December

12 Days of Holiday Learning: Day 11

Posted December 31, 2010

We already know why it’s important to make learning part of your holidays, so, we’ve compiled 12 ideas to keep your kids mentally engaged over the holiday season. Check in often for new ideas, and if you have your own idea, we’d love to hear it!

Day 11: Get Puzzlin’

Crossword puzzles. Search-a-words. Puzzles. Sudoku books. All of these not only make great stocking stuffers, they are a great way to challenge the mind. Sure, they can be frustrating, but the process of trying to figure out a problem, and work systematically through the steps needed to reach a solution get the mental synapses firing on all cylinders.
You can turn these otherwise solo activities into group games by attempting a puzzle together, and talking trough the steps, and explaining your reasoning to each other.

Tip 1: Get Crafty Together
Tip 2: Snuggle Up With a Book
Tip 3: Take a Hike
Tip 4: Play Video Games
Tip 5: Roll the Dice
Tip 6: Use Your School Agenda
Tip 7: Go to the Library
Tip 8: Keep a Holiday Journal
Tip 9: Go Online
Tip 10. Send Holiday Thank You Cards

12 Days Of Holiday Learning: Day 10

Posted December 30, 2010

Day 10. Send Holiday Thank You Cards.

Everybody sends cards before the holidays, so why not start a new tradition of sending holiday thank you cards after the holidays? Make a list of recipients and their addresses. For younger kids, have them decide what they want to say and write it out for them on a sheet of paper that they can use for reference. Then grab the pens and get writing! It’s a great way to practice penmanship and try out some new vocabulary words!
Try to incorporate some of the words from this Christmas vocabulary list.

12 Days of Holiday Learning: Day 9

Posted December 29, 2010

Day 9 Go Online
Let’s face it: even the most novel of Christmas presents loose their appeal after a few days. So, why not task the kids with doing some sort of online research project? Any topic goes, whether it’s a favourite animal, or what model of snow blower is the best value. Ask the kids to locate the information for you, and then have them tell you what they discovered.

This is also a great opportunity to have important conversations about online safety and evaluating information sources. Have kids take note of where information comes from and ask them to analyze the quality of one site or another. Media literacy is a skill that will become increasingly important as kids age. If you can combine important thinking and learning skills with holiday fun, then everybody wins.

12 Days of Holiday Learning: Day 8

Posted December 28, 2010

Day 8: Keep A Holiday Journal
Journaling doesn’t have to be about sitting down and writing for a period of time, a task that many kids find daunting, especially if their only previous experience with a journal is one that they were assigned to keep in class.

Journals can be about anything at all. They can be used to sketch, or to make lists, to keep track of favourite quotes, or to create mind-maps. You can glue things in them. You can tear pages out. There really are no rules. The point is to put pen to paper and get introspective. It’s about putting aside some time everyday to think actively and document the thought process.

Tip 1: Get Crafty Together
Tip 2: Snuggle Up With a Book
Tip 3: Take a Hike
Tip 4: Play Video Games
Tip 5: Roll the Dice
Tip 6: Use Your School Agenda
Tip 7: Go to the Library

12 Days Of Holiday Learning: Day 7

Posted December 26, 2010

Day 7: Go to the Library

Libraries are more than just a place to locate books. For the developing reader and/or the student of any age, the library can help develop a certain sense of discovery and motivation to learn. Whether it’s researching a topic and locating the corresponding books, or discovering a book about an unknown subject simply by wandering the stacks, the experience of going to the library and borrowing books can help kids feel a sense of ownership in the process reading and holiday learning.

Tip 1: Get Crafty Together
Tip 2: Snuggle Up With a Book
Tip 3: Take a Hike
Tip 4: Play Video Games
Tip 5: Roll the Dice
Tip 6: Use Your School Agenda

12 Days of Holiday Learning: Day 6

Posted December 24, 2010

Day 6: Use Your School Agenda

The holidays are perfect for relaxation and celebration, but not every hour of every day is a party. Studies show that children actually crave structure and routine. Over the holidays, use a holiday agenda to stay organized and focused, and to stay on top of any upcoming January assignments.
Just as your child uses a school agenda to keep schoolwork organized, an agenda can be used to organize the holidays.
Sit down together to record holiday activities and January assignments in the agenda. For example:

Dec 23 11AM — 12PM start Science project
Dec 24 8PM — Caroling in City park
Dec 25 Christmas! Do NOT wake parents before 7AM!
Dec 26 11AM — 12PM Science project
Dec 27 11AM — 12PM Science project — go to library
Dec 29 1PM — Skating party
Dec 30 11AM — Leave for Grandma’s

Have your child refer to the agenda everyday — this way your child can stay on top of responsibilities and activities and practice time management!
Try to fit in one hour for schoolwork everyday, even just to go over school notes, read or organize a binder or pencil case.

