Counseling Education

Ways To Make Teaching And Learning Fun At Home

If you believe that school is the only place where your child can learn and that learning is only limited to books, you're definitely wrong. Undoubtedly, a school does serve as the basic platform for learning and development for children. However, at the same time, it should also be understood that children learn a great deal at home as well, from what they hear, see and feel around them. In fact, at their tender age, children are learning all the time. There are plenty of ways you could hone your child's creativity and instill good study habits, and help them develop hobbies, intellect and skills at home. The following few pointers will tell you how.

Make learning fun -- more practical and less of boring theories

Children often tend to get bored very easily and so it is essential to make sure that learning happens in a fun way. You can do this effortlessly by involving children in your daily routine chores and encouraging them to help. For e.g., while working in the kitchen, get them acquainted with the various shapes, colors, smells, textures and names of food items, health benefits, get them to count number of plates and spoons, set out the table etc. Similarly in the living room, you could do the same and explain the types of furniture, names of electrical appliances and their working, listen and identify sounds coming from the TV and radio, let them lend you a hand while dusting, sweeping, mopping etc. Teach them about science, nutrition, insects, flowers, and the respect for nature while growing plants together in your backyard. If you come to think of it, almost every part of your house can be a source of vital knowledge for your child.

Involving the use of art and creativity

Amalgamating the use of art and craft into the course of basic learning can prove to be a very exciting medium for the child to learn. Make sure you have plenty of art and craft supplies handy at home. Hand your child a few crayons, a few sketch pens and a chart paper, and see their creativity and emotions ooze out in the form of art. Let them get messy as they experiment writing with different shades of pencils and colors, let them connect dots, let them learn how to identify different colors and relate them to the colors of objects or things that they come across in real life. You can also teach your child different crafts, uses of paper, concept of recycling paper, origami and much more.

Learning while playing games

Yet another way to make learning a wonderful experience is by playing fun educational games with your child. Try games like Scrabble and Boggle for word structuring and vocabulary, a game of Monopoly to understand the concepts of buying, selling and usage of money, play Jenga to learn the basics of construction, let them do some jigsaw puzzles to enhance mental awareness etc. Try an abacus and other games to develop math skills. Also, for general knowledge as well as for other subjects, you can pretend to be a host and arrange a quiz competition, with a prize in the end for correct answers.

These are some amazing techniques you can inculcate in order to make learning a wonderful experience. Teaching is perhaps the best gift you can give to your child which not only makes them intelligent, but also instills compassion and makes them good human beings.

Martha Jackson is a mom of two and an enthusiastic businesswoman who deals in art supplies. Being a working mother, she has to do a balancing act between working and spending time with kids. You can thank her for this post where she stresses on the importance of making kids learn and understand in a playful manner.

Image credit: jimmiehomeschoolmom on Flickr