Believe it or not, parents are their child’s first teacher. Children are mirrors and try imitating everything we do. So, what can you do to implement some learning at home?
Try these 3 tips!
Read anything and everything. Reading boosts your child’s vocabulary and comprehension. Continuous reading (reading every night) can really help increase your child’s reading level. There are many different things you can read to your child. Here are a couple of
sources: newspaper, posters, flyers, billboards, food menus, closed captioning on the television, and any type of child appropriate book you may have on hand. It is also a good practice to take your child to the library. You can obtain a library card for free and borrow books from the library for free. Public libraries usually have children sections filled with toys and games that promote learning as well. Be sure to check out your local library to view their resources.
Your child also needs to see you reading for information and pleasure. As the true mirrors they are, children will pick up on this action quickly. This can help set the tone for their relationship with reading. Audio books are also an option. If your child likes to listen to things, try listening to books online.
Play games. As silly as it may sound, playing with children is the same as teaching them. Children learn though play and do not recognize it. Take some chalk and go outside on a sunny day to draw letters and numbers in squares. Then have your child to say the
letter and the sound as they jump on the square. You can even make it into a game of hopscotch. Another great way to learn through play is to sing songs. Songs are catchy so why not add learning into it? There are songs for counting 1-10, multiplication, the alphabet,nouns and pronouns, the planets, and so much more.
You can even make a game during bath time. This is one of my most favorite
times to implement learning into our day. My daughter loves to identify letters, letter sounds, numbers, colors, and objects in the bathtub. She thinks it is a fun game, but I’m also sneaking in foundational math and reading skills.
Talk to your child. Having conversations with your child can also boost their vocabulary and comprehension levels. When you use upper-level vocabulary words, make sure to explain what the word means to your child. Think about what your child enjoys doing and
try to build conversations around that. Also, encourage your child to use those words when speaking. My husband and I love to help our daughter identify objects while taking walks in the park and driving down the road. This is something is something so simple, but
also necessary and fun.
Parents are teachers. Learning is easy and fun. It does not have to be tedious at all. You don’t have to present a twenty-page PowerPoint to your child every night. All you need to do is change your perspective about learning. Our daughter loves to learn because my husband and I have positive attitudes toward learning and we make it fun for her. I hope you can take some of these tips and implement them into your day with child.
With love,
Kristen Tillman, M.Ed., NBCT
Love of Learning Academics, LLC
Serving grades 3-8 in reading intervention
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