Staying at home this winter break? While there’s plenty of family activities in Boston this time of year, there’s no need to even leave the house if you want to help your child continue learning!
Gather your family and try out some of these great ideas to help students have fun while learning over the spring holiday:
- Have your child read to you daily from the newspaper or a magazine and get in a reading lesson and a civics lesson! Practice their reading, talk about the news of the day and discuss the importance of being an informed citizen. Reading with your child- and letting your child see you read each day- is also a great way to inspire your children to do more reading on their own. Not interested in reading the news? Read a favorite book aloud or find a new one to enjoy.
- Use the winter break to strengthen your child’s vocabulary. While reading the newspaper, ask your child to write down any words they do not know. Help them look up these words in a dictionary, and write down the word and definition on an index card. Practice using the words in a sentence by writing a story with the new vocabulary!
- Bundling up on a cold day? Check out one of the many online subscription services and find a classic film to watch! Talk with your child about the way that film has changed over the years, and help them find an appreciation for the arts. We have many great opportunities for students to celebrate the arts at school, especially as our students get older, and this area of learning is important to the development of the whole child. Creating an appreciation for the arts at home will support an interest in music, drama and fine arts as your children get older.
- Is your child always using their iPad or other tablet? Make the best of their interest in technology and find a great book to download to their device! For younger students, Nook and Kindle offer books that are read aloud by the device and even offer interactive books that can help children practice their reading. Older students will love exploring the books available to them in their digital bookstore. Have a particularly veracious reader? Connect your device to your local library and download e-books for free!
- Take reading and writing learning to a whole new level by encouraging your child to write a book of their own! Use those new vocabulary words you’ve developed and get brainstorming on a great story idea! Apple offers many apps to help students create e-books of their very own, complete with text, illustrations and pictures and sound effects. Check out Book Creator to inspire your little author, and once they’re done creating, share the book with family and friends. Want more great apps for kids? Check out our Pinterest board.
- Do some cooking or baking together. Not only is this a great way to teach your child an important life skill, making food together is an important opportunity to talk to your children about healthy choices and can even help sneak in a math lesson! Whip up some healthy banana bread or a yummy soup and you’ll need to do some math to make sure all your measurements are correct! Check out our Health Kids Pinterest board for more great recipe ideas!
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