Learning Moments Tips
Read these 4 Learning Moments Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Child Education tips and hundreds of other topics.
Cleanup=Organization
Yes, you just want the livingroom cleaned before dinner, but what are our children learning when they "clean up"?
For starters, they are learning responsibility. They put the toys out therefore they need to put them away. They will eventually learn that if they put their toys away, they'll be able to find them again easily when they want them.
When there are lots of shelves, cubbies, buckets, and boxes for a child's toys, he also learns the math skills of sorting, association, alike/different, sets, and order: all the musical instruments go in the same bucket, all the dress-up clothes go in the same box, games stack on one shelf while books stack on another.
So the next step might be how to make it fun. Make a game out of it. "Can you pick up only the yellow blocks? And I'll pick up the red blocks." "Will you pick up the cars while I pick up the trains?" Give your child a choice, but not a yes/no choice: "Would you like to pick up the stuffed animals first or the books?"
What are Learning Moments?
Learning Moments are all those opportunities during the day, that, if noticed can provide valuable fun and learning experiences for you and your children.
Make a game out of clean-up time.
Talk about electricity while changing a lightbulb.
Examine the "science" of cooking--what happens when you add baking soda to a recipe? (or what if you forget to add it?)
These everyday occurrences, if exploited, will give you and your children some fun knowledge and a special bond of shared memories.
Duckpond Science
Turn your next visit to the duckpond into a fun learning experience.
*Young children will be amazed to notice all the different colored ducks. Count them. Sort them (how many white? how many with green heads? how many brown?)
*As you walk through the park, gather different types of leaves and try to guess which trees they came from.
*Count how many different types of animals you encounter during your walk (squirrels, ducks, geese, other birds, chipmunks)
*Older kids may enjoy taking a small water sample home and looking at it under a microscope or magnifying glass.
Be creative, use your imagination!
Laundry Learning Time
Involve your young children in folding the laundry.
"What?" you say, I'd never get anything done!
Have your preschoolers:
*sort the socks-by size, by color, by pattern.
*count the socks-is there an even or odd number? Are there all pairs? or are some missing?
Not only will your children learn some great pre-reading and pre-math skills, but you'll have all the socks sorted and ready to be folded!
| Guru Spotlight |
| Jennifer Mathes, Ph.D. |
