Hot Momma’s Advice: Keep your children’s minds and bodies active. Learning through play makes for a great holiday!
The school term has come to an end here in Guyana, and the excitement of the break is beginning to set in. There is plenty of time to sit back, relax and enjoy your child.
Take time during this holiday, to sleep in, cook together, spend a whole day in your pajamas reading, go on a trip or enjoy a nice evening walk. It’s also important to keep your children thinking over the long holiday period and, like Hot Momma has advised, keep the learning active.
Active learning gets children involved in what they are learning and most importantly it gets them thinking! That’s why my Hot Momma suggests promoting active learning through play.
One of the best ways you can get your children thinking is by letting them play, play and play some more. Giving your children as many opportunities to play as possible will help them learn in ways that sitting down and studying can’t. They can learn how to be team players, how to understand roles and rules, how to use their imagination, and let their minds take them on adventures that encourage them to think.
Thinking is hard work, and we naturally try to avoid doing it. If children (or adults) can get through a day without really thinking, they probably will. Getting creative with your children while playing with them, as well as giving them independent play time will help put that hard act of thinking to work. Scheduling play dates with their friends, exploring your community, taking a trip to the beach or getting dirty playing outside with them are fun examples of active play and that will naturally encourage learning.
When it comes to parenthood, I know the tasks seem endless – working, feeding, bathing, diapering, dressing, cooking — the list goes on and on. So, when it comes time to get down on the ground and play, who can blame a Hot Momma if she’s too tired to push around cars, play cricket or jump a little hopscotch? Playing with your child and promoting play shouldn’t feel like work. One of my Hot Momma’s greatest realizations was that parents need to stop pressuring themselves to be the ideal playmate all the time, every day. Relax and enjoy the time you spend playing with your children, whether it’s for five minutes or two hours. There’s a pretty easy formula for deciding when children have had enough play – they sleep well! So keep it up and keep it moving.
Please send specific or general questions about your child’s education or way to teach them to: classroomguyana@gmail.com Classroom Guyana was inadvertently not printed yesterday.
