Keeping learning in the family

Tara Hutchison
Posted 3/27/20

During this time of school closures, quarantine and a general unknown for the economy, one thing parents can have a say in is the development of their children.

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Keeping learning in the family

Posted

GOSHEN COUNTY – During this time of school closures, quarantine and a general unknown for the economy, one thing parents can have a say in is the development of their children.

With schools being shut down for an extended period of time and children’s activities at a standstill, there are still ways for parents to promote learning. This is not to say they have to have every minute of their day occupied by something strategically planned, but these activities can help give parents new to working from home some ideas to break up the chaos.

While these suggestions may seem like they’re going to take a lot of time away from working from home, the caveat is that if parents don’t normally have the opportunity to work from home, this is a great one to spend some time doing things as a family.

For parents who may normally have their children in daycare or school, there may be an overwhelming feeling of “how do I keep my kids learning?” Any age can benefit from starting plants from seeds and watching them grown. If you can start seeds in a plastic bag, everyone will be able to watch the roots take hold and watch it grow.

An activity that can be done for any age can be found at www.melscience.com. The site offers science kits that are shipped to your home for the family to create.

With an abundance of resources at the tips of our fingers, they just need to be explored.

In this article readers can find some ideas that have been compiled from the internet, myself and members of the community grouped into age ranges to fit any parent’s needs.

For Preschool Ages

Some schools have put together schoolwork ideas for the students, and there are apps and websites available such as ABC Mouse which focuses on learning outside of the classroom. www.abcmouse.com offers a 30-day free trial online.

There are also other websites that offer free learning for this age group. www.switcheroozoo.com, www.pbskids.org, www.reading.ecb.org, www.starfall.com, www.seussville.com, www.storylineonline.net, www.abcya.com and www.highlightskids.com. 

Some preschools may offer take-home worksheets for the students.

Kids in this age range do well with activities that are shorter and based on fun.

Scavenger hunts are a great way to give them a goal while being able to explore their surroundings. A scavenger hunt can be done inside or out depending on the weather.

If kids in this age group have the ability to make hopscotch grids, it would give them an opportunity to burn off some energy as well as work on coordination.

Preschool-aged kids can benefit from easy baking projects with their parents, like a box of brownies or an easy recipe of sugar cookies. As you make the goodies, talk about the different measurements and let them practice coordination by pouring the ingredients.

Spend some time letting them tell you a story that you write for them and share it with the family after a meal or make your own story, Mad-Libs style. Writing stories will help kids explore all of the creative thoughts in their heads.

Reading to this age can promote an interest in learning how to read. They also thrive on the time spent with their parents.

The Cincinnati and Denver Zoos have implemented a live feed on their Facebook pages to showcase different animals for kids to learn about. 

On Facebook, search for Play to Learn Preschool, and there are videos uploaded to help kids in this age group practice letter recognition and they offer other virtual classroom lessons.

Some may want to place an emphasis on letting their kids play for the majority of the time to just allow them to be as worry-free as possible at this time, but as parents we could join them in that as well. Having a dance party or a “karaoke contest” can be a fun way to do that – why not add a blanket fort to the mix to teach them about construction work?

For an age that probably still likes to break crayons apart just to do it, there is a solution. While up until now the act of breaking the crayons could be more of a frustration, try melting those crayons down and creating a new one to make Tie-Dye ones for the element of surprise on their next coloring adventure.

You could also give them some small responsibility like feeding the dog or watering plants.

If there are also some rocks that you have in the yard that don’t need to be there, send your preschooler out to pick some of them up and let them paint it later.

Also, they can benefit from using some things that you have laying around, let them gather them to practice counting. 

You can also find fun recipes for homemade play dough or slime.

Elementary 

Board and Card games are great for this age. Since these kids are starting to be able to read and write efficiently, a game of Go Fish or Uno can be a great way to spend some time as a family to practice reading as well as critical thinking. I wouldn’t recommend trying to take on a game of Monopoly, but matching games could help them have some fun while engaging their memory.

This age can also benefit from doing some baking projects as well. Try adding in some more multi-ingredient recipes and letting them try to do the measuring on their own. 

Scavenger Hunts and blanket forts can be done for this creative age too, just make them a little bit more difficult so they are fully engaged. Since these kids enjoy rearranging furniture anyway, you can use some masking tape to give them instruction through an obstacle course. Time it and let them try to beat their own time or their sibling’s time.

A game of musical chairs with the family could also help them work on their listening skills.

Children in this age group want to know how things work on a more intricate level, and can understand the intricacy a bit more, so science experiments are great for them. Have you ever seen what happens to the shell of an egg when it has been submerged in vinegar for a few hours? If you haven’t, try it with your kids and wait for a surprise.

These kids can also benefit from helping out around the house doing chores like laundry and dishes to learn about what it takes to take care of a house. They love being able to feel like they are helping, so hand them a dish towel to dry the dishes and talk them through why it’s necessary to use hot water to kill germs. This will give them a good basis to learn more about hygiene (which is a hot topic as of late).

For this growing mind, give them some easy math problems while you’re doing the dishes.

While parents of preschool ages may have to help write stories, they could instead give this age a time limit to write a story and then share it with the family later. This age would love to read a story to their parents.

This age could also enjoy melting crayons—just let them have a little more involvement with making the new crayons. Keep an eye on them while you’re at the stove, but they can see how heat can take something solid, make it a liquid, and solidify again. 

Middle School ages and up

Now can be a great time to build on all of the other skills mentioned. This age can still enjoy a scavenger hunt, but you may have to place a prize at the end. I’m talking maybe a $10 bill or something like that to make them want to do it. 

There’s also an activity that I really enjoy doing that doesn’t require being around people—Geocaching. For those of you who may not know what I’m talking about, there is an app you can download to your phone that people have made. During Geocaching, you can take a drive, or a walk, to a destination that others have found before and find a new spot. Some of them can be pretty difficult to find, so it can be an awesome adventure for anyone involved. This gets everyone out of the house and into some fresh air without having to be around other people to do it. I have also found some pretty cool areas that I wouldn’t have normally explored.

This age can really benefit from getting to learn how to change the oil or tires on the car. Doing this would be a great way to teach them skills they will need later in life and teach them responsibility for when they have their own to take care of. Did you know that Coca Cola can remove battery acid corrosion? 

If your family has an interest in constructive projects, take this time to teach your kids a trade such as building shelves. 

This age provides a great opportunity to take on helping out more around the house. Give them a freer rein in the kitchen and allow them to do a little of the baking or cooking for the family. Take some time to let them learn some recipes that the family likes and learn some new ones together. 

This age might not be as apt to want to read with their parents, but take the opportunity to ask if they want to start a mini book club in the house. Take on a couple of chapters for everyone to read and go back to talk about it later. This is something they may do in school for a Language Arts assignment, so they will still benefit from the opportunity to do it at home. Take turns picking out the book, and to increase their interest in the project, let them pick one. Yes, even if it something you wouldn’t normally want to read. 

Simple sewing projects can benefit for the beginner or if they have been sewing for a while, let them work on some projects that they might want to try out. 

During this time, it might be a great opportunity to teach your kids how the economy actually works. If you have a game of Monopoly around, use that money to start a store in the house. They can use monopoly money that they earn from chores you give them to buy extra snacks and drinks. This way they can learn how to work for money to spend on things that they want. This is a great way to help them understand some of the things they are seeing on the news in regard to what the Stock Market and overall Economy do to adjust to the ever-changing times.