning Guide.