At-Home Educational Activities Teens and Tweens Will Love
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Guest Post Submitted by Laura Pearson, info@edutude.net
The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown everyone's parenting roadmap off course, especially when it comes to school. Whether your kids are distance learning full time, attending school in person, or adapting to a hybrid learning model, you've probably faced a few road bumps along the way.
If your kids are backsliding academically due to changes in how they attend school, don't panic just yet. Not only will there be plenty of time to catch up once this passes, but there are a lot that parents can do to supplement classroom learning at home.
And no, I don't mean sitting kids down at the kitchen table with boring workbooks and piles of math problems to solve. Keeping tweens and teens engaged in learning requires making it fun enough that they'll reach for educational activities long after the school day is over. So how can parents pull it off? These are the best tactics for getting kids excited to learn.
Gamify It
Getting teens away from screens and into the real world is a constant challenge for parents. Rather than fighting your kids' love for screen time, why not harness it for learning? Gamification uses the motivational techniques of games to encourage kids to learn.
From earning mastery points and badges through Khan Academy to playing educational video games, there are lots of ways to gamify learning at home. Other examples include:
● Online code camps
● Educational apps and websites
● Geoguessr
Parents can also gamify everyday learning by giving points for meeting objectives, turning classic games into studying tools, and creating healthy competition within the homeschool classroom.
Of course, adding gaming to your homeschool day is only going to increase the workload of your already overburdened internet. Rather than keeping kids low-tech and missing out on the benefits of gamification, upgrade your home internet to one that can keep up whether you're running a PC, video game console, VR headset, or all three.
Nurture an Educational Hobby
Self-directed learning is a parent's dream come true, and a hobby is one way to make it happen. These are just a few educational hobbies that your child can do at home and outdoors:
● Reading
● Creative writing
● Art
● Film making
● Building apps and websites
● Second language learning
● Astronomy
● Geocaching
● Board games and miniature games
● Musical instruments
Listen to Podcasts and TED Talks
Podcasts and TED talks turn lessons into stories. The result is educational content that's highly engaging for teens and tweens.
Don't just set your kids up with TED talks and podcasts for teens. Challenge your learners to put on their own TED-like talk about a topic they’re passionate about. Kids can even try their hands at podcasting! This guide from NPR's student podcast challenge is a great place to start.
Build Your Student's Life Skills
If your middle- or high-schooler is still struggling to engage in learning, it may be because academics just don't feel that important while we're all stuck at home in the midst of a pandemic. While it's important to keep kids accountable for their schoolwork, parents should also relax their expectations right now.
Instead of pushing flashcards and speed drills beyond your child's capacity to learn, use this time to teach life skills. From time management to money management and more, these lessons are just as important as what's on the curriculum.
This is a tough time for everyone, kids included. While it's important to provide structure for middle- and high-schoolers during distance learning, don't stick to structure at the expense of your child's education. Whether it's gamifying complex subjects or fostering self-directed learning via hobbies, podcasts, and games, sometimes stepping outside the box is exactly what kids need to get excited about learning!
For more Noteworthy Parenting tips, visit the blog today.
Submitted by: Laura Pearson, edutude.net
Laura is passionate about teaching and loves writing to help teachers, parents, and students. She is passionate about advocating that learning should be fun and should not just be confined in the classroom. Edutude is her brainchild to be able to share free resources for teachers and parents. Submitted by: Laura Pearson, edutude.net
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