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School and Learning Resources for Parents

Learning Opportunities to Discover

Kevin Fenton

Revised July 2009 by Kathleen Olson, Extension Educator - Family Relations

Parents are the most important teachers children will ever have. As a parent, it is important for you to support your children’s education both at school and at home. The world is full of opportunities that reinforce and expand what your child discovered in school. The trick is capitalizing on them. Here are some things parents can do to support their child’s learning:

• Ask questions.
• Point out articles of interest in the newspaper.
• Encourage your child to write notes, help with grocery lists, shopping, read labels, and help with chores around the house.
• Discuss a television program you’re watching together.
• Have everyone read the same book and discuss it.
• Watch the news together and discuss issues.
• Have your child help you fix a household problem.
• Discuss the meaning of new words and concepts.

Apply homework lessons at home. For example, if your child is studying maps, make a map of your neighborhood. Sometimes this involves an outing. For example:

• Take your child to the library.
• Visit a local museum, zoo or nature center. Afterward, ask your kids to design a museum of their own.
• Walk in your neighborhood. Talk about your favorite buildings.
• At a restaurant, have your child help you figure the tip.
• Go bowling. Have your child keep score.

What you do is sometimes less important than how you do it. For example, watching a sitcom together could be as educational as visiting a museum. Have fun, talk about what you've done, share opinions.