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Even the youngest child in school can benefit from an integrated approach to education. If parents are involved with the child’s education, and they talk to teachers during school conferences and events, it is much easier to coordinate educational activities.
Don’t just think about homework!
True educational integration can include having parents come into the class to talk about what they do for a living and expose the children to ideas they may later use to make career decisions.
You can also talk to the teacher about events you have seen in the papers or in advertisements.
For example, if the Museum of Natural History in your city is holding a special showing or event about Egypt and you know your child is studying Egypt, you can talk to the teacher about taking the child to the museum and having them do a special class report.
Or, even have the teacher arrange a class trip and take the entire class to the exhibit. Teachers are always looking for new ways to stimulate the interest of their class and with enough notice they may happily take you up on your suggestion.
Another way to incorporate ‘outside’ learning into the classroom is to find out what modules your child is learning in school.
One woman whose son was learning about minerals and geology offered to spend 45 minutes with the class to show them the beautiful stones she had collected from the four corners of the world.
The teacher gave her a globe and the children excitedly looked for the countries from which the stones originated and held the stones. Then they drew pictures of their favorite rocks to post on the bulletin board.
Another man offered to take his child’s class on a field trip with their teacher and some chaperones to visit his bakery.
The children got to look through the supply room to see what ingredients went into the baked goods and then they watched various products being made for sale.
A few of them worked to help package the items and tie the strings around the boxes, and some of them even took a turn at the cash register with the staff to take the payments from the customers.
When they got back to class, they wrote a paper about what it might be like to run a bakery and the problems you might face.
Remember that learning should be about more than books and lectures. Anything you find in life that can teach a child is fertile ground for integration into education.
As you pursue your own career and life, and participate in recreational activities, think about how you might be able to work with your child’s teacher and the school staff to bring ideas to them and incorporate these everyday events into teaching children about the world.
Here are some other ideas you might find helpful:
- Suggest that the class attend a marathon run or a horse track and spend time with the athletes and/or the jockeys before or after the race talking about preparation and how the race affects the body. How does hydration and nutrition play into training? What does the training entail? Have the children write papers about what they learned.
- Find an art gallery exhibit or a special exhibit at a museum and suggest that the class take a field trip.
- Remember that you need plenty of lead time and notice for the school to get approval for these trips and decide if they can fund the trip so be sure you watch the newspapers to see when exhibits are coming to your area over the next four to six months.
- For example, when the dinosaur exhibit went to the Museum of Natural History, many classes took a field trip and were able to learn a lot about the time the dinosaurs were alive, what they ate, and how scientists believe they became extinct.
- Seeing the dinosaur bones and the pictures and animation in the exhibit brought the entire experience to life.
- Another such exhibit on Egyptology and archeology became fodder for a young group of teenagers to learn more about how scientists study ancient cultures and the implements and adornments these people used during their lifetimes.
Many schools already have educational outreach programs but if you work with your teacher and even join the PTA or the board, you can have a greater influence on the range and breadth of the activities your child is offered as part of his or her educational experience.
Want more ideas?
Download our Free Interactive Guide, “Educational Activities to Share with Your Children” now. It’s packed full of great ideas and is a fantastic resource you can use time & time again. Researched for the UK and only available from here - “Educational Activities to Share with Your Children – UK Guide”
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