Tips for Nurturing a Child's Curiosity: Creating a Lifelong Learner

The future can be compared to an iceberg floating in the ocean. We only see a small portion of the iceberg above the water; the vast majority of the iceberg is out of our sight. The future is a lot like that iceberg; we see a part of our possible future but so much of what will happen is unknown to us. Again, I ask you to think of the times you have said, "If I only knew then, what I know now…" At this young age, you have the opportunity to take full control of every aspect of your child's educational experiences. Right now, in these young, formative years, you have the excellent opportunity to set the stage for your child's possible future. You also have the chance to reduce the times your child will say, "If only…"

Most professional teachers are dedicated educators who do a great job under difficult and diverse circumstances. But there are bad teachers out there as well. You will not know if your child is going to be in a class with a dedicated teacher, a class with a dedicated but overwhelmed teacher, or a class with a bad teacher. Therefore, it is up to you to prepare your child for the rigors of the formal education system so they can succeed not simply survive.

The diversity of students, student's needs, and policies, in the public school classroom is so great that the current education system seems designed to ensure failure. In the effort of trying to provide everything it takes for every student to succeed equally many students fall through the cracks. Do you recall the different learning styles we discussed earlier? Do you recall the different parts of the reading process? Do you recall all the different math concepts? These are processes professional teachers are trained to recognize, and use, to help students learn. Is it any wonder that some children receive less time with a single teacher teaching a class of twenty plus students each student having different learning styles, behavior issues, and attitudes about school. It is up to you, the parent, to prepare your child so he or she can succeed in the classroom no matter the conditions.

Your main part, as a parent, in this process is to simply make the time to encourage your young learner's curiosity and desire to learn. Spend your commute time when your child is in the car as a telephone free time so you can talk to your child. No matter your child's age they will benefit from simple conversation with you. One or two nights a week, tape delay one of your television programs and watch it later so you can spend one extra hour interacting with your child. Involve your young learners in kitchen centered activities even if it is only to have them at the nearby table while you work. Do not banish them to the television or bedroom; keep them close to you while you work.

Listen to what your child tells you now before you can't pry a straight answer out of them. Buy one less pack of cigarettes this week and use that money to purchase a coloring book, puzzle book, or a bus ride to the nearest local library. Enjoy an audio book on the next family road trip rather than buying a new electronic game to keep the kids quiet. Capitalize on the moments you already spend with your child. Maximize these moments and use them to stimulate and excite your child.

Every parent says they want to help their child succeed in school and life. Most of them mean it but fail to follow through. It's easy when children are young, but then they develop 'a mind of their own.' It is during this time, as the cute toddler grows older and sassy, that something happens and parents begin to spend less time with their children. Soon parents begin to leave too much of their child's mental and emotional growth in the hands of someone else. That passing of the teaching torch is understandable when it comes to the formal education process. One train of thought among parents seems to be that no matter how poor the state of public education seems to be, it is best to leave teaching solely to professional teachers. This erroneous thinking undermines the formal education process.

Granted teachers are highly trained professionals, but it is up to you to give teachers a student who is excited about learning, open to learning, able to resist the class clowns, and able to proceed on their own when the teacher can't get to him or her right away.

GENERAL TIPS
The tips that seem to reference older school age children are presented here for you to think about in advance. About one year before your young learner begins the formal education process you should introduce them to the idea of a new schedule and a new routine. If you begin practicing the new 'school schedule' in advance, the year your student actually begins school should be easier. Also, a year or so before your child begins school you should begin following local school news so you can learn about award winning teachers, good and bad school board members, and opportunities or programs your district offers.
1. The first tip is a basic, no-brainer, that we often ignore. Eating a good breakfast and getting a good night's sleep are important for a child to be receptive to classroom instruction. Yes, this tip is still very true even though your grandma probably said it to your parent. I've had students fixating on what was for lunch at 9 a.m. when lunch was still two and a half hours away. No student can focus on learning when their stomach is growling louder than the teacher is talking. I know we all want that extra fifteen minutes of sleep but even a micro-waved pastry and glass of milk is better than nothing. Don't get your child hooked on the soda and candy bar breakfast routine; ten extra minutes is all you need for a quick nutritious breakfast gut bomb. Even a quick breakfast will help your child focus during the early class periods.

