Ways to Help Kids Connect Book Knowledge to Real Life

If you are in charge of raising a child, I believe that you are the link that will most effectively connect book knowledge to real life for your child. As hard as educators work to provide the best education for your children, there is often a huge disconnect with school learning and real life. Students become masters at making the grade by whatever means possible, but miss meaningful learning in the pursuit of the grade. Too many students graduate from high school and fall flat on their faces when it comes to functioning well in college or life on their own. And few high schools are taking note of that. Parents and guardians can play a big role in helping kids survive and thrive in life by staying connected with their education and providing opportunities for kids to apply book knowledge and skills in real life situations throughout their school years.

The following are a few ideas (and there are so many more out there) of ways to reinforce the lessons taught at school: 

Math

•At the grocery store, ask your child which size of the same product is the better buy based on the cost per ounce; ask them to figure out if using a coupon on a name brand product is a better buy than the generic equivalent

•At a fast food restaurant, make it a habit for you and your child to estimate what the total would be to make sure it’s correct (& often you'll discover errors on the cashier's part)

•Let your child learn measurements by using a recipe to make some- thing from scratch; doubling the recipe is good practice, too

•Show your teen how much money is wasted in interest paid when the credit card isn’t paid off at the end of each month

•Tell them about the different taxes you pay & the percentages of your salary

•Show your teen how to use a budget & get them in the habit of saving money (the lack of a budget usually hides overspending)

•Make sure they know their multiplication tables

•Make sure they understand decimal fractions; if you teach it using money, they’ll get it

•If you see your child struggling with a certain concept, you make sure they get it so they won’t have gaps in their math

•In a retail store, have them figure out how much an item is on sale, whatever the percentage is

•Have them estimate how much it’ll cost to put a certain amount of gallons in the vehicle when filling up

*If you are planning to provide your teen with a car, require them to earn the first $1,000; they'll take better care of something they've invested in

*Let them experience earning money with a job inside or outside the home

Communication (Reading, Writing, Speaking, Comprehension)

•When your child (at any age) receives a gift, have them write a thank you note to the giver

•Have your child order for themselves at a restaurant

•Have your child handle their purchases in a store themselves, including speaking with the cashier

•If your child makes a mistake, allow them to apologize and make it right

•You and your child read the same book and discuss it with each other (Rotate picking a title)

•Talk about movies you’ve seen, or a current event or social issue to see if they have a good grasp of what’s going on

•See how well your child can write & if it’s not acceptable, do something about it

•From an early age, find opportunities for your child to speak  in front of a group

•Talk about potential jobs & careers;  make sure they know what subjects they need to master in order to be successful in those careers

•Make sure they know the positives & negatives of using technology to communicate, & make them aware of the digital footprints they are creating when using the Internet

•Don’t allow phones, iPads, & iPods at the dinner table

•Assume they know nothing about something they need to know about life until they prove otherwise

•Have them write letters to your elected representatives about issues that concern them (education, for one)

•Be there when they’re talking to you

Social Studies (History & Geography)

•Talk about meaningful historical events, holidays, etc.

•Do a family tree; record family stories

•Create a timeline, or if you have the space, a stack of timelines which stacks the following timelines: world history, U.S. history, community or state history, & family history

•Watch or play Jeopardy together

•Study your community’s history & then visit the local museum, cemeteries, or historical markers

•Talk about countries in the news & their  history

•Learn about new cultures & how they live differently than you do

•Teach your children to appreciate the price of freedom by visiting memorials and events that honor veterans and those who died in service to our country

•Keep a globe or world map displayed somewhere in your home where you can find or mark the countries they are learning about or hearing about on the news (or if someone they know is living abroad or serving abroad in the military)

•Learn about a place before you travel there

•Have your elected representatives’ names posted & write letters/email together expressing your views about certain social issues

Science & Technology

•Talk about how to use technology well & safely

•Try to stay up with your kids; let them teach you, if need be

•Teach them to be their own best filter for the Internet & why they should guard their eyes

•Help them to practice looking outside the box for solutions to problems

•Give them a safe place to brain- storm their ideas

•Give them the space & permission to dream & invent & then go after them

•Help them learn to not give up; that the most important skill when achieving great things is perseverance

•Talk about the problems & needs in the world; in their country, or community, or home, & brainstorm potential ways to remedy them

*Spend time out in nature with your children; watch the bugs and birds and flora; star gaze at night

*Model and teach them to respect nature and to be good caretakers

*Plant a tree or bush or garden together

The Arts

Don't forget to expose your child(ren) to the arts, especially music, art and drama. They open up areas of the brain to the imagination and creative thinking, and tend to improve learning in the other subject areas. 

There are so many other ways to help your kids to learn to think critically, to speak for themselves, and to apply the knowledge and skills learned in school by using them in real life. I've barely scratched the surface! Feel free to share other ideas with me and I'll add them to the post: donna@donnavancleve.com  [And please don't submit as "Anonymous" as my filter deletes them as spam]. Thanks!