Holiday Learning with Your Children
How to Use Christmas for Developing Skills
As fall and winter holidays come closer, families can easily find themselves swept up in responsibilities, possibilities and frivolities. It is worthwhile to use playing, listening, music, social studies, kitchen activities, and structured times to make memories during the holidays.
Children learn much better if strong feelings and experience are involved. What finer time then, to celebrate learning than at holiday observances? Parents can provide not only quality learning at home, but also motivation that extends far beyond the season. It starts with deciding to be consistent with daily routines just like any other time of year.
Play Games or Role Play
For the younger set, readiness skills can easily be fostered with coloring, cut-outs, punch-outs, and crafts, etc. centered around a holiday theme. The all-important skill of expressive language can be developed by role-playing. "Let's pretend I'm Santa Claus and you tell me what you want for Christmas." "Let's pretend you're Santa and I'm a kid." Similar activities can be done for Thanksgiving, Kwaanza, Hanukkuh, Ramadan, or any other holiday observances.
Improve Listening Skills
Auditory skills are improved by reading some of the world's great traditional stories and poems to our children – over and over again. Repetition provides that magical element of practice required for mastery of skills. It also lays a foundation for both language and cultural knowledge and allows for riding the crest of simple joys.
Use Music for Holiday Learning
Reading, too, can be improved by use of song books, with the parent "keeping the place" while the child sings along. Gradually the child can return the favor by keeping the place for the parent or a younger child. Celebration of this sort feels great when done by the fireplace, candlelight, or other dramatic touches. It also involves both sides of the brain and, most importantly, the heart.
For the middle grades, even the evasive skills of hyphenation, punctuation, syllabication and capitalization can be more easily grasped when learned through songs. Vocabulary and knowledge of history are also absorbed via musical experiences.
Increase Multicultural Learning
Social Studies concepts of different societies can be reinforced by activities emphasizing how other countries celebrate winter holidays, and why. This is such a natural time to build your child's self-esteem as well as respect for others.
Cook with Children
The most fun of all is found when children are taken (not sent) to the kitchen. A recipe is a gold mine of following instructions, science, fractions, and the satisfaction of accomplishment. Sequence, a sense of order, can be developed through the simple act of food preparation.Take this chance to show children how to set up both the place and the activity.
Planning, organization, time management and the value of following through with clean-up and serving are also taught through kitchen activities. Even hand and arm strength so vitally needed for handwriting are developed in a fun way with mixing, pouring, stirring, etc. Children love making cookies, cakes, pudding, and other holiday treats.
Make Memories
All of these ways to learn with a holiday spirit tend to burn themselves into a child's memory. Care should be taken to maintain a calm pace, alternating busy events with quieter activities. Serve joy in small enough doses so it doesn't turn sour with exhaustion or emotional burnout. Children learn and remember better when they are taught in an environment they see as caring and important.
Use the holidays as another great opportunity for learning by role-playing, developing listening skills, using holiday music, including multicultural learning, and cooking with children to make memories so that learning is gained while celebrating.
Guide your children as they yearn and learn through the magical holiday season, and may these days be blessed with yeast, zest, and all the best for you and your beloved children.
Holiday Acting
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