2. Make it a rule that your student cannot have a new music CD or game until all of the necessary supplies have been bought for school. It infuriates me to see students flashing new 'bling', or a 'grille', or an iPod, or the latest video game, yet never have a single pencil or any notebook paper for class work. As much as most school's tout all the technology they incorporate into the classroom, pencil and paper is still very much a part of the educational process. Let your child know you believe they need to be prepared for class and that school is important.

3. At an early age start the practice of keeping all of your young learner's 'work' in one place. Begin by having them put all of their things in their room when they get home or finished with a project. This simple routine will lessen the chances of losing or misplacing something important. Furthermore, you can save all that time which is wasted looking for a lost shoe or a misplaced backpack. Children should learn to keep their backpacks, desks, and papers organized in a special location so they, and you, can find things easily and nothing gets lost. This will help you, and the student, keep up with future homework, school assignments, completed work, and supplies. If the child's special storage space is in the bedroom you can start a display wall of accomplishments over the workspace to make it even more special.

4. Make yourself available for your child. Five, ten, or fifteen minutes of uninterrupted talk in the car or on the bus can be a wonderful experience for both of you. Listen to your child. You may not even get a word in if your child has had a big day, but the point is that you are learning about your child and they see you stopping and listening to them, only them, and it will show them they are important to you.

5. After you have seized a teachable moment, summarize or recap while the moment is still fresh in their minds. Be verbal. Look at them. Encourage them, use positive reinforcement, tell them you're proud of them, and let them know that you are always available to help. It is very important that you are not afraid to tell your child when he or she comes to a wrong answer or makes a mistake. Explain the error to them and show them the right answer. They must also learn that a wrong answer or error is not the end of the world and they are not stupid for getting it wrong. It is important to show them why they got it wrong and how to do be correct next time.

6. Keep a positive attitude about education. Remember that we've already discussed how our attitudes affect children whether we know it or not. We pooh-pooh math because we did poorly in it and that often taints our children's attitude. There is no reason your son or daughter won't be the next math whiz that wins a Nobel Prize. It is important for parents to be a role model to your children; really now, who else would you want your child to name as their role model? Our children learn from parents, uncles, aunties, family friends, and public figures. But it is the parent who should have the strongest influence in their child's education and life, and it is time for parents to take back that very important position. It is also time to be positive and supportive of teachers because there is a tsunami assault of forces working against you, your child, and changing public education for the better.

7. Develop a 'school schedule' as early as possible. It should be in place no later than one year before your child enters school. There is no sense in adding the trauma of a radically different schedule to separation anxiety or the meeting of dozens of new people and classmates. Many families today are incredibly busy but with a little organization, you should be able to develop a schedule that accommodates every family member's schedule.

One way to do that is to develop a firm but flexible schedule, ahead of time, allowing sufficient time to meet each of the family members' routine activities. It should be firm so that everyone knows the basic plan, but flexible so that last minute opportunities, changes, or rewards can be worked in with causing a domino effect of problems. Many times, when a family begins creating a schedule, it becomes clear that there are simply too many activities to actually get to, and that is when some hard choices must be made. School success may require ending an activity that is popular but too time consuming to continue. It may also mean that parents find they have to cut a few of the extras out of their lives for the good of their children.

8. Keep the two-way communication open. Take time every day to listen to your child without distractions. Let your child tell his or her experiences at daycare, at school, with the teacher, or with classmates. How much fun is it to listen to your child tell you about Show and Tell from their young perspective! How much grief can you avoid if you learn about the class bully today rather than next month after weeks of harassment? How much lost time can you save if you learn that your child's teacher talks so fast no one can follow along? Just by listening, without distractions, you can do a lot toward making your child's formal education process a lot smoother. As questionable grades come in, or if other problems arise, you will a better understanding of the circumstances that may have led up to them simply because you've been listening.

