In Under 2 Hours a Week, Your Child Can Have a Half Year MORE of Education!

Your child has the opportunity to learn a full extra semester of education MORE in this calendar year!

 

I read about this study several years ago and then again about six months ago, (another study, same subject). The studies found that if your child has 30 to 40 minutes of homework, (which doesn't mean "work"), a day for the five school days in each week of the school year, they will have learned an added semester of education that year. That's 1 1/2 years of learning in one school year (of 10 months). If they are behind, which most kids are today, sadly, this is another great way to catch up to grade level and even surpass where they should be.

On each of my blog pages/articles, I have full free samples of kid's educational pages. This one is a blank planner to be used in a multiple of school, sports or family topics - whatever your child needs and likes to use the most, (I have a huge set at my Etsy store, see bottom of page). Anyway, this cute Kawaii planner is free, just click on it. My gift to say thank you for your visit.

 

Q: What if my child's teachers do not give homework? 

A: Some teachers feel like a day at school is enough and play should be the remainder of their days, (but parents have that call), or they are just not wanting to correct six classes of 30 students homework papers on top of their busy day, but many just do not do the homework drill and stand by it. There is nothing here to fight, it's just the cards your child was dealt. But YOU can give your child homework for 30 minutes a day! You are a great teacher, your child's favorite teacher, and you care about your child like no one else. You're perfect for the job.

30 Minutes of time is not really a lot of time. You can run to the super market and have your child reach for items by reading your shopping list and then the packaging. That's reading, math,k and it is motivating to help mom, (not work).

I used to wait in doctor's offices with my daughter, open a magazine and find a picture (later words) and close it. Then I would have hear search the magazine for items I said allowed and her excitement was over the top when she would find them. That's memory, reading, hunting, reasoning, paying attention, study skills, and more depending on the search and magazine. It was fun and bonding and (shh, homework). 

Soccer practice for Saturday's game is homework, social skills lost, exercise, coordination, math/angles, strategy, great skills in those tricky soccer moves and that list goes on. That's homework, but don;;t tell your child.

Sorting items for you, helping you measure and cook, doing a fun worksheet with a theme she adores or he has a hobby, miniature golf and keeping score, walking exactly a mile, and millions of things are homework. Just be sure to mix it well. Have science experiments, kids love those. Following measurements and recipes for various slime balls and making scented candles and soup for dad, all homework. 

30 Minutes to 40 for older kids, is time that will fly by and you will both benefit form the learning and bonding too.

Make a planner, (I sell fun kids blank planners for kids at Etsy). Make Monday a math homework day, Tuesday a "new tool of the week day", Wednesday a worksheet page, Thursday a new word of the week day, Friday a reading day or logic or reasoning day. Mix them up for a well rounded extra semester of education and your child will begin to soar.

Avoid video games, play o8utside is good for them, TV shows are not sitters or homework, (with some exceptions)... 30 to 40bminutes of education for five days a week... 1 1.2 tears in b10b months.

Do you have something that you would like to add to fun homework time and share with other parents? Go ahead, let us all know. More kids can benefit with the added voices of great parents like you!

If your child does get homework daily, I have a wonderful and large list of the best tips from my experiences and from other teachers and parents for homework success (with less stress) I have begun to upload articles on making homework less stressful and even fun... check them out here on my blog and don't forget the free downloads on each page.

I have awesome material for you to make homework less of a hassle, more of a habit, acceptable for your child, tricks for easier study, note taking, reviews, test preparation and more. Because we are now in school, I am working until 4:30 p.m., but I will do my best to get all I have to you as quickly as possible. In the meantime, I am here for all your questions, comments and experiences too. Just write, ask or sign up for my newsletters. 

Fondly, Linki

       If you subscribe to this page's newsletters, (which are sort of rare), you will be emailed free Kawaii Kid's Fun Stickers to Print and Cut and Enjoy! They are all cute, but also random. This Kawaii sticker is just one example of many! Subscribers will also get newsletters, (although rare), that also will include  fun printable educational and fun goodies like planner pages for notebooks, two-sided make your own print and cut and craft bookmarks, fun boxes, puzzles, riddles, stickers, and many more surprises - all free, no strings. Just because!

