How to Help Your P3 Child Tackle Science as a New Subject

Discover how you can help your child tackle and appreciate P3 Science as a new subject. Read our full article for complete tips you can follow as a parent!

One of the biggest changes to your child’s educational programme happens at Primary 3: the introduction of Science as a subject! While this can be an exciting time, different children have different reactions to it. 

If your child is a little nervous about this new subject, don’t despair – it’s a perfectly normal response. Fortunately for you, there are also things you can do to make adapting to P3 Science easier for your child. 

Today, we’ll go over those things. Our tips will cover both academic and non-academic steps that can help your child acclimate to this new area of their studies.

1. Nurture their interest in science

One of the best ways to help children feel less apprehensive about this new subject is to make it something they can look forward to. In other words, make it something they’re actually interested in!

There are a lot of ways to do this. For example, you can try setting up little science experiments for them. From the classic magnifying-glass-and-paper experiment to bubble blowing, these experiments are superb opportunities for hands-on scientific experiences!

Aside from that, you can make science more relatable for your child by showing them how ideas from it apply to their daily lives. Try going over P3 Science topics and seeing how to bring up facts or ideas from them at home.

2. Use different resources to boost their comprehension

Sometimes, new P3 Science topics can be just a touch too abstract for nine-year-olds to understand quickly. And that’s fine! It just means you need to explore different ways of explaining those topics.

If your child isn’t grasping a concept with simple text descriptions, for instance, try illustrations. You can even go a step further and try full-on videos.

Topics like biological systems are perfect for this sort of thing. Videos and images really bring them to life in ways that children understand better.

Try SciShow Kids for a start. If your child is interested in animals, you can also try Nat Geo Kids! It’s a good idea to watch these with your child, by the way. That way, you can bond with them while also having a reference if they end up having more questions.

3. Familiarise yourself with their syllabus

If you went with our two previous tips, chances are good that you’ve already done this! The point of getting to know your child’s syllabus is to ensure you can support them at home if they need more academic help.

If you’d like, you can view the full P3 Science syllabus here with breakdown of themes and takeaways. You’ll also find a list of science skills that your child needs to develop, which will be handy when preparing for P3 Science test papers!

By getting to know these yourself, you can guide your child and even help answer questions they may have in the subject.

4. Get additional help to build key skills and knowledge

Science is one of those subjects where children can improve by building skills that go well beyond the classroom. Scientific skills like inference, investigation, observation, and conclusion are all competencies that can be built outside of school, for example.

You can obviously help your child build these skills even at home. Knowing how to apply them with the right knowledge to satisfy key academic requirements – say, the FRQs (free-response questions) common in P3 Science test papers – is another matter, however.

Sometimes, it can be challenging for parents to figure out how to teach children to apply such skills to things like that. Luckily, you can overcome this challenge by calling in professional help.

For example, at Aspire Hub, we have tutors specially trained to guide children in applying themselves to challenges like these. Our small group programmes at the P3 level focus on knowledgeand foundation building in such skills, for example, within the academic context.

By getting professional help of this type, you can have experts share the load of guiding your child through this new subject, especially as it’s applied to things like exams and assessments.

5. Be supportive as they adjust to this new change

Finally, we come to this: simply offer your support to your child, no matter how they may struggle with the new subject.

A new subject at school can be a trial. Aside from the novelty itself, it also means a higher workload—more to learn and more to work on for the learner.

Be sympathetic to that while staying positive. Encourage your child through every challenge and praise their efforts consistently to help build their confidence.

Along with the positive reinforcement, you can try bolstering them by simplifying their tasks in different ways. Help them put together a new study schedule, for example, that accounts for this new subject. Or, as mentioned earlier, get them professional assistance if necessary.

Your support can make a big difference in how your child deals with this new subject, so be generous with it!

Get more help on your child’s P3 Science journey

The tips above should help you and your little learner embark on a smoother journey in P3 Science. That being said, don’t be afraid to contact us if you find that you need more direct assistance or support.

At Aspire Hub, we have tutors who can not pnly guide your child through this new subject but even stoke their interest in it. Our tutors are also famed for their motivational approaches, which can further smooth your child’s experience.