9. Keep yours and your child's expectations realistic. As much as you want a baby Einstein or a first round draft pick it is much too early to be thinking along those lines. Let's focus on the fundamentals first. If you think your very young learner is having learning problems, now is the time to seek help. Don't wait until he or she is in school; it is best to deal with any problems early and have an individual learning plan in place before beginning school. It is proper to expect your child to do well in school but do not expect every assignment to be an A grade. Keep goals realistic and reachable to avoid frustration. Frustrated students act out causing problems for the entire class.

10. Be honest. Be honest about your school days, your hopes for your child's future, and the evaluation of their scholastic abilities. Tell your young learner you understand their difficulty with learning math or history and that is why you are going to try to help them. By being honest you are providing a balanced look at success and failure by showing that genuine successes are rewarded and failures are not the end of the world.

Our nation has experimented with education policies that rewarded students for simply trying without reaching the correct answer and that type of thinking has undermined our students and graduates. In math, 2 + 2 = 4 and that is the only correct answer. Your bank is not going to cut you slack for erring in figuring your bank account. A miss by an inch is the same as a miss by a mile. It is time for students, and policy makers, to understand that some answers are indeed black or white, all or nothing, right or wrong.

11. Provide a rich environment for your child to grow up in. By rich environment I don't mean a home full of 'bling', antiques, sterling silver serving platters, or fifty-seven inch plasma screen HD TVs. I mean rich in the sense of providing access to reading materials, activities, coloring books, puzzle books, building toys, reading materials with pictures, and access to an interested parent.

I cannot help but think of some of my high school students whose world was limited by an alarming lack of exposure to what lay outside the neighborhood. I wonder how many doctors or scientists our nation missed nurturing into a career simply because a student never had an experience that set them off in that direction? How many great national leaders have we missed out on simply because there wasn't enough class time to get to study America's Founding Fathers or altruistic leaders?

12. Here may be the hardest tip for you to do. Period. Harder than reducing your cell phone use. Perhaps even harder than giving up one pack of smokes a week. About a year and a half before your child enters school you should start paying attention to all stories about the local school board and school system.

This public information will give you insight to school board members and various teachers in the district. You will find out which school board member is in touch with things and which members are clueless. You will learn which teachers get rewards or reprimands. You will learn which political, technical, and academic direction your school system seems to be going. You can learn about school transfer opportunities and any other program you are interested in. You can learn about these programs in enough time to benefit from them fully.

I find it amazing that school boards rarely have anyone with classroom teaching experience as a member. Active classroom teachers are barred from being on the school board in my district. I have found that most school board members, especially those without any classroom teaching experience, are easily swayed by the experimental program 'du jour' presented by the current superintendent or a flashy consultant.

Usually school board members are realtors, business owners, and people with agendas to push. I have found in years of first hand experience that when a 'teacher' becomes an 'administrator' they seem to forget everything they learned during their classroom teaching experiences. It is worse with school board members who see results, good and bad, but have no idea about the actual process of teaching or the regular classroom experience. It is important for you to take an active role in changing the current education system for the better or we will still be complaining about the same problems when you are picking your grandchildren up after school.

13. Behavior modeling and learning steps can be broken down into five steps. These steps are simplified for your convenience, but they are similar to what teachers are trained to use.

First, you must provide a reason to the child for the expected behavior, in other words, make it relevant to give the child ownership.

Secondly, you should always explain the expected behavior clearly so the child knows the exact parameters of what is expected. Vagueness can lead to unsatisfactory results that can, in turn, lead to frustration that can lead to behavioral problems and more.

Thirdly, you should model the expected behavior so the child sees and understands through demonstration. Don't engage in "Do as I say, not as I do"! To do this costs you your credibility as a teacher, and a parent.

Next, try to practice the expected behavior as often as possible for repetition helps the lesson stay with the learner. You remember the old adage, "Practice makes perfect"!

