What’s the Big Deal About Reading?!

To expand on the reading theme, try acting some of the books out – use family members, pets, stuffed animals, puppets, whatever comes to mind! Be creative to stimulate that characteristic in your child. Thomas the Train stories are easy to act out with a few train sets… Dora the Explorer dolls can act out stories… most stories in books for very young children are character-dense so easily acted out, but as they grow they can put on plays based on Little House on the Prairie books, or American Girl, for example.
There is no need to restrict our children’s learning to a classroom environment. While driving in the car, you can work on colors, shapes, geography, you name it. The grocery store is another learning-rich environment, not just a place to try desperately to maintain our cool while we keep things out of our young children’s reach. With older kids you can explore different cultures, work on math with serving sizes, compare nutritional labels.
Many kids really enjoy nature books such as the Audubon series and pocket guides on birds, butterflies and moths, bugs, plants, etc. Teach them how to explore their world!
If you approach life with a fun, “this is interesting, let’s find out more” attitude, rather than a dreary attitude of “everything is either entertainment or work”, your children will pick this up. You will find that it can help turn even resistant learners into curious, inquisitive people with open minds and positive attitudes. If learning (even schoolwork) is seen as an interesting opportunity, it is much more likely to become a habit that can last a lifetime.