How to Teach — Parent & Teacher Guides
Plain-English guides on how to teach phonics, maths, handwriting, telling time and everything in between. No fluff. Written by people who actually teach kids, with every recommended worksheet and game linked straight through.
81 topics✓ No paywall✓ Linked worksheets & games
📖Literacy(21)
Literacy
How to Teach Phonics at Home
A plain-English guide to teaching phonics at home: which letter sounds to start with, how to blend, and when to move on from CVC words to digraphs.
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Literacy
How to Teach the Alphabet (Sounds Before Names)
Teach the alphabet the modern way: letter sounds before letter names, capitals before lower case, and the 's, a, t, p, i, n' order first for early reading.
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Literacy
How to Teach Sight Words (And Which Ones First)
Teach sight words the efficient way: start with the 40 highest-frequency words, use flash cards for 5 minutes daily, and mix in real reading.
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Literacy
How to Teach a Child to Read
The research-backed path from alphabet to fluent reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, fluency, and comprehension — in the right order.
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Literacy
How to Teach Writing to Young Kids
A realistic path from pre-writing scribbles to full sentences: pencil grip, letter formation, sound-spelling, and finally composition.
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Literacy
How to Teach Handwriting (Without Turning It Into a Battle)
A teacher's guide to teaching handwriting: tripod grip, the correct letter formation order, and how to fix a messy writer in a week.
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Literacy
How to Teach Spelling That Actually Sticks
Teach spelling through patterns, not rote lists. Phonics-first, then spelling rules, then irregular words — with free worksheets and games.
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Literacy
How to Teach Rhyming (And Why It Matters)
Rhyming is a top predictor of early reading success. Teach it with nursery rhymes, then word families, then free rhyme generation.
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Literacy
How to Teach a Child to Write Their Name
Teach name writing the correct way: capital first letter, lower case rest, and letter formation order that scales to all future handwriting.
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Literacy
How to Teach Reading Comprehension
Comprehension is not automatic after decoding. Teach it with targeted questions, retelling, and predicting — the three strategies that work.
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Literacy
How to Teach Vocabulary to Kids
Vocabulary is built from reading aloud and from everyday conversation. Flashcards are a last resort, not a first.
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Literacy
How to Teach Sentence Structure to Kids
Sentence structure is the scaffolding of writing. Teach capitals and full stops first, then subject-verb-object, then expansion.
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Literacy
How to Teach Reading to a 5 Year Old
A practical, no-nonsense plan for teaching a 5-year-old to read: phonics order, sight words, and the right books to start with.
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Literacy
Reading Comprehension Strategies for Kids
Strong readers use five specific strategies: predict, question, clarify, summarise, visualise. Teach each one explicitly and comprehension improves.
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Literacy
How to Teach Spelling Rules
English spelling is patternable, not chaotic. Here are the rules to teach and the ones to skip entirely.
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Literacy
How to Teach Paragraph Writing
A paragraph is a topic sentence plus supporting sentences. Teach it with that structure and writing quality jumps overnight.
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Literacy
How to Teach Story Writing to Kids
Story writing needs structure before creativity. Teach the beginning-middle-end shape first, then add character and voice.
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Literacy
How to Teach Descriptive Writing
Descriptive writing is the 'show don't tell' skill. Teach it with sensory detail prompts, not adjective lists.
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Literacy
Reading Strategies for Kids — What Good Readers Do
Strong readers use five habits: read daily, choose their own books, reread favourites, ask questions, and talk about stories.
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Literacy
Writing Prompts for Kids — Unsticking the Blank Page
The blank page is the hardest part of writing. Here are the prompts that unstick primary kids — pictures, first lines, and 'what if' questions.
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Literacy
How to Raise a Reader — The Habits That Matter
Raising a reader is mostly about environment, not instruction. Books in easy reach, reading aloud daily, and letting them choose.
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🔢Maths(25)
Maths
How to Teach Multiplication (Without Tears)
A teacher-tested guide to teaching multiplication: start with arrays, move through skip counting, and only drill the times tables once the concept is solid.
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Maths
How to Teach Addition to Young Children
A step-by-step guide to teaching addition, from using fingers and manipulatives to mental math strategies like doubles, near doubles, and making 10.
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Maths
How to Teach Subtraction (The Part Everyone Skips)
The parent-friendly guide to teaching subtraction: why 'take away' isn't enough, how to teach counting back, and when to introduce borrowing.
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Maths
How to Teach Division (Without Long Division Trauma)
A friendly guide to teaching division: start with fair sharing, move through grouping, and delay long division until multiplication facts are solid.
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Maths
How to Teach Fractions Without the Meltdown
Teach fractions the way that actually works: pizzas before parts, halves before quarters, and equivalence before adding. No panic required.
