7 Ways to Support Your Child's Learning

By Sylvia Langford · 9 min read

Language and maths are two basic areas of learning.

Through language, children learn to understand and express ideas, communicate with others and over time access new knowledge.

Through maths, they develop knowledge about numbers, quantities, relationships, patterns and problem-solving.

Both develop gradually and can be strengthened through everyday experiences, teaching and practice.

In this article, we look at why they matter and what we can do to support their development.

1. Language Helps Us Communicate – and Learn

Language allows us to express needs, ideas, experiences and emotions, but its importance goes well beyond everyday communication.

Much of school learning takes place through language.

Children need to understand explanations, follow instructions, ask questions, discuss ideas, read texts and express what they know in writing.

Developing language therefore also expands a child's opportunities to learn.

Adults can contribute by creating everyday opportunities to:

• have conversations
• listen
• ask and answer questions
• read stories
• sing
• tell stories
• explain experiences
• play with sounds and words

We do not need to turn every moment into a lesson.

Everyday life already provides countless opportunities to use and expand language.

A conversation at the dinner table, a question while walking somewhere or talking about what happened during the day can all become opportunities to use language naturally.

2. Vocabulary Matters at Every Age

Words allow us to represent and communicate ideas.

A child may understand perfectly well what they want to express and still have difficulty communicating it if they do not yet have the words they need.

This is why expanding vocabulary matters.

But knowing a word means more than having heard it once.

Over time, children need to learn:

• what the word means
• how it is pronounced
• how it relates to other words
• the contexts in which it is used
• how to recognise it when they hear or read it
• how to retrieve it when they want to use it

We can think of vocabulary as a network that continues to grow.

Each new word does not necessarily remain isolated. It can connect with concepts and knowledge the child already has.

That is why talking about words and using them in different contexts can be just as important as introducing them for the first time.

What About Bilingual Children?

Research suggests that growing up with two or more languages does not, by itself, cause a language delay.

A bilingual child's language experience is distributed across different languages. They may know some words in one language, others in another and many in both.

Looking at only one of their languages can therefore provide an incomplete picture of what they know.

Families do not need to stop using a home language because they are worried about confusing their child.

Speaking, reading, singing and having conversations in the languages that are part of family life can provide valuable opportunities for communication and learning.

If there are significant concerns about a child's language development, professional guidance should consider all the languages the child uses.

3. Vocabulary Also Matters When Learning Another Language

When we learn another language, we gradually need to build a collection of words and expressions that we can understand and use.

A broader vocabulary can help us:

understand conversations;

understand what we read;

express a wider range of ideas;

rely less on translation;

take part in increasingly varied communication.

Learning another language is not simply about memorising words, but developing vocabulary is one of the first steps towards learning to speak it.

We then need to learn how those words combine, hear different ways in which they are used, develop pronunciation and comprehension and, above all, have opportunities to communicate.

Vocabulary therefore provides an important foundation within a much broader process of language learning.

Knowing more words gives us more resources for communication, but learning to communicate requires using those resources in context.

4. Maths Helps Us Understand Quantities, Relationships and Problems

Mathematical thinking begins long before a child starts completing written calculations.

When children compare which group has more objects, recognise a sequence, share something between several people, work out how many more they need or identify a shape, they are already using mathematical ideas.

As they develop, children bit by bit build knowledge about:

• quantities
• numbers
• patterns
• relationships
• operations
• measurement
• space
• problem-solving

Within this broader learning process, mental maths can be a useful tool.

When some basic calculations become easier to retrieve, students may have more capacity available to focus on understanding other parts of the problem in front of them.

But mental maths is not mathematics in its entirety.

It is one tool within a much broader area of learning that also involves understanding concepts and relationships, reasoning, choosing strategies and solving problems.

5. Why Do Some Children Have Difficulty with Language or Maths?

There is no single explanation.

Difficulties may be related to a range of factors, including:

• prior knowledge
• opportunities for learning and practice
• understanding of instructions
• teaching strategies
• developmental differences
• specific learning needs
• difficulties involving language, attention, memory or other skills
• previous educational experiences
• the level of difficulty of the task

That is why, when a child is struggling, it is important to avoid jumping too quickly to conclusions such as:

"They aren't trying."

"They're not good at maths."

"They've never been good at languages."

Instead, we can ask:

"Where exactly does the difficulty begin?"

Perhaps the child knows the numbers but does not yet understand the operation.

Perhaps they understand a story when they hear it but find it difficult to read.

Or perhaps they know an answer when they receive support but cannot yet retrieve it independently.

Identifying what a child can already do and where the difficulty begins can help us choose the next step more effectively.

