The Parent's Guide to Supporting Learning at Home

A gentle guide from the Kidfriendly team

You're Already Doing Better Than You Think

Let's start here: if you're reading this, you care deeply about your child's learning. That care—the kind that has you Googling "how to help with maths" at 10pm—is the single most important ingredient for their success.

But caring also means worrying. Wondering if you're doing enough. Comparing yourself to other parents who seem to have it all figured out. Feeling guilty about the evening you just couldn't face another worksheet, when all you wanted was to sit together on the sofa and laugh at something silly.

Here's what fifteen years of teaching has shown me: the parents who worry most are usually doing the best job. Your concern is proof of your love. So take a breath. You're not failing. You're learning too—just like your child is.

What Your Child Actually Needs (It Might Surprise You)

When parents ask "What should I be doing at home?", they expect me to say "More practice. More worksheets. More time."

Instead, I tell them this:

Your child needs to feel safe to be wrong—and to know what to try next.

That's the foundation. A child who's terrified of making mistakes will avoid challenges, hide confusion, and eventually stop trying. But a child who knows that getting stuck is just part of figuring things out? They'll tackle anything.

Beyond that safety, your child needs:

• Someone who notices their effort, not just their results
• Permission to struggle without immediate rescue
• Celebration of small wins—the moment they finally get it, not just the test score
• Adults who are curious too, not perfect
• Enough rest and play for learning to actually sink in

Notice what's missing? Hours of drilling. Perfect scores. A parent who never makes mistakes themselves.

The Encourager vs Enforcer Shift

Most of us grew up with homework as a battle. Red pen corrections. Disappointed sighs. The feeling that getting something wrong meant something was wrong with us.

We don't want that for our children—and yet, when we sit down to help, we slip into enforcer mode without meaning to. Suddenly we're sighing at the same mistake for the fourth time, watching the clock, wondering why they still don't understand.

Here's the thing: we slip into enforcer mode because we're scared. Scared they'll fall behind. Scared we're not helping enough. That fear is love wearing a worried face—but it doesn't serve our children.

The shift that changes everything:

A strong body of research suggests that children learn more when they feel supported rather than surveilled. Your job isn't to be the teacher. It's to be the person who believes in them when they doubt themselves.

Practical Tips for Home Learning

Little and often beats long and rare

Ten curious minutes beats an hour of frustrated slogging. The brain actually needs gaps between practice to consolidate learning—so stopping and trying again tomorrow isn't giving up, it's good science.

Match your presence to their age

For younger children (5–7), sitting beside them transforms homework from interrogation to collaboration—you're working together, not testing them. For older children (10–12), your psychological availability matters more: "I'm here if you need me" often supports their growing independence better than hovering.

Ask questions instead of correcting

"What made you choose that answer?" teaches thinking. "That's wrong" just teaches avoidance.

Let them teach you

"Can you show me how you did that?" or "Teach me the rule" is one of the most powerful learning moves—it's called retrieval practice, and it helps knowledge stick. Plus, there's something magical about your child becoming the expert for a moment.

Validate the feeling, then the learning

When they're frustrated, start with the emotion: "This feels really hard right now, doesn't it? That's a tough feeling." Let them feel heard. Then, when they're ready: "Mistakes are how your brain grows. What should we try next?"

Know when to step back

Sometimes the best support is trusting them to figure it out. Think of yourself as scaffolding—there when needed, designed to come down as they get stronger.

The Moments That Matter

Here's what I wish more parents knew: it's not the worksheets your child will remember.

It's the two of you puzzling over something together, both slightly confused, both curious. It's the relief of laughing when the tower of blocks finally falls. It's noticing the pattern they spotted in the pavement cracks, and them noticing that you noticed.

It's your child explaining something to you—voice serious, slightly bossy—and the pride on their face when you say "Oh! I get it now."

These moments of shared curiosity, of delight in each other, of mess and discovery and "what happens if..."—this is where the real learning lives.

What Kidfriendly Handles (So You Don't Have To)

We built Kidfriendly so that learning time can be connection time, not conflict time.

Planning what to practise. Our system tracks what your child knows and what needs reinforcement, so you don't have to figure out "what should we work on tonight?"

Keeping challenge just right. Kidfriendly aims to keep your child in the sweet spot—challenged enough to grow, successful enough to stay confident. If answers start going wrong, it automatically shifts to easier questions and rebuilds momentum.

Giving feedback. Gentle, immediate feedback means you're not the one with the red pen. You can focus on encouragement while we handle the corrections.

Staying connected. Kidfriendly is designed to give you a simple view of how things are going—so you can celebrate progress together without having to quiz or test.

This means when you sit with your child during learning time, you can just be with them.

Permission to Let Go (of the Outcome)

Here's the truth: your child's success doesn't depend on you being their teacher.

It depends on you being their safe place.

The parent who says "I'm proud of you for trying" matters more than the parent who drills times tables every night. The cuddle after a hard day matters more than the correction.

Letting go doesn't mean disengaging—it means releasing your grip on the outcome so you can be fully present for the process. You don't need to know all the answers. You don't need to understand the new maths methods. You just need to be there, curious alongside them.

That's already exactly what you're doing.

Kidfriendly exists to support the whole child—and the whole family. Because when learning feels like building sandcastles together, everyone thrives.