5 Ways to Help Your Child Learn All Year Round

By Anchel Krishna @anchelk

Parenting Writer

With school back in session for most kids (and their parents) your attention may be turning to how you can help your kids learn this year. Here are my favourite tips:

1.     Set up a routine 

Kids of any age thrive on a routine. When I was growing up my mom followed the same routine in the morning, including a quick puja in the mandir, breakfast and getting us off to school. When we came home we had a glass of milk and a snack and then moved straight on to homework. My mom was on to something. The snack gave us a post-school break, and allowing us time to get our work done before dinner meant that we could eat together as a family and no one was worried about doing more work after dinner (until we got older, of course, and homework took all night).

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       2.     Recognize different learning styles

When I was younger I preferred to do homework in a shared family space. As I got older I always did homework while watching TV or with some kind of background noise. The background noise helped me focus. With my daughter I know that she likes to focus on one thing as a time, and if there is background noise or too much going on she gets distracted. Understand that your children might have different preferences and do your best to set up homework environments that work for them.

3.     Use storytelling as a tool 

Kids – big and small – love a good story. My dadi was the best at telling us stories that we would remember. She taught us a lot of our Hindu customs simply by telling us the religious stories, especially the ones that were related to specific festivals. You can use the same tool when you are trying to teach your kids certain concepts, and weaving history into an interesting story is actually pretty easy.

4.     Make learning fun – for you and your kids

In grade three I had to build a pioneer log cabin for a class. My dad often helped us with projects and this was one of my favourites. It was a great way for my dad to have fun and learn about pioneers (not a familiar topic to my father, who immigrated from India). He also got to teach his little girl about his world and the products that his company made.

5.     Take breaks

In our world we have to be quite hands on when teaching Syona certain concepts. Her limited physical movements mean that we often have to bring the learning to her. We intentionally give her breaks. It gives her a chance to regroup and to absorb some of what she’s learned. Any kid can benefit from the same tactic.

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Teaching the joy of lifelong learning is something that most parents strive to instil in children. The best way to help them learn is simply to live the values that you want them to share.

How do you help your children learn?

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