Lastly, you should monitor the learner's progress and provide feedback both positive and constructive when needed. One of the realities of classroom teaching is mirrored in the saying, "Monitor and adjust". This is necessary for the classroom teacher with a large diverse group of students having a diverse set of needs in a single class. It is also words of wisdom for you, the parent, as a way to keep learning relevant for your growing child.

14. Know when to say when. If you have joined the growing numbers of parents who have decided to take an active role in their children's education I commend you. Be patient as you child will learn as his or her own pace. Do not compare your young learner with other young learners at this stage; there will be plenty of comparisons made once your child enters the classroom. For now, just expose your child to lots of learning exercises and experiences. Reward your young learner as necessary but don't create false self-esteem by going overboard on every little success.

You will notice that I have often said, 'Numerous studies show that…' without citing the studies. I really didn't want to bore you, adult reader and concerned parent, with the results of this government study or that university research or this company's survey. Most of what you have read so far you already knew in your heart, suspected in your mind, or accepted as unchangeably inevitable. I also know, from an earlier career in broadcast journalism, that facts and data can be manipulated (spin doctored) to make almost any point seem legitimate or dominate. You know that is true if you have ever seen the same news story covered by different TV networks or print media. The bottom line for public education is that it is as bad as you've heard and read, and it doesn't look like it is going to be fixed by teachers or politicians anytime soon.

It is up to the parents of future students to fix the system before it is truly too late to fix. Take my suggestions, tips, and views then dig into them deeper and adapt them specifically for your circumstance and abilities. The truth is out there, available for all who seek it. I beat my head against the Great Wall of The System for many years before finally deciding I needed to let you in on the carefully guarded secret that the truth is, "If education is going to be changed, it is going to be up to you, the parent." And, if you can't change the system, at least you can give your own flesh and blood a good shot at getting the most out of the formal education experience.

TIPS FOR BUILDING READING SKILLS

1. Start working with your young learner early and stay at it. In just a few months your infant can sit with you enjoying looking at pictures as you point to and name them. Please don't use baby talk. Baby talk is nonsense and only delays the development of your infant's verbal skills. Point to the crib's mobile and name the parts. Point to the pillow, blanket, and booties and name them. Include the color of an object when you name it. For example, say the blue blanket or pink sleep suit. Point to body parts and name them. Point to the various bathing accessories and name them. Don't feel self-conscious when you do this; your child knows you are showing love and interest even if they can express their feelings yet.

2. Vary the tone and volume of your voice as you read. Be silly, sing nursery rhymes, act out a scene, and make funny voices and sounds as you read stories. Stop now and then to show them pictures in the book. Name the objects in the picture are showing them, try to get them to repeat the word. Let them see you are reading from a book, even if they don't know what a book is, because they will remember your were holding a magical object you held in your hands.

3. As your child ages, encourage reading for fun on their own by keeping books and magazines in your home. As your child ages you can adjust reading time from just before bed to earlier in the evening or keep the pre-bedtime reading and add another time to read during the day or week. Let your young learner see you reading the newspaper, reading a book, or thumbing through a magazine. Read an interesting story or news item each day to your child. Show them an interesting photograph and read the cut line caption below the photograph.

4. Talk and listen to your children without distractions. Language is a multi faceted skill including comprehending, speaking, listening, reading, and writing. By talking to, and listening to, your child you will know if he or she is using words properly and understanding what he or she is reading. Listen for new words your child has added to his or her vocabulary. Listen to determine if they are explaining concepts in a clear way. Listen to hear what is going on in your child's mind and life.

5. Show your child that reading is a part of daily life. Make reading relevant and fun for your child and you have created a life long reader. This is as easy as including your child in any project you are doing. When you cook together read the recipe and explain why you must prepare and cook the dish the way the recipe directs. Read instructions on your new purchase and explain why it is important to read instructions and directions. When you are waiting for a bus or taxi read from a storybook that you have brought to read during the wait. Read from restaurant menus or order boards. The opportunities are limitless.

6. Use a variety of resources to help your children experience the fullness of the written word and language. To help your children improve their reading and expand their awareness, use computer programs, books on tape, and books available in discount and other types of stores. Games can be good choices because they let children have fun as they work on their skills, but you should always be nearby to answer questions, offer help, and give praise for successes.

