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As a parent, you want to help your child put their best foot forward in life. That’s arguably why we strive to give our kids the best education possible by sending them to great schools. Yet this alone isn’t enough.
According to VeryWell Family, increasing your involvement in your kid’s education can help them find success in life. It can benefit their mental health, hone their social skills, and improve their overall behavior and academic achievements.
Fortunately, helping out with homework isn’t the only thing you can do to get started. Below, we have provided some examples from both here at home and around the world to spark some inspiration.
Infuse learning into daily activities
One of the easiest ways to get started is to simply make every day a learning experience. Going to the supermarket? Play a quick game that involves identifying different kinds of vegetables, meats, or fish. Drawing up your monthly budget? Have your kid help with the math. You can even buy a house plant or adopt a pet and teach your kids about their life cycles and how to care for them. Associate professor Heng Tang Tang from Singapore’s National Institute on Education explains that this can help your kid interact with concepts, understand them better — and effectively give them the skills they need for life at large.
Bond over educational “projects”
Stumped on what to do for family time? Consider some interesting and fun educational activities. You don’t need to limit yourself to math-related things like running a kiddie cashier or science-related projects like DIY volcano-building. The Guardian reports that in Finland, kids are given time to just play — even on school days. Setting up simple playdates or complex treasure hunts for the entire family to participate in can sharpen your kid’s social and problem-solving skills. This added element of fun won’t just strengthen family bonds: your kid is bound to participate more while retaining the things they learn more effectively. It’s a surefire way for you to kindle their love for learning!
Work with your school
A more direct route is to get in touch with your kid’s school and see how you can help. This can range from attending school events to joining parent organizations. You can even suggest some ideas for your school to try. One thing you can propose is the parent guide. This is inspired by the learning guides provided by Bridge International Academies in Africa during the pandemic, which were designed to help parents lead their kids through modules from home. If your school provides similar materials, you no longer need to flounder with algebra while helping your middle schooler with their homework — the handy parent guide will help you out.
Go all the way with homeschooling
There’s probably nothing more significant you can do than this. Homeschooling helps your kid learn in a fun way and at their own pace. For example, you can take your kid on field trips to Cleveland’s Learning Center and Money Museum. Homeschooling even gives you the chance to nurture passions that would otherwise have been neglected in the traditional school setting. In our piece Modern Homeschooling Is Learning Without Boundaries, we’ve added that today’s technology helps further enhance the experience. Various apps and websites can help gamify your lessons, and you can use social media to get in touch with other families homeschooling their kids.
There are countless ways to get more involved in your kid’s education. Hopefully, these tips give you a few ideas as to what you can do regardless of your other responsibilities as a parent.