Free Time as Motivation

Students have busy lives. Children are dropped off at school (or daycare) often before the parents go to work. At school, they have between 6 to 8 hours of lecture, activities and projects they must do. They often have one break in the mid-morning for 15-20 minutes, when they have to have to decide between having a healthy snack or playing outside. Later, a 40-45 minute lunch break where eating is reduced to a 10 minute silent period, where children are rushed out of the auditorium to make room for the next group. Afterschool daycare has become the norm, where staff supervise constructive activities. More often than not, children must attend homework club/study periods where adults help them with their homework or projects, as parents return too late from work to be of assistance. Children aren’t reunited with their parents until 5 – 6 pm, where evening home activities may include finishing up unfinished homework, helping with chores, bathing and getting ready for the next school day. If the child is lucky, the are picked up earlier in the afternoon, shortly after school has finished, only to be carted off to sports activities, dance lessons, gymnastics, music lessons, swim practice, tutoring, martial arts…you get the idea. Whew! No wonder they are exhausted at the end of the day. With this kind of schedule, I have noticed children like to have “their own time”. A time that they can decide what they are going to do, for a specific time period. This is often the incentive I use with my middle school students. For a week as students stay on task, they earn an activity where they may choose their free time. It has become effective, motivational and successful. It is never longer than 15 minutes and they look forward to not having anyone tell them what they can do with their own time.

Play To Learn, Learn to Play

As education continues to move toward proof of student’s academic learning through testing and statistics, it inadvertently moves further away from understanding whole student, development and the life-long learning process of learning. The reason for this blog is to reach an audience who is interested in practical application as opposed to theoretical rhetoric, and I acknowledge that the overall goal of academia is for our youth to be educated so they are productive and successful members in our society. When I was a student teacher, my master teacher had a great saying: Play to Learn-Learn to Play. His understanding of his kindergarten students was that if the teacher/facilitator/parent, realizes that children, and for that matter adults, enjoy interacting on a non-stressful and engaging level, the activity can teach them the same concept as “practicing” the information with pencil and paper. Soon, I will be releasing an ebook that give 25 free (or nearly free) practical ways to practice reading with your young child. Please stay tuned!

Toys Without Boundaries

Children today have a wide variety of choices to engage their minds during their free time. Electronic games have goals to reach, board games have a means to the end, and sporting games eventually have winners and losers. I encourage my students and children to do activities that have no “end game”. Toys like building blocks, connecting rods, and erector sets. Crafts like painting, working with crafts and modeling clay. And imaginative play, like role playing, building then playing creative instruments, and just playing. These activities engage the imagination, remove boundaries and and encourages creativity. The late amazing Walt Disney was asked if he thinks outside the box, and he replied, “why does there have to be a box?” Therefore, next time your child or student says “I’m bored”, answer them, “then you are not curious”.