7. Have your child put in the last word. During a story, stop near the end of the paragraph and have your child predict the last word or phrase. This exercise will allow you to discover if your child is listening and comprehending as well as use their imagination. Afterwards, read the end of the paragraph and see how close your child came to matching what the author wrote.
8. Explore your neighborhood public library together. Take your child to the local library branch and introduce them to the wide selection of books, newspapers, magazines, and live story telling programs that they have to offer. The library's public use computers provide the perfect opportunity to introduce your children to the Internet without you having to buy a computer. Many students who are being raised by grandparents often don't have access to home computers and the public library offers free computer use. If the library's computers are in use you have a world of books to look at while you wait.

9. Choose a new word to learn and use each day.
Introduce your young learner to a new word each morning at breakfast and define it for him or her. Keep it simple by using easy words. For example if you are going shopping choose a word that is related to the experience. The same process can be used during family vacations or sporting events. Make a game of using the word properly as many times as possible each day. Review yesterday's word while you eat lunch then return to the new word of the day.

10. Make an ABC picture and word scrapbook. If you are someone who enjoys arts and crafts you can help your young learner create a scrapbook of words and pictures. Label each page with a letter of the alphabet then, using old magazines that you have collected have your child search for their favorite thing that begins with that letter of the alphabet. Using the larger size scrapbook pages your child can add a new favorite object when they discover one. Make this search for pictures a special time. The goal is for your child to find a magazine picture, a newspaper photograph, or computer print out beginning with that letter of the alphabet and add it to the scrapbook.

11. Assign a letter of the day and find words or objects using that letter. For example, use the name of the day of the week; on Monday use the letter M and look for mustard, mowers, mom, movie, etc. On Tuesday use the letter T and work in words that use that letter. Eat foods that start with the letter, look for colors using that letter, think of people's names, pet's names, types of cars, etc.

12. Make a list of everything your child has read today. Sit down with your child at lunch then again at dinner and make a list of everything that required reading skills during the day. Your list will include things like reading game instructions, road signs, recipes, magazines, cereal boxes, etc.

13. Begin a family diary. At first your child can simply draw the daily additions. Or, better yet, you can write out a paragraph or two as dictated by your young learner. Let your child see you writing in the book as they tell you what to write, even if they can't read yet. Don't worry about the content making sense, just let your young one tell you a story whether it is pure imagination or something that happened during the day. Add to the diary on a regular basis. Take the diary out and read it aloud on a regular basis.

14. Follow up on things discovered during a family outing. If you've collected sea shells during a vacation then look up facts about them up in a book. Discover the shell's real names and how they are made. If you have a pet turtle read up on turtles. If you visited a national monument, look up the history of the monument in a book when you get home. If you've printed out photographs, have your young one write a few facts on the back of the print.

15. Introduce your child to poetry/song lyrics. Most children will respond to children's poetry because of the nonsensical words or cadence of the beat. There are plenty of children oriented poems and songs to choose from so do not use rap or hip-hop or modern rock lyrics. Use age appropriate lyrics while pointing out the words that are being sung. Simple poems are easily remembered by young children and poems show the fun side language to your child.

16. Explain how some people make a living reading and writing words. When you watch a movie with your child explain to them that someone had to think up and write out the words the actors are saying. Remind your child that someone had to think up and write the story in the book they are reading. Movies and TV shows are simply stories you don't have to read, but someone had to write them.

17. Remember you don't have to be a professional teacher to make an impact on your child. But as an involved parent you can prepare your child to get the most out of classroom instruction if you begin them on the road to reading early in their life. Your child's teacher will appreciate it and your child will benefit from the head start.

TIPS FOR TEACHING MATH SKILLS

1. We can't escape mathematical word problems. As much as we hated those word problems in math class they did reflect real world situations. Most us of will never be faced with the math problem of two trains hurtling toward each other at mach speed and only we can calculate where they will smash into each other; but we do word problems all of the time. You can take the anxiety out of these types of word problems by simply talking numbers and math functions with your child. Use the piggy bank where your child is saving those pennies, nickels, and dimes and talk about adding or subtracting coins, or try estimating how many more coins will be needed to be added before the reward can be purchased.

