Things sure are uncertain right now. As we prepare to head back to school – whatever that looks like – we thought you might want some helpful hints for creating a great learning environment for your kids at home.

Set a schedule - If your kids are learning from home, this is especially important. Kids will learn better if they get a good night’s sleep and they know what time they need to get up, eat breakfast, and be ready to learn.

If you need to create a schedule, we have a free PDF you can download here! Work with your kids and fill the schedule in with your specifics, print it out, and put it on the fridge. It will help all of you get on the same page.

Establish a quiet time and place for your child to work - Kids work better when they have the right tools in place. Then they are ready to settle in and do their schoolwork. Each age will need slightly different tools, but we know they will need:

• A set time to work
• Pencils and a sharpener
• Pens
• Paper
• Computer access
• Younger students – These kids really need something to use for counting, grouping and regrouping when they are working on math problems. These can be a cup of beans, Cheerios, Skittles, or pennies.
• Older students – These kids will need a calculator.

Turn off the television and other electronics that are not needed for work time.

Read to and with your child every day - This might be reading a book, reading recipes and choosing something to cook, or researching online.

Encourage your child to write - Your child can write stories, letters to your parents / grandparents, friends they can’t see, their teacher, or even reviews on products you buy on websites! Ask the teacher for specific things to do at home to support skills your child is working on during school time (at home, hybrid, or in-person).

Use games - Whenever possible, reinforce your child’s basic skills with games. A few of our favorites are:

• I Sea Ten: Players take turns flipping cards to show numbers and shout out “I see 10!” when they see combinations of numbers that together make 10.
• Proof: Work that mental math magic as you race to find creative equations hidden among nine number cards.
• Slam Ships!: Kids build new vocabulary and word recognition skills during every out-of-this-world playtime with the Slam Ships! Sight Words Game.
• Dog Crimes: Each of the 40 challenge cards presents a canine crime and a series of clues to help you identify the culprit.

Keep learning fun! If you or your child are getting too stressed out or frustrated, take a break. Go for a walk and have an alphabet scavenger hunt, cook a simple recipe (maybe double it) together, read a book, play a game. Above all, find fun in the learning process. 

These notes are summarized on this pdf – free to download!