What educational things do you do with your children?

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Permalink Reply by minnemom on December 12, 2008 at 10:38am

Well, just now I was playing "what state's shape is your piece of fudge?" with my 2- and 4-year-olds as we took bites and transformed them.

But mostly, we go places. My blog discusses the things we've found on our travels and in our own backyard. 70-80 museum visits a year, and whatever else we can find that's interesting (and usually historical or science-related). Then we follow up with books, music, movies that relate to what we saw.

We let them figure out things on their own. "Mom, what's 20 minus 11?" "I don't know, what do you think?" and then let them work on it for a while before giving the answer. (This is with 4- to 7-year-olds.)

Read, read, read to them, and when we're not reading to/with them, we surround them with books. 7:00 bedtime means pj's on, prayers said, teeth brushed by 7:15 but they can read (or look at books quietly for the little ones) until they're tired. They seldom use this to their detriment.

Talk and sing and do things as a family. Show them that there's a big world out there but that they have a safe place to belong even if their interests are different than those of their peers. Don't involve them in too many structured things at a young age; instead, give them lots of time to play and explore, preferably outdoors.

I don't know if it will work, but it's what I can do with them now when they're little.

Linda

Permalink Reply by Angela on December 12, 2008 at 2:59pm

Our son attends a wonderful Montessori school. We've learned numerous educational ideas from his teachers. Everything from word games, math puzzles, independent thinking, reading games, interactive family activities, museum membership, library activities, his recent favorite, violin lessons.

Permalink Reply by Eleanor Diekert on December 12, 2008 at 4:14pm

If you think about it, you can put an educational spin on any activity without coming across as trying to teach them something. When we bake, the kids learn about addition and fractions from measuring ingredients. When going on nature walks we talk about plants, flowers and trees, collecting bits as we go along. I find rocks all over the house that they've picked up from our walks! My daughter loves Super Marios Bros., which has opened up discussions about Italy (as they are Italian), travel, geography, transportation. I just follow their interests and then guide them along the way.

Permalink Reply by Carla on December 13, 2008 at 7:43am

I love it these are really sounding great. I am glad to see what us moms do. You are right Eleanor you can put a spin on anything to make it educational. I find often that when we aren't teaching the core concepts we are teaching other valuable things like sharing, communicating, intangible subjects as well, the education of life.

Thanks ladies for your input.

Does anyone have anything else to add I would love to hear it.

:)

Permalink Reply by mel on January 1, 2009 at 4:38pm

We play lots of educational games. And share what our interests are. For example, my son went through a stage where he built and designed tons of Knex guns. Then he modified purchased Nerf guns so they were more accurate and had more "shooting power." We encouraged him, shared with him how to make blueprints and plans. My daughter loves to bake and decorate cakes so we encourage her with baking and doubling, tripling, and creating new recipes. I love reading and sharing with them about nutrition. We read aloud together as a family and go on many "field trips." My husband is a naturalist and shares his knowledge and love with our kids- and me! We go through phases where we want to learn about guitars or ships or tigers or bridges or wars or WHATEVER! And we learn all we can about that topic! Sometimes we make lapbooks (kind of like scrapbooking) to hold our memories and ideas about what we learned about. It is so much fun!

Permalink Reply by Mama Lawrence on January 2, 2009 at 6:50pm

We send the kids to a Montessori school, which really teaches them how to be the most inquisitive about life situations. We ask, what do you think, when they ask us a question. With the babies (under 3) we count stairs, cheerios, m&ms (yes, I have fed my <3 year old m&ms), etc. We read every single night to the kids and I miss it most if we don't get to it. We belong and go to the Nature Center nearby. I make them go outside and climb the trees all by themselves!!

If I need a minute to cook dinner and my 2 year old is feeling needy, I set out two pans of water and dish soap with a whisk and some spoons to transfer water and/or to wash some smaller dishes. He loves it!!

We have started to play the game Blokus (5 and 4 yr olds), which is a great game. We play memory, war and checkers, too!

I'd like to get into geocaching - has anyone done that? I'd like to do more educational activities where we do something as a family (there's learning on many levels) and we get some fresh air and exercise!! Sometimes we just take a few buckets and go mucking in the creek down the hill. Wish I had a good creek on my property!

Permalink Reply by Mama Lawrence on January 2, 2009 at 6:51pm

By the way, how do you modify a Nerf gun? My four year old would *love* that!!

Permalink Reply by Carla on January 3, 2009 at 2:57am

More great educational entries. It is good to see that we are passing that environmental awareness on to this generation of children for they will be the ones to continue the fight to clean up our world and preserve the uniqueness and value of it. I had to look up Blokus and found it very interesting and can see how it can become addicting like twittermoms, lol! Wow blueprints and modifying Nerf guns that is something that covers vast subjects. I love it ! Montessori school, which really teaches them how to be the most inquisitive about life situations

This is true the independent learning is something that requires a special aptitude as well and fosters what a child has. I thought about this when my kids was at a young age and it definitely has a place in our educational rubric.

Great responses you just never know what others are doing outside the realm of our schools it is great to read. Keep it up our future depends on it. ;)

Permalink Reply by MarlisaOK on January 3, 2009 at 12:28pm

I am a huge fan of "I don't know honey, let's find out" I'm not a mom who tries to act like I have all the answers. The internet is our families friend. I monitor and encourage use of the internet. I see to it that my daughter learns and seeks out the truth, so she learns something new everyday.

Permalink Reply by Joan on January 4, 2009 at 4:13am

Thankfully our grandchildren live nearby - 5 and 6 year olds - and they attend a wonderful Montessori school. I think this year at grandma's house, I am going to choose a focus for each month and make a poster and a shoebox display for each thing. will coordinate with the school via their super mom.

Permalink Reply by mel on January 4, 2009 at 7:29am

Oooh! I have to second reading to your kids! (Why did I leave that out??!!!!) We are constantly reading! I started reading chapter books to my daughter (first born) when she was 3. We started with the Little House Series and moved on from there. My daughter is 14 now and we still read aloud as a family almost every night. We love it! We choose books that interest each child but they are always challenging and engaging. I like to read classics to them. Last year, we read Moby Dick and Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Don't be afraid to read books that seem over their heads! Kids respond to good literature! C.S. Lewis is loosely quoted as saying, "Any book that is not worth being read as an adult is not worth being read as a child." I believe that! So give your kids the best books, and none of you will be disappointed!

Permalink Reply by mel on January 4, 2009 at 7:35am

What kind of nerf guns does your son have? My son tells me the way you modify the guns varies according to the type of gun. The easiest one to vary is the night finder. But my nerf crazy sons are 8 and 11. Make sure your son knows not to aim at living things- some of these guns shoot quite hard! Also, my oldest son says to check out "modify nerf guns" on youtube. He and his friends kind of got started from there!

Have fun! (And duck!)
Or better yet, play outside!!! :)

Mama Lawrence said:

By the way, how do you modify a Nerf gun? My four year old would *love* that!!

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