2. Demonstrate the necessity of math in everyday life. Let your young learner see you doing the bills using a calculator. Let your child see you estimating your car's average miles per gallon of gas. If you use cash for grocery shopping take a calculator with you and keep up with the total amount as you shop to make sure you don't spend too much money. Point out the use of math as you play board games or watch sporting events.

3. Use games and educational programs to teach math skills. Many games can be a math learning tool; it is important to choose age appropriate games, of course, but even games for the youngest of children have some math in them. Computer software is very good at teaching while entertaining and often the child won't even know they were learning math skills. It is important that you are nearby to give praise and correction as needed.

4. Use household routines to demonstrate math principles. We've been in the kitchen a lot but let's take a look at laundry room opportunities. Have your children sort the laundry into groups of socks, shirts, pants, or towels. You can even break these groups down into sub-groups such as whites and darks; solids, stripes, or patterned clothing; towels and washcloths; as well as adult clothing and children's clothing. After making sets of similar items have your child count the items or take them to the rooms in which the clothing belongs.

5. Use toys to teach math skills. Construction toys are great for counting and shaping activities. Blocks and connectable toys are great for adding to and subtracting from to make desired shapes. Ask your child how many blocks it took to make that particular creation or how many blocks tall or wide is the creation. Count out a certain amount of building items and have them create an object out of only that many. Have a race with your child to see who can make an object in a certain amount of time, say one minute, then count the number of blocks used.

6. Display number examples to young learners. For this example you can decorate your young learner's bedroom with colorful numerals. Buy some colorful construction paper at the local discount retailer. Cut one numeral out of one page of construction paper. On each cut out number, place marks or stickers equal in amount to that number. Use stickers representing something your child enjoys like candy canes, cartoon characters, or whatever you can draw. Your child will be exposed to the numeral and the representative amount whenever they look at the cut-outs. As your child grows you can print out digital photos from a birthday party to make new numeral cut-outs for the wall based on your child's birth date. Or, you can make numerals from photos of any event that can be signified by numbers.

7. An inexpensive combination lock could unlock the door to numbers. Once your child is older and able to identify numbers a combination lock is a good tool to make numbers relevant and provide the child a small sense of ownership. A combination lock for the bicycle or toy box will provide a reason for a child to remember a sequence of numbers, see the sequential nature of numbers on the lock's dial, and demonstrate one of the many uses of numbers in everyday experience.

8. Don't forget to keep learning fun. You can use word games and rhymes to teach math concepts. There are mnemonic and rhyming techniques that children pick up easily and retain. Techniques like this learned now can help the older student learn new material easier than students who haven't had preschool experiences in math.

9. Practice on your math before you have to help your child. It helps to brush up on your math skills before your child starts asking those hard questions that make you hesitate revealing your inner fear of math.

For percentages remember the word following 'of' is the number you divide by to find a percentage. If you want to know what percentage 60 is of 160 you would divide 160 INTO 60 and your answer would be .375 or 37.5 percent after moving the decimal point.

Another tip to remember is to replace the term 'percent' with the term 'per (one) hundred'. A percent is just that, the relationship between a number and 100. So, 20 percent would be 20 units per 100.

For those annoying fractions just remember the rule, "The number you are dividing by, Turn upside down and multiply". For multiplying fractions, multiply both top numbers (numerators) together then the two bottom numbers (denominators) to arrive at your answer.

Many of us forget how to move the decimal point when we multiply decimals. First, multiply the two numbers as if they did not have decimal points in them at all. Next, total the decimal places in the original numbers and count the number of places from right to left in the answer, then place the decimal point there.

You can brush up on the math skills you are not proficient at and have plenty of time to improve before your young learner starts asking the hard questions. Don't feel alone if you have weak math skills, you are not alone. However, it is time to turn the corner and help our children learn to not fear math.