My Etsy printable shop is found at this address:

www.etsy.com/shop/linkisprintables

The Experiences Smarter Kids Have

 

Tip 1: Experience Living, Playing and Learning 

There is no secret in this, my humble opinion, about kids and learning. I have had years of experience in teaching ESL, General Population, ED, ADHD, Autistic, Gifted, and Slower Learners and I know there are a LOT of ways to teach children, but in my experience, “experience” is the best teacher. The more experiences a child has from birth on, the more they will learn and relate what they have learned to what they are currently learning; and that’s golden.

I know you have heard that a child can learn more by doing than hearing sometimes. If you tell your 3-year-old that the pot on the stove is hot, well, they may not listen. However, if they grab the handle and feel the heat, they’ll know from then on what your words meant. Let’s hope they do not learn that one the hard way.

Writers write to their audience. If a writer is targeting a very young child,  they will not write a story for them to read about how to best be first base player in a baseball game. The very young child doesn’t really know a ball from a hole in the wall until he or she experiences a ball. The writer will introduce a ball. Likely a colorful eye-catching ball and have the words “BALL: '' under the photo. This is because the young child does not know the basics and has not experienced them and the writer knows that, of course.

However, a sixth grade child has many more years of experience and probably knows a ball, the game of baseball, and position too. The author who is targeting them will expect to tell them how to pitch a ball better, but they won’t start with a picture of a ball and the word under it. A writer writing for major league baseball coaches won’t go over the different positions and such when writing to that target audience. It is the same with all subjects too, not just reading. Authors and school text books of all kinds from science to math, literature to social studies will write to the grade level they are teaching to.

But what if your child is lacking in experiences throughout their childhood? Maybe a parent who is tired from work prefers that their child sit in front of the television and play video games until addicted and they become their only source of experiences? We’ve heard children who are born and do not get the attention, touch, feel, can become stunted severely. There are plenty of horror stories, but that’s not what this is about. Experiences such as squishing their tiny toes in a thick mud puddle, helping mom pick out food from the grocery store, going to the dentist and having a cavity filled, trying to run on the sand and realizing it is much harder than running on the grass and even trying new foods and helping to mix ingredients in bowls. These are of great value. If your child lacks real enriching experiences, they will fall behind in school.

If they can connect later in their life the reasons that it is much harder to run on sand than on grass and their personal experiences with both, they can use their experience with the sand and grass runs to connect to a science lesson and understand it rather than gloss over it and become uninterested. It sounds simple and it really is. To help your child in a fun and enduring way, live life with them and try it all! You don’t need to travel the world to go to an Indian restaurant and try the food, smell the dining room, learn the names of a spice or two and then decide how they feel about it. It cost nothing to help dad rake the leaves and learn that this chore is seasonal. Dad could even mention that every fall they rake lots of leaves. Later, when learning the seasons in preschool or kindergarten, they gave reference, opinions, critical thinking skills and can connect time with dad to seasons. He/she will “get it”.

Science, writing and vocabulary and history are literally all around us. Take the time to enrich your child daily in something they have never done, tried, eaten, or even words they’ve not associated with anything in particular yet. They will read better, math will be easier as will science and heck, all the subjects. Their learning skills like logic and reasoning will become stronger with every passing experience that is new and different. Promise!

Let me know what you think! Until next time, fondly, Linki

(This is the first in a series of  “How Kids Learn Best” here in my new blog) 

 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: On each of the blog articles you will find at least one, (mostly two), free kids printable fun stuff. PNG stickers, free student planners, free calendars, and many more free PNG, JPG, PDF files. It is my way of thanking you for your visit. For full sets of the free samples, see my Etsy address below and check out my fun, printable "stuff" you may like! CLICK ON THE CUTE KAWAII FROG ON THIS PAGE FOR A FULL SIZE PNG STICKER / DECAL THAT IS TOO CUTE! 

 

  

Check out my Etsy Shop for printable planners and calendars kids love! Kawaii Stickers and such! Have fun learning together!

www.etsy.com/shop/linkisprintables