Ask your child: “What’s going on tomorrow?”

Use the agenda during the holidays to underscore the idea that school doesn’t end just because kids are on break. Create a seamless transition to back-to-school by staying organized and on-track.

Tip 1: Get Crafty Together
Tip 2: Snuggle Up With a Book
Tip 3: Take a Hike
Tip 4: Play Video Games
Tip 5: Roll the Dice

12 Days Of Holiday Learning: Day 5

Posted December 23, 2010

Day 5: Roll the Dice

Board Games are more than just a way to get families to interact—they actually teach valuable learning skills.

A simple roll of the dice helps kids develop higher-level thinking skills such as critical thinking, strategy, analysis, planning, creativity, cooperation, organization, and rule-following, as well as improving basic school skills such as addition, subtraction, and reading comprehension.

And, one other critical thing: Board games are a great way to step away from technology for an hour or two, Sometimes, it’s just fun to spend simple quality time together. And, if kids pick up additional skills along the way, then all the better,

Check the comments on our post Board Games and Learning for great game suggestions from our readers

Tip 1: Get Crafty Together
Tip 2: Snuggle Up With a Book
Tip 3: Take a Hike
Tip 4: Play Video Games

12 Days of Holiday Learning: Day 4

Posted December 22, 2010

We already know why it’s important to make learning part of your holidays, so, with the holidays fast approaching, we compiled 12 ideas to keep your kids mentally engaged over the holiday season. Check in often for new ideas, and if you have your own idea, we’d love to hear it!

Day 4: Play Video Games.

This might seem like an odd activity to suggest, since your kids are most likely fully intending to play video games day in and day out over the school break. Research has indicated that video games might not be as detrimental to kid’s mental development as we tend to think. In fact, certain interactive video games might actually help children develop skills (math, literacy, and social) that pay off in the classroom.

If you want to spend some quality time with your kids, why not pick up the controller, and get them to teach you how to play? Putting the kids in the instructor’s seat forces them to think systematically, logically, and analytically about the game and how they play it.

Tip 1: Get Crafty Together
Tip 2: Snuggle Up With a Book
Tip 3: Take a Hike

12 Days Of Holiday Learning: Day 3

Posted December 21, 2010

Day 3: Take a Hike
Studies have shown that physical activity isn’t just good for the body, it’s great for the brain as well. Increased blood flow to the brain helps increase memory function as well as a whole host of other complicated science-type stuff. Basically, if you get the blood pumping, you get the wheels turning.

So, why not take advantage of the holiday weather—whether it’s blistery cold or balmy and beautiful—and take a family hike? Chase the kids around. Have a snowball fight. Walk around the neighbourhood and look at the lights. Whatever you plan for the holidays, include physical activity and your kids will stay sharp for the entire festive season.

Tip 1: Get Crafty Together
Tip 2: Snuggle Up With a Book

The Mistake of Ditching Class

Posted December 20, 2010

Although everybody makes mistakes, there are some that can affect our future. As a teen, I make a handful of mistakes every day. I understand that this may seem cliché, but I try to always think through what I’m about to do before I act.

It’s important to think about how any decision may affect you in the future, near or far. Before you think about cutting class, however unnecessary the class may seem, think about how skipping one class can easily become a habit, and what the results might be. Maybe it’s losing a credit or even dropping out, leaving you with nothing. Just ditching a single class could dramatically alter your future, whatever it may be. Next time you are about to cut class, or just not study for a quiz, think about how this situation right now could end up hurting you later on.

About me: I go to South Secondary School in London, ON and I have two younger siblings. I have always been a movie guy. But movies aren’t the only thing I enjoy. In the summer I love to bike with my friends down to the Thames River and ride along the trails. The sights and the entire ride are always beautiful. Anyway, hopefully you’ll enjoy my posts! Remember to leave feedback and comments at the bottom! – Dylan.

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