Additional support for BBC Bitesize daily lessons, including free activities. For week 27th April–1st May.
BBC Bitesize lesson support: Week 2
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Blog posts for: Age 5
BBC Bitesize lesson support: Week 1
Additional support for BBC Bitesize daily lessons, including free activities. For the week 20th–24th April.
BBC Bitesize lesson support: Week 8
Additional support for BBC Bitesize daily lessons, including free activities. For week 15th–18th June.
BBC Bitesize lesson support: Week 5
Additional support for BBC Bitesize daily lessons, including free activities. For week 18th–22nd May.
BBC Bitesize lesson support: Week 7
Additional support for BBC Bitesize daily lessons, including free activities. For week 8th–11th June.
BBC Bitesize lesson support: Week 6
Additional support for BBC Bitesize daily lessons, including free activities. For week 1st–4th June.
BBC Bitesize lesson support: Week 3
Additional support for BBC Bitesize daily lessons, including free activities. For week 4th–8th May.
BBC Bitesize lesson support: Week 9
Additional support for BBC Bitesize daily lessons, including free activities. For week 22nd–25th June.
BBC Bitesize lesson support: Week 4
Additional support for BBC Bitesize daily lessons, including free activities. For week 11th–15th May.
BBC Bitesize lesson support: Week 11
Additional support for BBC Bitesize daily lessons, including free activities. For week 6th–9th July.
BBC Bitesize lesson support: Week 10
Additional support for BBC Bitesize daily lessons, including free activities. For week 29th June–2nd July.
BBC Bitesize lesson support
Additional support for BBC Bitesize daily lessons, including free activities. For week 13th–16th July.
Reading: Age 5–6 (Year 1)
Children age 5–6 will have a growing knowledge of phonics and will be building up a range of reading skills. Find out how you can support them at home.
Comprehension
Find out how reading comprehension is taught throughout primary school, and take a look at our books, advice, and free activities to help at home.
Learning at home: Learning to read
Education expert James Clements runs through everything you need to keep your child’s reading skills developing during the school lockdown.
Learning to read in Reception
Find out what sort of books to expect to come home in your child’s book bag, and get top tips on how best to support your child.
Read Write Inc. guide for parents
Find out what Read Write Inc. Phonics is and find eBooks, videos, and kits to help your child as they learn to read with Read Write Inc. Phonics at home.
Free eBook library: 100s of eBooks to practise reading
Help your young child learn to read, and love to read, with our eBook library, containing hundreds of free eBooks. Developed for children aged 3–11.
A case for non-fiction:
five reasons to read non-fiction with your child
Education expert James Clements outlines five benefits of reading non-fiction, and gives us his top non-fiction reads for ages 5–11.
Numicon at Home kits
What is Numicon? Find out what Numicon is and discover activity sheets, videos, and kits to support your child as they learn maths with Numicon at home.
Learn to read with phonics
What is phonics? Find out in our phonics guide for parents. Learn about Letters and Sounds, the phonics screening test, and how to practice phonics at home.
Books to inspire young scientists
Science and engineering provide fantastic career opportunities, but science is not just for scientists – it’s a huge part of everyday life. A good grounding in science will help every child to navigate their world and make good decisions. Isabel Thomas recommends books for ages 3–11 to inspire your young scientist.
500 Words: Black Lives Matter – how are British children responding to the emerging themes and issues in their writing?
Almost 6,000 children entered the writing competition in July 2020 and Oxford University Press’ analysis shines a light on children’s insight, empathy, and imagination when writing about race. Find out more.
Summer reading for kids: recommended books
From island adventures to stories about twin detectives, here’s our list of favourite children’s books to read this summer.
Read with Oxford Stage 3
Read with Oxford is an exciting range of levelled books to build reading confidence at home. Use Stage 1 to start your child on their reading journey.
Learning at home: Reading to learn
Education expert James Clements talks about how children who are already confident readers can get the most out of their reading.
Struggling readers
Worried about your child’s reading? Help is at hand! Jean Gross CBE gives her expert advice on how to support children who struggle with reading.
Help with times tables
Learning times tables can be fun! Help your child learn their times tables with our free top tips, videos, quizzes and worksheets.
Read with Oxford Stage 2
Read with Oxford Stage 2 is for children who are able to read very simple stories. They will enjoy listening to stories while practising reading skills.
How to write your best story ever!
Christopher Edge, author of ‘How to Write your Best Story Ever!’, shares his top 10 tips to help your child write amazing stories.
Preparing for the phonics screening check
The phonics screening check is an informal way for schools to assess your child’s progress in reading. Sarah Loader shares tips for supporting your child’s development at home.
Reading: Age 4–5 (Reception)
Find out how your child’s reading skills will develop in Reception. Discover fun activities, ideas, and books to support your 4–5-year-old at home.
What are reading schemes and why do they matter?
Educational publishing expert Andrea Quincey explains why reading schemes are important, and what the different colours, bands and levels actually mean.
Book of the Month: Oxford Phonics Spelling Dictionary
The Oxford Phonics Spelling Dictionary is packed with words ordered by phonic sound to help young children learn how to spell. Enter our competition to win a free copy.
