If you really want to support your child’s learning and improve their knowledge and skills, these tips are great ways to engage your child and help them learn more about who they are and what they enjoy so they can learn as much as possible in a way that works for them. From reading or writing, singing, dancing, and using gamification techniques to inject fun into learning, there is no need for boring lessons at home.

It means finding ways that you can enhance their academic journey and support their development and knowledge of the world around them in a fun and beneficial way that doesn’t actually feel like they are learning or sitting in another lesson.

Luckily, there are multiple ways you can support your children in their education journey with ease and still have fun at the same time. Read on to find out more.

Know Your Child

As a parent, you need to know what engages your child the most and how they learn. By getting a better understanding of how their brain works, how they absorb knowledge around them, and what gets them excited, you can implement this into supplemental education to help them boost their learning potential.

Music

Music is an excellent way to help your child learn. At an early age, exposure to music can help children learn about the sounds and meanings of words. As they get older, they learn new words, improve pronunciation, and boost their confidence as they join in singing.

Music is instrumental in helping children learn things about different cultures and countries and can help with spelling and mathematics, too, depending on the music you listen to.

As you develop a love for music, your child can indulge in playing or learning how to play different instruments; they learn how to write music and even create music, too. For example, a MIDI foot pedal for guitar can help your child learn how to customize music on the go, thanks to the app, and allow them to express themselves creatively whenever the urge strikes.

On top of this, music is fun and social, meaning your child gets the benefits from the feel-good hormones released, they have something they enjoy, an ability to connect with others with the same passion for music, and also getting moving. Because you don’t just listen, make, and sing along to music, you can also dance to it too. You can combine mental and physical education in one fell swoop simply by listening to different types of music.

Gamification

It doesn’t matter what your thoughts are on the use of screens and the internet as a way to pass the time; utilizing gamification in learning is becoming more prevalent and is an excellent way to help your children learn and develop their skills at home.

Gamification harnesses the power of play to transform the learning environment as it is geared towards enhanced engagement, concentration, motivation, and retention. Educational gamification tools are geared towards providing a learning experience that teaches your child skills and appeals to their sense of fun and play, allowing them to indulge in this and learn something new at the same time.

In a world that is becoming increasingly digital, ensuring your child has access to this aspect in a positive way can help you to support how your child learns what they learn and keep their brains engaged and having fun so it really doesn’t feel like learning.

Free Play

Unstructured free play has become somewhat of a buzzword in recent years. This is mainly down to the prevalence of parents preparing activities and occupying children’s time so they always have something to do. However, free play is vital to support your child’s learning and to their development at any age.

By allowing your child to just play with no aim, you set their imagination free. They can play and inmagine different types of scenarios to bring their play sessions to life. By invoking their imagination, you will be able to see your child put into practice what they have learned, practice critical thinking skills, problem-solving, and so much more, all of which are beneficial in a learning environment.

So next time you feel like you need to find something for your child to do to help them learn, why not let them take the lead? They can figure out what they need to do, set their own play parameters, and take more control over how they learn, what they digest, and how they put into play what they already know.

Reading

Reading to your child and with them is an excellent way for them to learn many different things, from reading and comprehension skills to improved literacy, as well as encouraging curiosity, sparking conversations, and enhancing parent and child relationships.

One study in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioural Pediatrics found that the exposure of one picture book to children per day can provide children with up to 78,000 new words per year.

Encourage your child to join in the story with you and read it back to you even if they can’t yet read. They can read from memory or make up a new story as they go. Ask them their thoughts on the story if they are old enough or even have them practice writing a novel themselves to read one day so you have something new to read and they can practice their language and literacy skills.

Talk To Them

Strike up a conversation, get involved in their imaginative play, or anything else at all. If you want to slip some learning into your time with your child, then get them talking and have a conversation. You can talk to them about your day or their day, what you’ve been doing, e.g., paying bills, what it means and how you do it, setting a budget, managing your time so you get things done with older children so they have an idea of the types of responsibilities they will face in the future,or absolutely anything.

Not only is this a great way to strengthen your bond, but it also enables you to see where your child is with their conversational skills and their current knowledge levels or interests. Get them talking about their favorite hobbies and current topics at school and see if you can share information. The more you talk, the more they will learn, even if you talk about absolutely nothing in particular, just a random chat.

Plan Adventures

Getting out and about in your local neighborhood is a great learning opportunity while also giving you the chance to have fun at the same time too. Look for free events at libraries, museums, and attractions you can join in on. Take walks around local parks and look for wildlife and different types of plants, insects, or even buildings from different eras.

You can plan scavenger hunts, go on sightseeing adventures, go for a nature walk, or do absolutely anything that interests you and your child. If you’re after a great way to learn about the local environment and spend some quality time together, then planning adventures is a great way to do this. Why not start a bucket list of adventures you both want to go on and then put them in a jar and pick them out randomly for something to do?

Meet Friends

If you are indeed homeschooling, then ensuring you take advantage of local homeschooling groups and activities can help your child to engage more and learn something new from others who are also educating in this way. If not, look for local groups or community initiatives that give your child a hobby, or you also, if you wish, and once more, find something fun to do and something new to learn. Even volunteering at a charity event can be a great educational experience. Not all education comes from books; we pick up most of the things we know from others around us or from engaging in the world.

Have your child be as social as possible, encourage them to meet up with friends, have their friends around your home for play dates, etc., to help them build new skills that will benefit them throughout their years of education and beyond.

Creativity

Lastly, encouraging creativity is an excellent outlet for any child. Not only does it give them a way to express themselves, but it also develops new skills, passions, and ways of thinking. When it comes to being creative, there are no limits as to what a person is capable of, and harnessing this with your child can be the ideal way to support or supplement their learning journey.

Be it artwork, making content for social media for teenagers, writing stories, acting, woodwork, or anything else, encourage them to discover their capabilities and see what happens. As they develop their skills and get their creative juices flowing, they will, in turn, support other areas of learning as they will be able to take this passion for discovering new things and apply it to many different areas of their life, too.

If you really want to help your child learn more and improve their knowledge and skills, these tips are great ways to engage your child and help them learn more about who they are and what they enjoy so they can learn as much as possible in a way that works for them. From reading or writing, singing, dancing, and using gamification techniques to inject fun into learning, there is no need for boring lessons at home.