Teaching your child about World War II or how to do double digit addition is important. But those are limited facts and skills. Teaching your child to love learning offers them a lifetime of discovery, far outside the classroom.
Here are 18 easy ways to foster a love of learning in the midst of everyday life.
Read to them
Reading not only has
physical and
emotional benefits. There is concrete evidence that it
helps brain development and academic growth as well. With so much possibility, reading is the perfect way to help kids fall in love with learning.
Let them see you read
While reading to your children has many benefits, letting them see you read shows kids that reading is forever. It’s not just for babies. It’s not just for school. Read in front of them (and Facebook doesn’t count).
Be outdoors
Time outside provides opportunities for fine and gross motor development, risk-taking, and exploring,
all of which prove beneficial to learning. There is also a direct correlation between time outside and
reduction of stress, confidence building, and exposure to different stimuli.
Sing, play, and listen to music
The
brain benefits of music are numerous. Plus, music has the ability to bring joy, relaxation, and express ideas.
Relax
True learning goes far beyond grades in a classroom. Show them you believe that by spending time with your kids doing nothing much in particular except enjoying each other’s company.
Embrace what they love
Give kids the opportunity to explore the things they love. If your child is into trains right now, find books about trains, build a train, draw a train, watch trains at the train station. Allow your child to guide their learning through their passions.
Talk about learning
Let them know when you discover something new. “Wow, I never knew that popcorn could burn so quickly. I wonder why?” Kids need to see that we are always learning, even in the ordinary.
Ask questions
I know it feels like all we do is answer questions. So start asking. “How did that bird know I just put birdseed out?” or “Why are there police officers guarding the construction workers?” Questions are the foundation of learning.
Give them money
I know it can be painfully slow, but letting them pay at the store and count change is real life learning. If you use plastic for all your payments, talk about how that works, too.
Wonder
Encourage your children to think freely about things, without boundaries. Some of the best ideas started with wild wondering!
Play
School keeps kids busy learning good things. But there is
not a lot of room for play in a regular day. Giving kids the opportunity to play with no agenda allows them to be
better thinkers.
Ask random math questions
Math facts are foundational for good mental math, but kids don’t always want more schoolwork. Make math facts fun by asking them when you’re doing something else, like driving, hiking, or making dinner. Make it easy, fun, and short.
Keep reading picture books
Even as kids get older, picture books can provide unique opportunities for learning. Increased connection with the text, vocabulary, and a more sensory approach to reading keeps the
experience enjoyable and beneficial.
Go places
Visit the sea or a mountain. Spend time at the free art museum or check out the historical house in town. Experiences make learning part of life and create schema, a personal framework for learning.
Create
Giving kids the chance to create through art, music, science, or any imaginative play helps them
develop better thinking skills that translate far outside the classroom.
Enlist help
Helping with adult tasks gives kids new skills and shows them the need to learn throughout life. Cooking, taking pictures, changing the oil, and doing laundry all show kids that there is always something new they can do.
Fail
Often. Let them see that failure is part of learning. Recognizing failure as part of the learning process rather than an end to learning shows kids to keep going. Demonstrate that it’s okay, even good, to fail because it’s all part of the process.
Did I mention read?
It’s one of the simplest things you can do with endless possibilities. Read to learn, for fun, and for life.
