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Ideas for parents to sneak in some learning on snow days

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  Snow days come and snow days go! Often parents and teachers are happy to have a break, but they mourn the loss of learning time. So, there are some things that parents can do to sneak in some learning on those snow days. By learning, I don’t necessarily mean schoolwork though that is always an option if they have homework to complete! There are many other ways to keep students learning and using their academic skills without them even realizing it.

 

TV and Videos

  Television and videos are not necessarily first on most teacher lists, but these are a great option to keep kids interested and learning at the same time. However, you can’t just let them surf!  Find a few options for them and let them choose. For younger students, look to the learning channels online or on tv. Programming for kids is often great for learning new things in short, fun ways with lots of singing. Netflix and other streaming services also have lots of options for educational videos, along with YouTube. For older students, watching anything with current events is great along with some of the great options on Discovery or the History Channel. Again, Netflix and online options also have so many great learning videos on a variety of subjects.

 

Games

  Games are another great option that combine fun, learning, and family time. Board games and card games bring in all kinds of skills for students to practice in math and critical thinking. Scrabble or Upwords are awesome vocabulary options and of course, all of these games can be found online these days too. Also falling in the game category are apps for devices. There are so many great educational apps for students of all ages. It will take a little bit to narrow down the good ones, but involve your kids in finding ones that don’t have a lot of ads and that do have some kind of learning focus.

 

Books

  As an English teacher, it pains me to hear kids say that they didn’t read on their day off! Kids can fit in a good 30 minutes of sustained reading at some point in the day. If you don’t have books at home, jump online! Local libraries offer free ebook checkout now and you can also find actual books and texts online. Programs like Tumblebooks are great for younger students and will read to them from a wide assortment of books.

 

Letters

  Another great option is to use some time to write some letters. Yes, snail mail! You can have your kids write letters to anyone - family, friends, military members, people who need a positive note, or the newspaper. This will let kids practice their writing and you can weave in some social skills and good deeds if you want to!

 

Crafts/Music

  Let’s not forget creativity and the arts! Practicing their instrument or working on something artistic taps into their creative thinking skills and encourages them to step outside the schoolwork too. Again, you can make this a good deed project too and have kids work on something creative to share with someone else.

 

Snow days are a part of life for many homes, but they don’t have to be days where our students don’t use their brains for anything except zombies and sleeping. Any of these suggestions would keep students’ brains churning and still allow time for playing in the snow and enjoying their day off!

 

What other suggestions do you have for sneaking in some snow day learning?


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