Sunday, December 6, 2020

Hands-On Activities to Help Kids Overcome Classroom Struggles


Guest post by Laura Pearson (edutude.net)

Hands-On Activities to Help Kids Overcome Classroom Struggles

Whether you’re homeschooling or not, watching kids struggle with lessons can be heartbreaking. Of course, you want to help your kids and make things easier, but finding ways to do so that will keep their interest can be difficult. The trick is to disguise the subjects and lessons they’re struggling with as fun activities and projects.


If you’re not sure how to do this, the following creative tips from The Bender Bunch might be helpful.

 

Spend Some Time Stargazing

Is your child having trouble with science? Then maybe they just need some exposure to science in the everyday world!

Take them out into your backyard at night and look up at the stars, for a fun at-home science lesson they’ll never forget. You’ll want to plan your backyard stargazing session for a night when the moon isn’t that bright so you can really see the stars and planets shining. Use an app like Sky Safari to help your child identify stars, planets and constellations.


You can take those lessons one step further by looking up interesting facts about stars and constellations. Once your kids find out what stars are made of and how they’re born, they may become more interested in science lessons back inside the classroom.


Do you need an activity you can do indoors and during the daytime? This DIY snowstorm is a fun alternative! Using some simple ingredients, your kids can put together their very own mini-blizzard. They can also fill out worksheets to set the experiment up and find out how everything works.

 

Work on Some Creative Writing

If your kids have a hard time paying attention in English class, having them work on some freestyle writing could provide the encouragement they need.


You can keep things simple by using these suggestions from the National Endowment for the Arts to prompt creative writing sessions. Pictures work best because they allow your family members to express themselves freely. Have your kids pick a country on the globe and write about it, or choose an everyday object around your home. You can even have your kids keep journals so that they get in some extra writing practice.


Before your kids start writing and researching, you’ll want to make sure they have the right tech and equipment. That could mean picking out a new laptop or tablet, which is also helpful if your kids are learning from home. Since this is a bigger purchase, you’ll want to look for laptops that are user-friendly and durable, while also having all of the features your kids need.

 

Give Kids More Time for Gaming

Is math or geometry making school tough for your kids? If so, letting them play more video games may be the answer. No, seriously!


As you may already know, kids love playing Minecraft. And that could be good news if they are also having a hard time in math class. That’s because there’s a new version of this game that is basically one giant math lesson! As your kids keep trying to draw an uninterrupted line, they are actually working out a mathematical puzzle known as an Eulerian Cycle. Now, if math isn’t the issue, there are other learning games that can help your kids perform better in school.


Since many of the best games are online, you’ll want to make sure that your home is connected to a reliable and lightning-quick internet service. Besides providing your kids with a smooth gaming experience, a faster internet connection will also provide your entire family a boost when it comes to remote work and online learning. This is notably true if you have older kids who are using Virtual Reality or if any of your children are attending virtual coding camps.


Learning doesn’t have to stop once school is over! In fact, if your kids are struggling with science, English or math, the learning really shouldn’t stop. You’ll need to get creative to provide opportunities for enrichment and improvement. Most of all, you should keep lessons outside of the classroom fun so that your kids stay motivated and interested.

Photo Credit: Unsplash