Incorporating Learning Into Family Events
Ensuring that your children are having enriching experiences is something that stays on the minds of many parents.
Ensuring that your children are having enriching experiences is something that stays on the minds of many parents. We want to ensure that we are raising well rounded individuals. And one way to ensure that they are well rounded is to expose them to a variety of experiences.
Of course it isn’t important that you incorporate learning into every activity however often times parents are looking for fun ways to enrich their child’s learning outside of school. So if you are one of those parents here are a few ideas for you.
Consider your family traditions.
Consider ways that you can incorporate learning into your family traditions that already exist. If you have activities that are aligned to your religion, background or just overall traditions think of ways that you can incorporate ways for your child to learn as you celebrate. Does your child know the history of your tradition? Do they understand why you all participate in that tradition? If not, this is a perfect time to have your child do some research to determine the background of your family traditions. There is also an opportunity for your child to present their research to your entire family while you all are gathered. This will make the elders in your family especially happy to know that the younger generations are being educated on the family traditions and also that they can articulate them to the family.
Think about the preparations for family gatherings.
You can incorporate mathematics into the preparation and planning that it takes for the gathering. Have your child sit down with you and plan a budget for gifts or decorations. Have your child help you make the list to prepare the holiday meals. They can also help you set up a budget for the meal and help you to shop for all of the items that you need. Not only does this help them help with their mathematics skills but it also helps them realize just how much items cost. It is a real life lesson in home economics. If your child is younger, you can help them practice their handwriting by just having them write your list of you. This will help them also with their spelling.
Having time to explore.
Usually with the time for family events comes some time off from work and school. This is a great time for you to explore new things with your children, whether that is going to a museum to see a new exhibit or whether that means going on a hike to explore nature. This is a good time to do the kinds of things that your children are interested in. If they say that they don’t have any interests, this is a time to take them to different places and events; they may find something that interests them. I usually look online for family events or events that cater to children and attend those that are of interest to at least one of us.
Even though learning isn’t always necessary for every moment of a child’s life, it is fun to incorporate learning in a new way. Often times kids don’t even realize that they are learning when the learning is incorporated seamlessly into events or daily life.