For years, educators have been worrying about the summer school break. Six weeks off school, they fear, will cause kids to backslide, forget what they’ve learned, and regress. So when the government announced that schools wouldn’t re-open until September at the earliest, some parents worried. Was their child’s development at risk?
Fortunately, parents and educators are stepping in to fill the void. Children won’t be left to their own devices for months on end. They will still receive an education, just in a different form.
Parents, though, still need to think carefully about how to keep their kids minds active in this time of lockdown. It is going to be tough for young people to stay indoors and learn during this crisis, but it is also an opportunity to help develop their minds before they return to their usual routine.
Create family quizzes
Family quizzes are one of the best ways to keep kids’ minds active. You can split them into different segments, asking some academic questions in one part and then Disney questions in another.
The great thing about family quizzes is that everyone can get involved in making them. You don’t just have to pepper your kids with questions. You can get them to come up with them instead and then put you to the test. In fact, this might be the best way to get them to learn.
Create a daily reading routine
Kids don’t always naturally pick up books and start reading, but it is an essential skill for the future. Who doesn’t need to read in their daily lives?
As a parent, therefore, it is a good idea to create a daily reading routine. Here both you and your child sit down with a book and delve into the contents. Stories are great, but some kids get more of a kick out of non-fiction, so don’t be afraid to branch out.
Try to get them to read aloud if you can. Doing this will help you get a sense of their reading level and allow you to help them learn if they’re struggling to read particular words.
Organise daily exercise
Part of keeping the mind active is maintaining a healthy body. Doing daily exercise is a challenge under the current lockdown rules, but it is still possible to keep kids active. You’re allowed to go to the park or go for a walk around the local streets. If you have space, you can also create activities at home.
When it comes to at-home exercise, don’t be afraid to think a little out of the box. Bat and ball are okay, but there are all kinds of ways that you can give your children physical activity. Where possible, get them to design their own programme that they follow every day. Handing ownership over to them makes it more likely that they’ll stick with it.
Enrol kids on an online education course
With so much time on everyone’s hands, now is the time to enrol on an online educational course. Some of these are paid – but many are also free.
Feature image credit: Rudy and Peter Skitterians / Pixabay
