Whether one takes credence in nature or nurture, it is undeniable that a child’s kin are their primary source of education during formative years. This allows parents to significantly impact their progeny’s future, by assigning them personal schedules (time on computers and television) and study timetables alike.
By aiding a child’s learning at home, one embellishes and strengthens the education received at school. Indulging in fun didactic activities also fuels an interest in learning. In older children or teenagers, this can mean affixing achievable aims in school and discussing further education and careers as a family unit.
Encouraging activities in and outside of school which improve language, social and lateral thinking abilities is advised.
The following are some examples of exercises that parents can necessitate inside the home:
Reading – children select books from school or a library to read from everyday, enlisting aid from a parent to enhance their literacy skills
Portable educational packs – packets (which can be made at home or with teacher’s help) that hone on a particular aptitude, containing instructions and materials for each exercise
Educational endorsers – A plan for an exercise is distributed to the child each week and parents use apparatus around the home to aid teaching, by including an assessment card the parent can ascertain weaknesses and work on strengthening those areas
Visiting libraries– not only are they excellent for literature but many libraries lend audio books, DVDs, educational games and toys
Synergistic homework – by collaborating with parents or family friends, children become more proficient in articulation and exchanging ideas, allowing them to promote their own views as well as teaching them the value of listening to others.
To carry out these exercises effectively it is important to inform children of the motivations behind them and outline the types of activities involved. One facilitates the execution the agenda by getting the chile excited about learning. It is also important to keep teachers involved to inspire activities, discuss areas for improvement and consider solutions.
By combining exercises with play or making them part of the child’s schedule, (for example during bath times) habits are established which make learning an occurrence throughout the day. Include the whole family in homework, perhaps over dinner, in order to promote free-flowing ideas on educational topics.
If a child seems more interested with the Internet than picking up a book then there are ways to incorporate learning into these experiences, for example downloading books digitally onto portable gadgets or introducing them to educational online games. By setting goals and rewarding them on completion, with praise or something as simple as a trip to the park, children strive harder to grasp concepts or retain information.
Our fondest memories during childhood usually involve play, so by making play an educational one and spending time with children significantly improves their skills. Other things parents can do are play vocabulary word searches and cross-words, print out maps of countries and let them color and label them, buy a model of the human anatomy with removable parts to pore over. These are just some ideas to kick-start a higher level of involvement with your child’s education and pave a brighter future.