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Maths
How to Teach Kids to Tell the Time
Teach telling time the sensible way: o'clock first, then half past, quarter past, and quarter to. Analogue first, digital second. Clear sequence inside.
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Maths
How to Teach Kids About Money
A practical guide to teaching kids money skills: coin recognition, making change, saving, and the difference between wants and needs.
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Maths
How to Teach Counting to Toddlers
Teach counting the right way: rote counting to 10, then one-to-one correspondence, then cardinal understanding, then skip counting.
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Maths
How to Teach Shapes to Toddlers
Teach 2D shapes in the right order: circles first, then squares, triangles, and rectangles. Move to 3D only once 2D names are solid.
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Maths
How to Teach Patterns to Preschoolers
Patterns are the foundation of algebra. Teach them the right way: AB patterns first, then ABB, ABC, and growing patterns.
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Maths
How to Teach Place Value So It Actually Sticks
Place value is the hinge of primary maths. Teach it with base-10 blocks first, then expanded form, then the column method.
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Maths
How to Teach Number Recognition
Number recognition is three skills: seeing the symbol, knowing the word, and matching it to a quantity. Here's how to teach all three.
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Maths
How to Teach Kindergarten Math at Home
A complete kindergarten math curriculum scope: counting, number recognition, shapes, patterns, and simple addition. Build it in order, week by week.
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Maths
How to Teach Preschool Math
Preschool maths is 90% play. Counting games, shape hunts, patterns with snacks, and why you shouldn't use worksheets with a three-year-old.
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Maths
How to Teach More, Less, and Equal
The concepts of more, less, and equal underpin all later maths comparison. Teach them with real objects, not abstract symbols.
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Maths
How to Teach a Child to Read a Clock
The foolproof sequence for teaching clock reading: o'clock, half past, quarter past, quarter to, then five-minute intervals.
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Maths
How to Teach Measurement to Kids
Teach measurement the concrete way: non-standard units first (hand spans, footsteps), then centimetres and grams, then conversion.
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Maths
How to Teach a Child to Tell Time
A week-by-week plan to teach clock reading: start with o'clock, add half past, then quarter past, then quarter to, then five-minute intervals.
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Maths
How to Teach Word Problems (Without the Meltdown)
Word problems stump kids who can do the arithmetic. Teach them the CUBES method, highlight the operation, and use drawings to visualise.
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Maths
How to Teach a Child to Read an Analog Clock
Analog clock teaching doesn't have to be painful. O'clock first, moveable hands, daily 5-minute practice, and a clear sequence that works.
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Maths
How to Teach Ordinal Numbers
Ordinal numbers trip up more children than cardinal numbers. Use races, queues, and the 'who came first' question to make them stick.
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Maths
How to Teach Long Division (Without Tears)
Long division is where fourth-grade maths goes wrong for half the class. Teach it with the 'Dad Mother Sister Brother' mnemonic and chunking first.
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Maths
How to Teach Negative Numbers
Negative numbers click when you use thermometers, lifts and football scores — not abstract number lines. A Year 4 to 6 teaching guide.
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Maths
How to Teach a Child to Read an Analog Clock
Analog clock teaching follows a strict sequence: o'clock, half past, quarter past, quarter to, and finally minutes. Here's how to pace it.
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Maths
How to Teach Money Skills to Kids
Teaching money skills is easiest with real money and real decisions. Start with pocket money, build to saving, and cover budgeting by age 10.
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🌍The World(10)
The World
How to Teach the Days of the Week
Teach days of the week through routines and songs rather than rote recital. Calendar practice with practical anchors that stick.
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The World
How to Teach Science at Home
Science at home starts with 'I wonder…' questions and cheap kitchen experiments. A curriculum-free approach that builds real scientific thinking.
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The World
How to Teach Geography to Kids
Geography for kids: start with your own street, expand to your town, country, continent, world. Maps, globes, and stories about places.
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The World
How to Teach the Solar System to Kids
Teach the solar system with the wow factor intact: learn the planets, grasp the scale, and understand that space is mostly empty.
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The World
How to Teach Kids About Animals
Go beyond 'the cow says moo': teach classification, habitats, diet, and why animals look the way they do. A structured approach for curious kids.
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The World
How to Teach Kids About Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs are education gold: real science, names children willingly memorise, and a gateway to biology, geology, and history.
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The World
How to Teach Art to Kids
Art for kids is about the process, not the outcome. Open-ended materials, zero judgment, and genuine exposure to real artists.
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The World
How to Teach Coding to Kids
Coding for kids starts unplugged: instructions, sequences, and logic games. Then Scratch. Then Python. A realistic path from age 5 to 12.
