An Educational Leg Up

The other day, my partner and I had a phone consult with a relocation expert. It’s our goal to go rural and be as self-sufficient as possible. In addition to inquiring about good locations, optimal acreage, water cisterns, and acclimating into a new community, we also asked about children. “Children are an asset,” we were told. The man had homeschooled his children, and his children are now homeschooling their own. He offered us his curriculum, and we graciously accepted.

As a child, a good friend of my mother’s homeschooled her children. The kids were brilliant! They built a trebuchet, they went on a field trip to Boston to learn about the American Revolution, and they referred to body parts by the fancy anatomical name. Though I was not homeschooled myself, my mother was a former school teacher so my education never stopped at the end of the school day.

In the back of my mind, I’ve continually considering what I would do to raise good kids. This got me thinking. What did my parents do well? What would I do differently? What childhood habits and trends lend themselves to success in adulthood?

Considering all the successful people I have known, I believe the commonality is that the adults in their lives did things beyond the classroom to facilitate learning as they grew up. So, here’s my working, makeshift list of things I’ve observed that seem to work, and that I would plan to implement if I ever become a parent.

11 things you can do with your kids to give them a leg up on their education

1. Read aloud. Reading aloud is underrated. Read as a family, not only before bed but also after school, at the breakfast table, after dinner, and on the weekends. Choose a chapter book the whole family will enjoy, and let it be a bonding (and literacy reinforcement) activity.
2. Plan a budget. Budgeting is a great way to teach kids about math, money, planning, strategy, and delayed gratification. Give them a set dollar amount to plan a vacation, a fun activity, or dinner. Add in some parameters to make it challenging.
3. Let you kids obsess over their interests. Create an environment where your kids can pour over the things they find interesting (and learn through doing). Steve Jobs spent hours deconstructing and building radios at home before founding Apple. I spent hours at a time on jigsaw puzzles, Mensa logic puzzles, and building structures with my brother’s K’NEX, while my sister would line up all her stuffed animals to read them books. Today, our careers both align with our early interests.
4. Play math games. Teach your kids fractions when dividing a pizza. Play games like monopoly and let your kid be the banker. Let your kids tally up your spare coin collection (and use the extras to buy a treat). If your kid enjoys logic puzzles, pick up the Mensa kids workbook.
5. Play trivia. Have decks of trivia questions available on road trips and slow days. The acquisition of knowledge is fun and the friendly competition is exciting. I have very fond memories of Brain Quest curriculum-based questions.
6. Engage in hands-on projects. Involve kids in cooking, building, gardening, sewing, oil changes, and household repairs. These are all great multi-disciplinary skill-building activities. Kids learn transferable skills like math and problem solving, and they also learn practical hands-on skills that can be carried forward into adulthood.
7. Keep a scientific log. Keeping notes and making scientific observations is a great way to hone kids’ observational and writing skills. Have them choose anything they find interesting: the weather, the sprouting of a lima bean, the mail route, the lifecycle of a caterpillar, mold on a piece of bread.
8. Challenge your kid’s mathematical awareness. Play estimation games: What time will we get home? How many chocolates are in this jar? How many boxes can we fit in the back of the car? How tall is that hill?
9. Write letters. The art of correspondence is dying, but it shouldn’t be. It’s a great way to hone writing, communication, and interpersonal skills. Older adults, cousins, or friends far away make especially good pen-pals. Few things are as fun as awaiting a letter in the mail!
10. Write a chain story. Give your kids a writing prompt, then take turns writing a story, setting whatever parameters you like. This is a great way to foster creativity, and to make writing fun.
11. Shadow someone. Few things are as mind-expanding as getting to watch an adult working in a field you find fascinating. Find a local adult that works in a field your kid thinks is cool: firefighter, police officer, farmer, scientist, architect, historian, etc. Expose your child to different career opportunities and, potentially, find an adult willing to become their mentor and cheerleader.

You don’t need to pull your kids out of school to deliver an amazing education. That amazing education can start at home, today, no matter what school they’re in.

For those of you who are parents, what am I missing? What are some tools and tactics to help develop sharp, inquisitive, well-adjusted kids?