The question shifts from:

"Why can't they do this?"

towards:

"What can they already do, where does the difficulty appear and what might help them take the next step?"

6. Supporting Language and Maths in Everyday Life

Not all learning needs to happen in front of a worksheet or exercise book.

Families can create simple opportunities to use these skills every day.

To develop language, we can:

• talk about what happened during the day
• read together
• ask what a word means
• describe objects and situations
• tell stories
• ask children to explain something in their own words

To work with mathematical ideas, we can:

• count objects
• compare quantities
• share food between people
• work out how much we need
• recognise patterns
• estimate distances or quantities
• solve small everyday problems

For example:

"We have six apples and there are three of us. How many can each person have?"

The intention is not to constantly test the child.

It is to show that language and maths are tools we use to understand and navigate the world around us.

These everyday experiences also give children opportunities to apply what they know outside a formal learning activity.

That matters because learning is not only about being able to answer something during practice.

It is also about being able to use knowledge when it is useful.

7. How Do Langford Method Programs Develop These Skills?

Langford Method programs provide structured activities for developing different skills according to the child's age and stage.

These include:

• vocabulary
• language and early literacy
• languages
• numbers
• mental maths

Content is introduced step by step through short sessions and regular opportunities to practise.

But, as we have seen in previous articles, the aim is not to focus only on the content.

While learning words, numbers or calculations, children also have opportunities to practise the six habits of the Langford Method:

following instructions, self-control, independence, calmness, willingness to act and practice.

In this way, we aim to bring together two dimensions:

what the child learns and how they take part in their learning.

A vocabulary activity therefore has more than one possible purpose.

The child may be learning new words while also practising how to listen to an instruction, retrieve information, respond, correct and continue.

The same applies to mental maths.

The content provides the learning task.

The way the child takes part in the task provides an opportunity to practise habits that support the learning process.

From Foundational Knowledge to More Complex Learning

We are sometimes presented with a false choice:

Should we teach foundational knowledge or develop more complex skills?

In reality, the two can work together.

We need words to understand and express increasingly complex ideas.

We need numerical knowledge to approach increasingly advanced mathematical problems.

But memorising information without understanding it is not enough either.

We can think about the learning process in this way:

know → understand → practise → retrieve → use → apply in new situations

Foundational knowledge can provide tools for more complex learning.

The goal is therefore not to choose between knowledge and thinking.

It is to help children develop knowledge they can understand, retrieve and use in increasingly meaningful and complex ways.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Are Language and Maths Important?

Because they provide basic tools for communicating, understanding information, working with quantities and relationships, and solving many of the problems we face both at school and in everyday life.

They are not the only important areas of learning, but they provide tools that children use across many different subjects and situations.

Does Having a Broad Vocabulary Improve Reading Comprehension?

Vocabulary knowledge is one important factor in understanding a text, but it is not the only one.

Prior knowledge, the ability to interpret sentences and texts, comprehension strategies and other parts of reading also contribute.

A broad vocabulary can give the reader access to more of the meaning contained in a text, but reading comprehension involves bringing several capabilities together.

Can Learning Two Languages Delay a Child's Language Development?

Bilingualism by itself does not cause a language disorder or delay.

Bilingual children distribute their knowledge across their languages, so it is important to consider their language development broadly rather than assessing only one language.

If there are concerns about development, those concerns should be considered across the child's linguistic experience rather than assuming that exposure to two languages is itself the cause.

Is Mental Maths Enough to Learn Mathematics?

No.

Mental maths is a useful skill, but mathematics also requires understanding concepts, relationships and operations, reasoning and solving problems.

Mental maths should be understood as one tool within broader mathematical learning.

Becoming more fluent with some calculations can be useful because those calculations may become easier to access when solving more complex problems.

But speed alone is not the goal of mathematics.

What Should I Do if My Child Has Persistent Difficulties?

First, try to identify specifically where the difficulty occurs and speak with their teachers.

Ask what the child can already do, where the difficulty begins and what strategies have been tried.

If the difficulties persist or significantly affect learning or communication, it may be appropriate to seek a professional assessment to better understand what support the child needs.

The purpose is not simply to give the difficulty a label.

It is to understand it well enough to make better decisions about support.

Conclusion: Building the Tools for Continued Learning

Language and maths provide basic tools for learning and navigating everyday life.

Their development does not depend on a single activity, nor does it happen all at once.

It develops over time through experience, teaching, conversations, problem-solving and practice.

Adults can support this process by creating opportunities for children to use words, ideas, numbers and strategies in meaningful situations.

The goal is not simply for children to know more words or calculate more quickly.

It is for them to be able to use what they know to understand, communicate, reason and continue learning.

Foundational knowledge gives children more tools. Learning teaches them how to use those tools.