Get a "Back-to-School" Brain

Posted: August 18, 2011 06:00AM
Under: Prosperity
By: Alison Bailin Batz

For kids everywhere, school is back in full swing. Time to tackle homework and projects. But, how do you help your kids get excited about learning? We asked the experts. Here are six tips on "learning made fun."

Get a "Back-to-School" Brain
Learning Made Fun

For kids everywhere, school is back in full swing. Time to tackle homework and projects. But, how do you help your kids get excited about learning? We asked the experts. Here are six tips on "learning made fun."

With the school bell ringing, and kids scrambling to take their seats...there is no doubt, some kids will suffer from the “summer blahs.” But, learning can be fun! We just have to convince the kids. So, how do you do that? “Without educational engagement, students can forget many of the skills they just acquired—in reading, spelling and particularly, in math,” says Brian Rosta, principal of Arizona Connections Academy, a virtual public school. “Similarly, the importance of “play” in child development is a widely researched topic.”

According to a 2007 report from the American Association of Pediatrics, “play” helps children reach essential social, emotional and cognitive developmental milestones. So, in honor of school being back in session, Rosta and Arizona Connections Academy have shared with us some unique tips on how parents can use games with their children, not only to help give an educational boost, but to also make learning fun.

Six Tips to "Learning Made Fun"

1. Take a Chance: Monopoly and Monopoly Junior are classic board games that put math skills to the test. Counting money, buying and selling, and making change, all reinforce math concepts that many students are learning as early as first grade and kindergarten.

2. Move over Milton Bradley… Invent a Game: Encourage children to get creative and develop their own board game. Use a piece of cardboard as the “board”, break out the crayons and markers and let imaginations run wild. Refer to favorite games like Candy Land for ideas about structure and format. Kids will have a ball making their own playing pieces and even dice with modeling clay. This activity is an artistic way to boost logic skills. Don’t forget to ask children to write directions – it’s a great way to support reading and writing.

3. Test your knowledge - Online Trivia Quiz Challenge: Check out an interactive online educational activity that you and your kids can play together. Connections Academy’s free online Quiz Bowl Challenge is available to the public and features 20 trivia questions about “fun & games” – board games, playground games, sports, and more. Visit ConnectionsAcademy.com to play.

4. Chalk it up: Replicate and enlarge a word search outdoors (in your driveway or in your favorite park) using sidewalk chalk. Kids will love the giant scale of their word search and will have fun practicing reading and spelling while searching for words. Try using different themes for each puzzle (book characters, presidents, states, etc.) to encourage your child to learn more about that particular subject or topic. Need an extra challenge— have your child make up a word search for mom and dad!

5. Be Wordy: With Scrabble and Scrabble Junior Edition, students can dig deep into their vocabulary for words that will get the highest score—and they won’t even realize that they are practicing spelling at the same time. Ask kids to use vocabulary words from the previous school year, and award extra points if they can use the words in a sentence.

6. Read to Me: Although it doesn’t possess the same “game” qualities as the other tips on this list, no summer learning “tips list” would be complete without paying homage to the simple and joyful act of reading to and with children. Take turns reading pages, start a chapter book that can be read in installments, and make up your own stories (maybe even about a magical playground or spooky board game). Parents and children alike will benefit from this activity and it will encourage a lifelong love of reading.

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Alison Bailin is a public relations expert, public speaker, blogger and creative writer. As an HMA Public Relations senior account executive, Bailin has participated on award-winning accounts in the restaurant, real estate, retail, non-profit, professional services, governmental and healthcare fields. Bailin is a member of the Public Relations Society of America and is on the board of governors for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Rocky Mountain Chapter (NATAS) and helps plan the local Emmy Awards. Bailin has been with HMA Public Relations since 2004.