When Opportunity Knocks

Over the next few days have a think about the little things you do with your kids that have an impact on their learning. While they are getting ready for school are they reading, counting or learning times and days? On the way home from school in the car are they singing little tunes to help them remember? During dinner time are they practicing their maths from your recipes or they glued to the tv? At bed time, on the weekend, in the car, at the shops, in the bathroom, on a walk....there are learning opportunities everywhere you look! Get your kids to help you run you errands and involve them in the process, make the boring things in life interesting by turning them into games and spend time being together having fun!

Here are some great ideas to get you started:

READING

·     Send notes to your children. Get them to send them back. Use sticky notes on the fridge. Or make a letterbox from a tissue box or milk carton.

·     Plan a special place & time in your house just for reading. This is not for their homework reading; this is quality time together for sharing exciting stories. Perhaps a cubby house, out in the garden, a beanbag in the corner, or make a special place from blankets and cushions.

·     Visit the library as a family. Most libraries are free to join and have a wealth of resources for everyone! History, cooking, fiction, medical, self help, automotive, building, CDs, DVDs, magazines and so much more. Libraries usually also have a variety of free activities for all ages like pre-schoolers story time, school holiday programs, poetry readings, community groups for special interests. Head out to your local library for a free fun filled afternoon with the kids.

·     Get your kids to to help you write the grocery list. It will encourage their spelling and hand writing.

·     Have your children write letters or emails to family members. Grandparents will absolutely LOVE it and other family members or close friends might enjoy it too. Handwriting will help them to improve this skill, but email can be just as effective in their spelling and grammar. The kids will then need to brush up on their reading when they receive responses!

·     Next time you have a special occassion coming up ask your kids to write on your greeting cards. Have them write out your Christmas Cards, fill in cards for birthdays and special occasions. It adds a personal touch to your greetings and helps with their hand writing and spelling.

MATHS

·    Take the kids Widow Shopping. Give them a catalogue from the mail box assign them a budget, and let them loose to choose products that amount to their limit. It will be like Christmas for them, but best of all it won't cost you a penny! No calculators!

·     When you are out with a trolley full of kids trying to do your weekly grocery shop, ask them to help you keep track of your spending as you go, or have them work out which items are best value for money.

·     At home you could play "shops" with items from the cupboard set up in a supermarket and pretend money from your monopoly game.

·     Cooking is a fabulous activity for maths as well as fine motor skills. Recipes have lots of fractions and measurements and the success of a finely baked cake or a delicious home cooked meal can have many benefits other than just a happy tummy.

·     Spend some time to create a poster timetable of their week. Note down the important events that occur each week and encourage your kids to learn the times of day and days of the week.

·     Similarly create your own calendar of the year on a poster or multiple pages. Note down the important events and have them cross off each day as it passes. This will help them to learn the months and years.

No matter what you are doing, or where you are, there are opportunities for learning in all aspects of life. Education doesn't end at 3:15pm on Friday afternoon; it is a 24/7 event. So why not make the most of the opportunity to Make Learning Fun!

Find more ideas like this here to make learning fun your kids!