To learn more, reach out to us today and enquire about our science programmes. You can also try reading our other articles on this blog to get more ideas on how to help your child with their schooling.

One of the biggest changes to your child’s educational programme happens at Primary 3: the introduction of Science as a subject! While this can be an exciting time, different children have different reactions to it. 

If your child is a little nervous about this new subject, don’t despair – it’s a perfectly normal response. Fortunately for you, there are also things you can do to make adapting to P3 Science easier for your child. 

Today, we’ll go over those things. Our tips will cover both academic and non-academic steps that can help your child acclimate to this new area of their studies.

1. Nurture their interest in science

One of the best ways to help children feel less apprehensive about this new subject is to make it something they can look forward to. In other words, make it something they’re actually interested in!

There are a lot of ways to do this. For example, you can try setting up little science experiments for them. From the classic magnifying-glass-and-paper experiment to bubble blowing, these experiments are superb opportunities for hands-on scientific experiences!

Aside from that, you can make science more relatable for your child by showing them how ideas from it apply to their daily lives. Try going over P3 Science topics and seeing how to bring up facts or ideas from them at home.

2. Use different resources to boost their comprehension

Sometimes, new P3 Science topics can be just a touch too abstract for nine-year-olds to understand quickly. And that’s fine! It just means you need to explore different ways of explaining those topics.

If your child isn’t grasping a concept with simple text descriptions, for instance, try illustrations. You can even go a step further and try full-on videos.

Topics like biological systems are perfect for this sort of thing. Videos and images really bring them to life in ways that children understand better.

Try SciShow Kids for a start. If your child is interested in animals, you can also try Nat Geo Kids! It’s a good idea to watch these with your child, by the way. That way, you can bond with them while also having a reference if they end up having more questions.

3. Familiarise yourself with their syllabus

If you went with our two previous tips, chances are good that you’ve already done this! The point of getting to know your child’s syllabus is to ensure you can support them at home if they need more academic help.

If you’d like, you can view the full P3 Science syllabus here with breakdown of themes and takeaways. You’ll also find a list of science skills that your child needs to develop, which will be handy when preparing for P3 Science test papers!

By getting to know these yourself, you can guide your child and even help answer questions they may have in the subject.

4. Get additional help to build key skills and knowledge

Science is one of those subjects where children can improve by building skills that go well beyond the classroom. Scientific skills like inference, investigation, observation, and conclusion are all competencies that can be built outside of school, for example.

You can obviously help your child build these skills even at home. Knowing how to apply them with the right knowledge to satisfy key academic requirements – say, the FRQs (free-response questions) common in P3 Science test papers – is another matter, however.

Sometimes, it can be challenging for parents to figure out how to teach children to apply such skills to things like that. Luckily, you can overcome this challenge by calling in professional help.

For example, at Aspire Hub, we have tutors specially trained to guide children in applying themselves to challenges like these. Our small group programmes at the P3 level focus on knowledgeand foundation building in such skills, for example, within the academic context.

By getting professional help of this type, you can have experts share the load of guiding your child through this new subject, especially as it’s applied to things like exams and assessments.

5. Be supportive as they adjust to this new change

Finally, we come to this: simply offer your support to your child, no matter how they may struggle with the new subject.

A new subject at school can be a trial. Aside from the novelty itself, it also means a higher workload—more to learn and more to work on for the learner.

Be sympathetic to that while staying positive. Encourage your child through every challenge and praise their efforts consistently to help build their confidence.

Along with the positive reinforcement, you can try bolstering them by simplifying their tasks in different ways. Help them put together a new study schedule, for example, that accounts for this new subject. Or, as mentioned earlier, get them professional assistance if necessary.

Your support can make a big difference in how your child deals with this new subject, so be generous with it!

Get more help on your child’s P3 Science journey

The tips above should help you and your little learner embark on a smoother journey in P3 Science. That being said, don’t be afraid to contact us if you find that you need more direct assistance or support.

At Aspire Hub, we have tutors who can not pnly guide your child through this new subject but even stoke their interest in it. Our tutors are also famed for their motivational approaches, which can further smooth your child’s experience.

To learn more, reach out to us today and enquire about our science programmes. You can also try reading our other articles on this blog to get more ideas on how to help your child with their schooling.