Working everyday learning into your household tasks can help your children connect the importance of math, reading, geography, and simple reasoning to their own lives.
Try these suggestions for in-home learning with your children:
• Laundry. Have your child divide your laundry into varying sets. These can be the traditional lights and darks, or you could have him divide the clothing into print piles and nonprint piles. Or you can have her divide the clothing into adult sets and children’s sets. Another option: Ask your child to identify all of her clothing and separate and fold it.
• Cooking. Have your child read a recipe out loud to you while you are cooking, or, better yet, write a family cookbook and have your child come up with his or her own simple recipe. This helps the child with reading, writing, measurements, and general creativity.
• Hometown. What makes the area where you live geologically significant? Is there a mountain nearby? A lake? A desert? An ocean? Ask everyone in your family to draw a map to their favorite place in your hometown. Then get a real map of your town and see if it matches up with the way you each made your own maps. Celebrate by taking your child to his or her favorite place.
