Ways to Get My Kid Learning (That Can Give Me A Break!)
Between trying to institute a schedule, taking care of the regular chores, and ensuring that your child’s needs are met, we’re sure you’re probably looking for some ways to encourage intellectual growth, while simultaneously giving yourself some time to relax, take a load off, get your own work done, and maybe even enjoy some silence.
In this post, we’ve outlined some general strategies and ideas to help you take some time to yourself. Overarchingly, we found that there were three sure-fire ways to encourage growth in a low-effort fashion, which are outlined below!
Arts and Crafts
Visual arts and crafts have always been a great way to develop dexterity, creativity, and aid in allowing our minds to wander. Colouring pages have re-emerged as a popular way for adults to relax, but have always been a great way to get kids to relax and take a moment.
Check out some links to some free-printable colouring pages by Crayola here: https://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/new-coloring-pages/
If you don’t have access to a printer, encourage your child to design a colouring page, or take some time to draw a simple geometric pattern that will keep little artists entertained while you can take a break!
Science Activities
One of the easiest science activities to do right now is gardening! Try growing your own plants from what you already have in your kitchen! Encourage kids to explore and learn more about nature through their own observations.
A good YouTube channel that we think has lots of scientifically relevant content can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcoursekids . Crash Course is a helpful YouTube group that covers lots of senior content that older teens will be familiar with, but they also provide introductory videos for younger scientists!
Reading
Cozying up with a good book is a great way to get your child to practice literacy, but if children cannot read without the help of other supports, there are a couple of good resources to help you!
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has lots of bedtime stories available for viewing, which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0MpwxxTbrBOz1g1X-BynUA .
If your child is able to read on their own, check out this link to different online book providers that can help to get your young reader on their way: https://www.online-tech-tips.com/cool-websites/7-websites-with-free-online-books-for-kids/
No matter what you do, your child will continue to grow and develop through these hard times. Now isn’t a homeschooling competition to see who can do the best job of educating their child from home, but rather, we’re all working together to emerge strongly from the struggle. We’re burning through the fire and soon we’ll all arise from the ashes. We’re going to make it through this! Take care of yourselves, and know that we are always here to support you.
The TTK Team.