Not your typical books for boys
An alternative list of recommended books for boys. Perfect for boys who are looking to read about something other than football or jokes about bottoms!
2018 Oxford Children’s Word of the Year: Plastic
Plastic has been revealed as the Children’s Word of the Year by Oxford University Press for the BBC 500 Words Competition. British children have once again shown themselves to be fabulously inventive, funny and socially astute.
Grammar & punctuation in Year 1 (age 5–6)
Learn how grammar and punctuation is taught in Year 1 and find out how to support your child at home, with lots of fun ideas and free activities.
Get number confident on National Numeracy Day
Get involved with National Numeracy Day 2021 and help your child’s confidence grow, with our top tips and free maths activities.
Book of the Month: Read with Oxford comic books
Win two Read with Oxford comics, full of fun characters and engaging storylines – from sneaking past ticklish octopuses to getting cuddly bumbles home for tea.
Building kids’ resilience and confidence
How do you help build your child’s confidence and resilience? Teacher and child psychologist Jean Gross CBE shares her tips for helping children believe in themselves, and discusses how you can encourage them to be determined and enjoy challenges.
Learning at home: Organising the day
Education expert and writer James Clements offers up 4 different approaches to structuring your child’s day learning at home.
Learning at home: The tricky business of screen time
Keeping your child’s screen time manageable can be tricky, especially at the moment. Education expert James Clements gives us his top tips.
Encouraging boys to read
Gary Wilson gives his expert advice on getting boys to read, including tips on motivating reading habits and encouraging independence.
The wonder of words: How learning new words can help your child
A rich vocabulary allows a child to enjoy their reading, to express themselves and to learn about the world. James Clements offers tips on how to help your child’s vocabulary develop.
Getting ready to start school
Read our top five tips for getting your child school-ready, download our Starting School checklist and print a certificate for your child.
Ordering and counting with Numicon
Early Years teacher and mother Sheila O’Reilly shows us how to use Numicon shapes to help your child learn to count and order numbers.
Developing empathy through reading
Children’s author Anne Booth, creator of the Lucy series, discusses how reading builds up emotional literacy, empathy, and relationship skills.
What to expect in Year 1 (age 5–6)
Find out what your child will learn in the year 1 primary curriculum for literacy and maths and ways to support home learning. Learn more about the phonics screening test.
Science at primary school
Science at primary school is practical and exciting. Children love the chance to learn through being totally hands-on and finding things out for themselves — the perfect way to understand the world around them.
Ballet Bunnies
Learning a new skill can be hard but when you’ve got friends like the ballet bunnies every day is a new adventure!
How to choose a book for ages 3–7
Children’s librarian Greta Paterson shares her 5 top tips for choosing books for 3–7 year olds.
Using music for social and emotional development: Family activities from Amani Project
We’re working with Amani Project to help you make music and make change this summer! Get involved and complete the weekly activities to earn badges and find out more about Amani Project’s important work combining the power of music for children’s social and emotional development all around the world.
Reluctant readers
From ‘thinking outside the bookbag’ to reading for a purpose, children’s author and mum of three Isabel Thomas shares some great advice on helping reluctant readers get excited about books.
Looking forward to the summer term: tips to help boost your child’s learning
What can we do to help our children to make progress over the term ahead? James Clements shares his tips to help boost skills and knowledge.
Diversifying your child’s reading
Diversifying the children’s book industry and what our children are reading is a much talked about topic. Many people want to make a difference, but with so much information available, it can be difficult to know where to start.
Start calculating with Numicon
It can be hard making the jump from counting numbers to calculating. Sheila O’Reilly shares activities to introduce your child to addition and subtraction.
Teaching number bonds (without any screens)
Lots of schoolwork is being set online at the moment. Here is one example from education expert James Clements of teaching maths skills without a screen.
5 top tips to keep reading at home
It’s more important than ever to keep your child reading at home this term and over the summer holidays. Camilla Macoun shares her tips.
Building a strong vocabulary: How to help at home
Headteacher Tracey Smith shares her ideas for fun and easy games you can play to build your child’s vocabulary and boost their confidence with words.
Learning at home: What would they be learning at school?
Education expert and writer James Clements explains what your child would be learning at school, and how we can use (or not use) the curriculum at home.
Money, money, money
Money isn’t everything, but being ‘good with money’ is undoubtedly a useful life skill. Read Fiona Lazenby’s top tips for practising using money with your child.
4 fun ways to develop characters for a short story
Every story needs a star! These four fun activities will help any aspiring author dream up some page-turning protagonists.
What to expect in Reception (age 4–5)
Find out what literacy and maths skills your child will learn in Reception, and discover ways you can support their learning at home.
How fun with phonics helps develop communication skills
One of the most valuable skills we can give our children is the ability to communicate well. Read top tips on how to develop communication skills.
Time flies: helping your child learn to tell the time
Learning to tell the time using both analogue and digital clocks is still an important skill, but it’s something that children can find tricky to master. Louise Pennington shares ideas to support your child’s growing understanding of time.
