Hands-On Learning At Home
Teaching and learning at home is the way of the future … for at least the next several weeks. Whether you’re trying to balance a full-time remote workload or staying home full-time with your children, we could all use a little extra support these days.
Even if you don’t have an advanced degree in teaching, you can still facilitate learning opportunities for your child at home. Hands-on learning activities are engaging for your child (and you, too!). This type of learning is especially relevant for children with learning differences, sensory challenges, and behavioral needs.
Here are 4 big ways to get hands-on experiences at home.
Get Outside
Springtime is here and the weather is beckoning us to come outside. As of the date of this posting, the CDC has not advised against playing in your backyard or reading on your porch. If your family is healthy, prioritize time outside every day. There is copious research documenting the positive effects of outdoor play on child learning and development*.
Playing outside increases a child’s executive functioning skills like problem-solving, multitasking, judgment, planning, and prioritizing
Vitamin D exposure positively impacts our immune system and bone development
Outdoor play gives children the chance to exercise their creative muscles and create their own fun
Quick & Easy Outdoor Play Ideas
Make ‘nature soup’ by scooping water from a rain puddle into a container and adding flower petals and bugs
Collect twigs to make a house for fairies
Gather several rocks, write attributes of each rock (small vs large, smooth vs rough, grey vs black), classify rocks
Have your older child learn to mow your lawn and weed
Do yoga outside
Read on the porch
You might not be able to score your child’s performance on a rubric or finish the day with clear, quantitative data, but outdoor experiences count as real learning.
In the Kitchen
Math in the kitchen can be fun! Ask elementary students to read the steps of a recipe and measure out the ingredients using measuring cups. Have middle or high school students try a new recipe that uses grams instead of ounces or vice versa and watch how they problem-solve. For advanced learners, ask them to research a new recipe that the whole family will enjoy, make a list of the ingredients, estimate a budget, online-shop for the ingredients, and then cook the dish. You will be amazed at how proud your son or daughter will feel after accomplishing such a task!
On the News
It’s important to stay informed of what’s happening with COVID-19 developments as well as other aspects of our national and local life. Watch the evening news or listen to a 15-minute segment of public radio, and then discuss what you’ve seen or heard at dinner. Be sensitive to information overload, especially for younger children. Many of the big networks have a site devoted to news for students. Check out NBC Learn, Time for Kids, and Smithsonian: Tween Tribune.
Chores
Teachers understand that they are preparing their students for jobs that don’t yet exist. Learning is not so much about knowing how to use a math formula as it is about having the grit to problem solve and persevere when you get stuck in the math problem. These intangible skills are hard to teach but invaluable to a child’s future. Know what helps build grit and perseverance?
Doing hard things
Being allowed to fail, and then being encouraged to keep trying
Pursuing a goal
Including chores in your child’s daily or weekly routine is not only good for the family, it’s good for her character. When a child is contributing in real, tangible ways to the good of the family, he feels needed and important. So enforce that rule about finishing the dishes before screen time. He is learning life lessons and building healthy habits.
Be creative with chores for your older children. There are so many life skill opportunities! Here are a few:
Create a meal plan for lunches for the week in a Google Excel sheet and share it with parents. Fill Instacart or Clicklist order with necessary ingredients and total expenses.
Have them schedule their next checkup at the dentist or the doctor.
Ask your teenage son to research three companies who can service your HVAC now that you’re about to turn on the A/C. Actually have him call and talk to the representative, get a quote, and ask about service agreements.
Assign your middle school daughter to make a PowerPoint presentation for her grandmother’s birthday.