Learn while having fun
The only way to learn is to have fun in my opinion. Just ask my kids. We play games, sing songs, make up songs, and never mind looking silly. We encourage laughter in our house. Here are a few tips on how you can do the same.
When you're playing around with your child set boundary’s. When your child says no listen to them. This teaches your child several things. 1) Your child can listen to their body and identify that they don’t like something. 2) This allows them to find their voice by expressing their feelings. 3) They can find the courage to face confutation. 4) The learned today that you are listening to them and taking them seriously.
Don’t take things to seriously. Kids are loud. They play rough sometimes. I understand. Roll with it every once in a while. This will show you and them that there is a time and a place to be loud and rough.
Sing a silly song and don’t be afraid to act it out. Some kids are visual learners while others are audible learners. If you use both in one learnable and fun moment, you're hitting both learning skills for your child. Don’t be afraid to act out every animal in the ABC song.
Shopping with your child or children can be stressful but playing a game to keep them entertained and laughing is always fun. Depending on your child’s age if they are just starting to count pick a number and have them find that number throughout the store. If your child is learning different math skills incorporate that. When they are old enough you can start asking them what the total of your bill is prior to getting to the check out. If you're just getting into letters another fun game in a grocery store is with the ABC’s. You can have your child pick out letters if they are just starting out, then move onto letter sounds. As your child gets older and is learning how to read pick letters out and say find all the letters in the cart to make out words. If your child is reading have them read the back of labels. The labels will then start teaching your child about a whole new skill in life about nutrition.
Learning should be fun, and your child should want to go to school to absorb as much information as possible. If you notice that your child isn’t and they are school age, I suggest meeting with their school staff to find out how you can help.
