By Artyom Zinchenko, PhD
During the Great Plague of 1665-6, England endured a dark period, losing about 15% of London’s population in just months. Amidst this, Isaac Newton, then a Trinity College, Cambridge student, retreated to his family home in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire. This change from Cambridge’s academic environment to the tranquility of Woolsthorpe proved pivotal for Newton. During this time, he developed ideas that would revolutionize physics.
In Woolsthorpe's solitude, Newton's thoughts on gravity, sparked by, as the story goes, the sight of a falling apple, led to his laws of motion, foundational to modern physics. His experience shows how time away from formal education can lead to significant personal and intellectual growth.
Fast forward to today, as mid-November begins the holiday season with its festive atmosphere. This time, magical for children, also marks a transition from structured school routines to a more relaxed holiday schedule. The challenge for parents during this period is maintaining their children’s intellectual engagement.
Here are some strategies to keep young minds learning during the holidays, ensuring this break from school isn’t a break from educational growth and ways to use this celebratory season for continued intellectual discovery.
1. Utilize Different Environments for Educational Advantage: The holiday season often involves staying in different environments, such as relatives' homes, hotels, or vacation rentals, which can unexpectedly benefit learning. Research suggests that studying in varied locations like these can enhance a student’s ability to retrieve information, thereby improving memorization, recall, and test scores. When learned in different settings, the brain forms diverse associations with study material, such as a cozy room in a grandparent's house or a quiet corner in a holiday cottage. Additionally, if students have the opportunity to walk in nature during the holidays, witnessing the first snow, parents can turn this into a learning experience. Discussions about the reasons behind the changing seasons, the unique geometry of snowflakes, and how these natural phenomena occur can enrich children's understanding of the world around them.
Adapting to these new surroundings, from the bustling atmosphere of a family home to the unfamiliar zoo environment, can improve a student's ability to focus amid distractions. This adaptability is a valuable skill, aiding concentration in diverse situations. Furthermore, these different settings can encourage learners to view their study material from fresh perspectives, fostering a more creative and comprehensive thought process.
2. Create a Flexible Holiday Learning Schedule:
The holiday season is perfect for children to reinforce concepts learned during the last term. Spaced retrieval, a strategy for reviewing lessons at increasing intervals, is key to making essential lessons unforgettable. Recommended intervals, such as examining on Day 0 and then on Days 1, 3, 7, and 14, help maximize retention. This approach, especially when combined with graded cues in the following learning stage, ensures that the brain effectively transfers information into long-term memory.
Graded cues in teaching adjust assistance based on a learner's proficiency, decreasing as they improve. This scaffolding approach provides appropriate support at each learning stage. For teaching math, one can begin with simple concepts such as multiplication, illustrating it as a form of repeated addition. For example, one demonstrates the multiplication of 3 as '3 x 1 = 3, 3 x 2 = 6, 3 x 3 = 9' to show how each number in the sequence results from adding three repeatedly. This helps in grasping multiplication basics. Research shows these examples aid learning more effectively than unsupervised attempts. As learners become more skilled, you reduce guidance, promoting independent problem-solving.
This blend of spaced retrieval and graded cues, customized to each child’s recall ability, offers a more personalized and effective learning approach than traditional methods. It enables children to use the holiday period to catch up and reinforce their understanding.
3. Incorporate Educational Games and Activities: The holiday season is an excellent time for family gatherings and time off from our routine, which offers the perfect opportunity to enjoy board games. These games could be fun and instrumental in enhancing young kids’ math skills through counting and dice usage, making understanding numbers and basic arithmetic easy and enjoyable.
Our family’s favorite game is the Labyrinth board game. In this game, pieces on the board can be moved to construct a path through a maze-like labyrinth. It’s a fantastic way to teach children about strategic thinking and planning several steps. As we navigate the ever-changing paths of the labyrinth, we all have a lot of fun while training our minds to think critically and anticipate future moves.
When the games include elements of history or science, they subtly turn playtime into a learning experience. These games connect school lessons to the real world in a playful way. Simple games like tic-tac-toe on a restaurant placemat or a round of 'Go Fish' also encourage thinking and memory skills, all while keeping the focus on fun.
Beyond the educational benefits, these games foster essential life skills such as teamwork and strategic thinking. They encourage children to communicate effectively, make informed decisions, and collaborate. Whether navigating the twists and turns of a labyrinth or solving a historical puzzle, these games offer a unique blend of education and entertainment, making learning an adventure for the whole family.
4. Encourage Reading and Storytelling: Holidays provide an excellent opportunity to foster a love for reading and storytelling among children. Encouraging them to delve into books or create stories can significantly develop their curiosity, creativity, and literacy skills. For example, we’ve been engaging in storytelling activities where children create fantastical tales involving real and imaginary animals. My youngest recently crafted a story about a dragon and a hummingbird friendship. The tiny yet courageous hummingbird taught the dragon, who was afraid of flying. This story led to a creative family discussion about courage and friendship.
Reading diverse holiday stories from around the globe and engaging in storytelling activities are powerful tools for academic growth and personal development. These practices help children learn to express themselves and understand others, fostering empathy and global awareness through the powerful medium of stories.
5. Learning new skills is a fantastic way to help your child feel more in control and confident in their abilities. Take cooking, for example. You can start by baking together, where you first lead the process. Gradually, let your child take over more steps, like mixing ingredients or choosing recipes. It's a fun way to explore dishes from different cultures and times, turning each cooking session into a mini adventure. Such activities are not just about learning new facts or skills; they're about building a solid sense of control and capability in your child, which is essential for their growth and learning journey.
Recognizing that learning doesn’t have to pause for the holidays is crucial. Just as Newton's most profound insights came outside the conventional halls of academia, so too can children find opportunities for growth and discovery during their time away from school. As educational reformer John Dewey aptly said, 'Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.' This belief resonates especially during the holidays, a time rich with unconventional but equally valuable learning experiences.
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