Supporting a child’s learning at home can be as easy as the three steps of routine, repetition and reinforcement for kids between the ages of six months to three years.
Here are some tips for learning at home, written for Happygokl.com by Shobana Chandran, Head of Enrichment Programmes at the Julia Gabriel Centre.
Juggling lack of sleep, learning how to be a mother and coping with raging hormones while dealing with the needs of a new baby are often a huge leap for many new mothers.
Amongst all of that, supporting your own child’s learning at home in a positive and affirming way is different to education in the classroom, from an educational perspective.
After a period of settling in you come to realise that learning can be everywhere and teaching your child at home can be achieved with minimal fuss.
Simple things like the household chores can be a learning experience. Learning really does begin at home, so here are some ways to help make it fun.
Alphabet letters
First introduce your child to an alphabet letter and then take them on a treasure hunt around the house to look for that letter.
Have the same new letter hidden around the house, and colour each hidden letter the same colour. As they progress you can do the same exercise to teach vowels.
To teach letter formation get your child to form letters using clay or draw the letter with little fingers in paint, flour, salt or even whipping cream. Be creative. Make learning letters fun so that they are already on board when it’s time to pick up a pencil.
Numbers
Chores are a great place to start when teaching your little ones numbers. Have your child count pegs while the washing is being hung out and pegged.
Ask them to count the eggs in a carton after grocery shopping, or the steps on the stairs in your house as you walk up or down them. These small tasks are an important step in laying the foundations for school.
Shapes
Introduce shapes at home, where you can emphasise how many sides and corners there are of the shape. If it’s a circle, like the steering wheel of the car, there are no corners or sides.
Much like the number treasure hunt, go on a shape-walk at home or even to the park. Look for objects with the same shapes.
Making a sandwich together is great for this. Use the bread to teach your child about the square shape. It has four sides of equal length and four corners.
If you cut the bread diagonally you have a triangle. This introduces them to the math they will learn later.
Colours
Teaching colours while doing chores is another way of getting your kids involved in learning at home. Who knew that folding laundry could be so much fun?
Sort the clothes into colours – blue, green, pink. Not only are they learning the colours they will start to see different shades of the same colours.
If you have mangoes in the house teach your child the colour of the mango. Perhaps it is yellow so then introduce a yellow day. Yellow clothes, accessories, hats, whatever you can find. Search for yellow objects in your home. Try this with other colours, too.
Your aim is to help your children understand that colours come in many shapes, sizes and textures. Grapes can be red, but so too can apples. Red can be smooth or rough, large or small.
These are minimal fuss, fun ways to support your child’s learning at home, by using objects you already have.
The trick is to use common everyday routines and infuse these with creativity where learning becomes natural and sustainable, but most of all enjoy learning with your children.
It is fun, plus you get the added benefit of teaching your children the importance of doing chores.
Shobana Chandran is Julia Gabriel Centre’s Head of Enrichment Programmes. She believes learning is a lifelong experience that should happen within a collaborative environment of parents, teachers and the child.
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