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The World
How to Teach Months of the Year
Months are harder than days for kids because they're longer than a week. Use birthdays, seasons, and the 'Knuckles' trick to make them stick.
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The World
How to Teach the Seasons to Kids
Teach the seasons through direct observation of the world around your child. Trees, clothes, weather — then the names and the causes.
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💙Life Skills(7)
Life Skills
How to Teach Kids to Focus
A realistic guide to building a child's attention span, from short timed tasks to environmental tweaks — without screens or guilt trips.
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Life Skills
How to Teach Problem Solving to Kids
Teach your child to think through problems instead of asking for the answer. The 'I do, we do, you do' method with practical examples.
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Life Skills
How to Teach Kids to Name Their Emotions
Children who can name their feelings regulate them better. A parent's guide to emotional vocabulary, from 'happy' and 'sad' to 'frustrated' and 'overwhelmed'.
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Life Skills
How to Teach Toddlers to Share (Without Forcing It)
Forced sharing doesn't work. Here's what actually builds generous kids: taking turns with a timer, protecting their current toy, and modelling.
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Life Skills
How to Teach a Child Patience
Patience is a skill, not a personality. Build it with waiting games, visible timers, and delayed-reward practice that's age-appropriate.
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Life Skills
How to Teach a Shy Child
Shy kids don't need to become extroverts. They need low-pressure entry points, pre-warnings before social situations, and time to warm up.
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Life Skills
How to Teach Kids to Listen
The listening fix isn't louder instructions — it's shorter ones, eye contact, and the 'say it back' technique. A calm parent's guide.
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🚲Physical Skills(2)
Physical Skills
How to Teach a Child to Ride a Bike
The balance bike method: no stabilisers, no running behind holding the seat, no tears. Most children learn in a single afternoon.
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Physical Skills
How to Teach a Child to Swim
Teach swimming the right way: water confidence, submersion, floating, kicking, then strokes. A realistic timeline for parents without lessons.
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📘General(16)
General
How to Teach Colours to Toddlers
Teach colours the way toddlers actually learn them: start with red, blue, yellow, then introduce the rest once the first three are reliable.
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General
How to Teach Regrouping (Borrowing and Carrying)
Regrouping is where most Year 2 maths wobbles start. Teach it with base-ten blocks, not tricks — here's the sequence that actually works.
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General
How to Teach Decimals — From Money to Place Value
Decimals are easier to teach than fractions if you start with money. Here's the sequence from £0.50 to hundredths and thousandths.
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General
How to Teach Percentages — Real-World First
Percentages are just hundredths in disguise. Teach with sale prices and pie charts first, algorithms second. Grade 4 to Grade 6.
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General
How to Teach Graphs to Kids
Teach graphs with real data from home — favourite fruits, daily weather, family ages. The real data beats any worksheet.
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General
How to Teach Data Handling to Primary Kids
Data handling is the applied side of primary maths. Teach through household surveys — favourite snacks, daily weather, shoe sizes.
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General
How to Teach Probability to Kids
Probability at primary is about words like 'likely', 'unlikely' and 'certain'. Use coins and dice to build intuition before the fractions come in.
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General
How to Teach Summarising to Kids
Summarising is the comprehension skill that reveals whether a child actually understood the passage. Here's how to teach it step by step.
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General
How to Teach Inference in Reading
Inference is the skill of reading between the lines. Teach it with picture prompts first, then short text, then full passages.
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General
How to Teach Poetry to Kids
Poetry teaching starts with reading it aloud, not analysing it. Kids who hear poetry first write better poems when asked to.
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General
How to Teach Grammar to Kids
Grammar teaching works best when you teach sentence patterns before terminology. Here's the sequence that actually sticks.
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General
How to Teach a Picky Eater
Picky eating is almost always developmental, not behavioural. Here's how to expand the plate without turning dinner into a battleground.
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General
How to Teach a Kid to Tie Their Shoes
Tying shoelaces takes ten minutes to explain and two weeks to practise. Use the bunny ears method — it's simpler than the loop method.
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General
Teaching Kids Responsibility
Kids learn responsibility through age-appropriate chores, genuine ownership of outcomes, and natural consequences — not lectures.
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General
Teaching Kids Resilience
Resilience is built through small, supported struggles. Don't rescue too fast. Let kids fail safely and help them process what happened.
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General
How to Teach a Growth Mindset to Kids
Growth mindset is built through the words you use, not through lectures. Praise effort and strategy instead of 'being smart'.
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Guides that lead to the stuff your child actually needs
Every guide on this page links directly to the free worksheets and games that support it. No affiliate clutter, no upsells — just teaching advice and the tools to act on it. If you want to jump straight to the tools instead, try our worksheet library, our free educational games, or our age-based activity hubs.