by S D Rios

Created on: January 05, 2010

We all know that children are little sponges and can be obsessive learners when it comes to mastering every strategy in their favorite video game or memorizing the names of every Littlest Pet Shop figurine in their collection. So what happens when children go off to school and seem to lose the natural love of learning that they display in other circumstance? It's simple. To some degree, the problem can be summed up like this: the subject doesn't interest the child, the presentation of the material is uninteresting, and the material isn't relevant to the child's life.  As a teacher, I am the first to say that most teachers try to make lessons interesting for students, some more than others, but we as parents can help revive and support our children's love of learning in these simple ways.

1. Make the subject interesting. Any subject can be taught in a way that captivates the audience. We all remember those outstanding teachers who could make chemistry riveting and English grammar fun. Whatever the subject is, think of facets that appeal to the child. If your child is learning about simple machines, don't just review worksheets and flashcards. Build a Rube Goldberg machine using pulleys, inclined planes, and other simple machines. Construct your own pulley using tape and string in a doorway. Let your child try to screw in screws of different types to figure out which is easier and why. Go to museums, visit the public library, find fun websites on the subject on the internet, watch youtube videos together. There are countless ways to make learning exciting to a generation of children that are used to a faster pace of learning and stimulation. Hands-on activities are a wonderful supplement to a school curriculum that is often so full that it leaves little time for the fun part of learning.

2. Enjoy learning along with your child. Be the model for curiosity and enthusiasm for learning. When your child learns something new, let them be the teacher and teach you what they have learned. Kids love to be the experts and feel tremendous pride when they can teach their parents something new.  Teaching is learning. When your child needs to review, let them create their own activities online, make their own flashcards, or create fun puzzles that you can complete together. Both the making of the activity and its completion are great ways to review material. Visit your child's classroom if you can and show that you are interested in what is being taught.

3. Make things relevant. When my son was learning to read, I had a difficult time finding books that interested him. He preferred nonfiction but, for some reason, his school librarian only allowed the younger students to check out fiction. Obviously, it was easy to supplement his reading on my own and make reading fun for him. He also loved Pokemon so I used his sight words in silly stories that I wrote about his favorite Pokemon characters. Use your child's interests to make learning more relevant and, thus, more enjoyable. If your child is struggling with math and loves cars, print pictures of cars and add up windows, wheels, doors,  and so on. Make charts and graphs just as students would in class but using the subject matter that interests your child.

It would be wonderful if we could all keep the natural love of learning that young children exhibit. As children grow older, they need our help to maintain that joy of learning. By showing your child how subjects relate to their world and the things that they love and find fascinating in it, you will help them to make connections that will reinforce their learning.

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