Little kids are naturally curious, especially as babies. They’re eager to learn new things and their brains are like sponges that soak up new knowledge and abilities quite easily and quickly. But, this innate joy of learning is sometimes lost as they grow older. As they grow, many kids end up disliking and even dreading learning new topics in school. Your little ones deserve to have the finest start in life possible, especially since we live in a competitive world. As a mama, it’s your job to help them grow and push them to learn so that they can have a good chance when they grow up. But, how do you do this if your kids dislike learning?
You can give them that start by encouraging them to maintain their innate curiosity and willingness to try new things. Limiting learning to the classroom is one of the worst mistakes educators and parents can make when trying to nurture the educational growth of students and kids. Even if we can’t deny that the classroom serves as the primary setting for education, a child's intellectual, social, and academic development should go beyond the four walls of the classroom.
It's crucial to instill in your little ones a passion for learning early on. Encouraging your child to appreciate studying and staying curious will ease many aspects of their life, including school, relationships, self-improvement, and many more. But how does one go about helping them? Thankfully, you don’t have to go through this alone as we’ve listed down a few tips and tricks that you can use on your children. Read on to find out more!
1. Let Them Lead As Much As Possible
For some kids, education is all about having control. Little kids frequently stop learning when they feel like they have no say or control over their education. Children should be led through the learning process, but they should also be given the freedom to choose how they want to learn, especially since each and every child learns differently. Whether at home or in the classroom, give your kids the chance to directly influence their educational choices.
Another thing you can do is let your children pick their own extracurricular activities. A child will be more interested and motivated to learn if you give them more control and influence over their learning environment, activities, and style.
2. Develop A Love for Reading
Making reading enjoyable rather than making it feel like a chore is important for the development of a kid’s reading ability and skills. A child's capacity to learn will decline if they see that reading is tedious or irritating and don't want to do it. Doing something as simply letting your kids choose their own books to read, supporting them as they read, and designing enjoyable reading activities for them helps them see reading as something enjoyable and something they can look forward to doing.
A love of reading leads to a passion for learning in children. It’s worth noting that learning can become difficult for kids who struggle with reading. So, fostering your child’s love for reading can help them with a lot of aspects of their life. Reading helps kids' vocabulary grow significantly, and it also teaches the brain how to process ideas and formal language. Additionally, reading helps kids develop skills that go far beyond improving their success in language arts classes. Learning in all disciplines, especially technical ones like math and science, is improved for students who can read well.
3. Encourage Open Communication & Learn To Listen To Them
Communication is key, especially when it comes to your kids. By learning how to communicate with your child, you give them a voice and an avenue to express their thoughts, feelings, and emotions. This can come in handy especially when they start going to school as this helps them better express to you how school is going and let you know what areas they need help with.
Make the environment open so that your little ones can freely voice their preferences or worries. Even if you disagree, be sure to acknowledge their feelings when they have an opinion. Kids who don’t feel seen, heard, or understood are more prone to stop participating in the learning process since they feel as though their opinion doesn't matter or that they’re stuck.
By learning to provide an open and safe space for them to communicate with you, you help them become aware of the value of their opinions. This provides them comfort as it helps them see how they can speak freely about their educational experiences without fear of being misunderstood, disparaged, discouraged, or ignored.
4. Find Their Learning Style
Children each have a special learning style or method of instruction that works best for them. The three main learning styles are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic, according to educators and psychologists. If you don’t yet know what learning style fits your child, you can try the trusty trial and error technique. Alternatively, you can try filling out online questionnaires to help you see what best suits your child.
Nevertheless, you can also make an educated guess based on the child's interests and the kinds of activities your child seems to love. Now, while it’s also not unusual for kids to exhibit all three learning styles, it’s worth noting that one (style) is probably more advanced than the others. It’s worth finding out what style suits your kids best as this can better help your little ones learn and actually stay interested or curious enough to keep learning.
5. Share Your Passions & Interests
Kids learn, first and foremost, from their parents. So, by showing them your personal interests, strengths, hobbies, and the like, you get to encourage them to try doing similar things or to learn more about different activities. If they see that you are passionate about one thing (such as learning), then this may rub off on them and encourage them to try being the same.
Talk to your little ones about what you’re into or what you’re learning. Tell them about why you do it, the various difficulties, thrills, applications to your own life, and whatever else you may want them to know. If you don’t yet have a hobby you regularly do, you can show them what you do for work and why you do it. Or, you can even take a class (such as cooking, painting, pottery, etc.) and tell them about it!
The same applies if you’re an educator - if you’re a teacher, then it's crucial for you to exhibit interest and love for the subject you’re teaching. After all, your students won't be as thrilled about it if you aren't. Students might be more engaged and have their curiosity piqued by teachers who exude genuine enthusiasm for the subject matter over educators who exhibit little to no enthusiasm.
6. Provide Hands-On Experiences
Research has consistently proven that children learn best through hands-on experiences. Students learn best when they move, touch, and experience. Children who learn through doing have actually been proven to find it more fun, and it also aids in knowledge processing. The majority of kids just don't like copying notes, reading from textbooks, or "learning" via memorization. We’ve all been through that, and we can surely all agree that that way of learning isn’t exactly ideal and it isn’t always helpful.
A child's attention and creativity will, nevertheless, be piqued by experiences and practical tasks. Whenever possible, teachers should include movement, engagement, and tactile sensations in the classroom. Now, as learning shouldn’t be limited to the four walls of the classroom, at home, parents can continue to help further enrich their children. You can do this by doing fun activities with them such as taking them to an aquarium if they’re studying aquatic animals in school, or taking them to a museum to view the artwork or historical pieces they’re learning about. You can also go on trips to see different sites or try different experiences.
There’s no better way to learn about science experiments or about dinosaurs than by visiting spots like the Mind Museum. You can also bring them to turtle conservation centers if you want them to know more about marine life conservation. These simple yet fun activities can keep them curious enough to learn while having fun at the same time!
7. Find Their Strengths & Cheer Them On
When your child is having so many academic difficulties, it can be challenging to concentrate on their strengths. Yet, highlighting your child's abilities is essential for their healthy emotional and academic growth. Another method of encouraging your youngster to continue learning is to focus on your child’s strengths. On the other hand, focusing on your little one’s shortcomings can only lead to discouragement, sadness, and a lack of interest in learning.
No matter how minor they may be, it's crucial to acknowledge and applaud your child's accomplishments. This is crucial, especially for primary school students, who need continual encouragement to stay motivated to learn and push themselves to perform better.
It can sound a little excessive to make every day a learning day, but if you do it correctly, it won’t be as all this work will pay off exponentially. Encourage your little ones to investigate their surroundings, ask questions, and draw connections wherever they can. Help them classify, categorize, and critically consider what they observe and what they encounter, even if it’s minor. Your child will gain the internal drive to study in the classroom, at home, or wherever he may be if you make every day a learning day for him. Do you have any more tips and tricks, mamas? Let us know, we’re always eager to learn more!
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