Progress with Oxford Age 5–6
Progress with Oxford activity books help develop essential English and Maths skills. Help your child practise phonics, numbers, handwriting and more.
Book of the Month: Kitty and the Twilight Trouble
To celebrate the publication of the brand-new Kitty book, we have a bundle of books to give away! (February 2020)
Top tips from parents on sharing stories at home
Sharing stories with your child is a wonderful way to take them to new worlds, to share the pleasure of reading, and positively impact their educational outcomes.
The curriculum for English in Year 1 (age 5–6)
Find out what children will learn in spelling, grammar, punctuation and writing at school in Year 1, including apostrophes, homophones and suffixes.
How to help your child with mental arithmetic
Building confidence in maths early on will pay back many times over. Get tips for developing your child’s mental arithmetic skills.
Inspire the author in your child with the BBC 500 Words Competition 2020!
Oxford Dictionaries for Children has teamed up with BBC Radio 2’s 500 Words – the nationwide competition to find the most talented young writers in the UK!
Science at home: How to extract DNA from a banana
Try this fun science activity to help children create a mental image of DNA and give them a taste of what being a scientist is like!
Book of the Month: Super Happy Magic Forest and the Humongous Fungus
Five brave heroes, one epic quest… It’s time to head back into the Super Happy Magic Forest! Enter our competition to win your free copy.
How Numicon can help develop maths skills at home
Early Years teacher and mother Sheila O’Reilly shows us how the 1st Steps with Numicon at Home kit can support your child’s early maths development.
Learning to tell the time
Telling the time is an important skill in everyday life, but it can be tricky to learn. You can start to increase your child’s awareness of time from a young age with simple activities and games.
Maths is everywhere!
Maths expert Louise Pennington shares her advice for developing your child’s maths skills during school closures by exploring maths in the real world.
Story sparks: find inspiration for your short story
When you look down at a blank piece of paper, inspiration can seem a long way away. Here are Christopher Edge’s top tips for coming up with story ideas.
Everyday activities to practise subtraction
Subtraction is a key concept in the primary maths curriculum. Here are some easy activities you can try at home to build your child’s skills and confidence.
Mindfulness and mental health in children: five top tips for parents
How can you encourage mindfulness at home with your child, to support positive wellbeing and mental health? Liz Lord shares her tips for parents.
Learning at home: What can we learn from teachers?
Education expert James Clements talks about the lessons we can learn from teachers about helping your child to learn at home.
Christmas activities for 4–5 year olds
Practise early maths and letter recognition skills with some Christmas colouring in and get lots of car game ideas to keep everyone occupied on long journeys this Christmas.
Summer games and activities
Find activity ideas and book recommendations to keep the kids busy this summer.
4 tips to inspire children’s creative writing
Coming up with a great story idea can be tricky, which is why we’ve gathered together four fun activities to inspire your child’s creative writing.
How to edit your 500 Words story
Finished a first draft of your short story and not sure what to do next? Read Christopher Edge’s top tips for polishing your story to perfection.
Five easy Easter activities to do at home
Whether you want to create a traditional Easter egg hunt or enjoy some family reading time, we’ve got an egg-citing host of activities for you to choose from.
Year 1 at primary school
Leaving Reception behind and moving into Year 1 (age 5–6) can feel like a big step. Find out what to expect and what your child will be learning in English and maths.
Maths: Age 5–6 (Year 1)
Help your 5 or 6 year old practice maths at home with everyday maths games and activities. Help your child learn by making maths fun!
Teaching maths at home
Mathemagician Andrew Jeffrey suggests ways you can support your child’s maths development at home without needing to be an expert.
Five ways to improve maths home-learning
Maths expert Andrew Jeffrey shares five easy-to-implement strategies that can make a positive difference to our children’s maths learning at home.
Maths: Age 4–5 (Reception)
Help your 4 or 5 year old practice maths at home with everyday maths games and activities. Help your child learn by making maths fun!
Book of the Month: Numicon at Home
Win a Numicon at home First Steps kit, designed to help you get your child’s early Maths learning off to the best possible start. (August 2021)
Progress with Oxford Age 4–5
Progress with Oxford activity books help develop essential English and Maths skills. Help your child practise phonics, numbers, handwriting and more.
Fun learning ideas for 5-year-olds
Have fun with our reading games, phonics games, and maths games for 4-year-olds.
Pippi Longstocking
In 2020, Pippi Longstocking turns 75! Discover Pippi books and activities to share with your child, and find out about the Pippi of Today Campaign.
Writing a thank you letter
Practise handwriting by writing a thank you letter to someone who has helped you during lockdown – like a teacher, a family member, or a healthcare worker.
Winnie and Wilbur
Enjoy madcap adventures with Winnie the Witch and her black cat Wilbur! Find picture books, early readers, storyteller videos, and fun activities for your own little misadventurers!
Book of the Month: I’m the Driver
Win copies of I’m a Digger Driver and I’m a Fire Engine Driver, jumping into the driver’s seat and entering a world of imaginative play (July 2021)
World Book Day costume ideas
Make this year’s celebration of books and reading extra special with our no-sew World Book Day costume ideas, inlcluding Winnie the Witch and Isadora Moon.
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