Remember Anything

We’ve all heard the familiar refrain that too much television will ruin a kid’s brain. And now in the computer age which of us parents hasn’t heard the same thing about the time our kids spend online? But just like we’ve learned from choosing television programming, the issue of whether or not it’s good for children to spend great amounts of time in front of the computer is more a matter of the kind of online activity rather than the amount of time spent engaged online. The Internet is full of opportunities for free learning for kids. In order to take advantage of the opportunities we simply need to know how. So what should we do to in order to use these free opportunities?

Choose the area of study
For pre-school children, this is easy because they are learning the basics, and at the pre-school level everything is basic. For older levels we must allocate greater time to the subjects requiring more practice. For instance, does my child need more practice in reading comprehension or math? Regardless of the subject, there are websites offering free learning for kids. Some can be completed online, and some can be printed. This latter option is especially useful with younger children.

Make it age/level appropriate
It sounds obvious, and in a general sense, such as choosing between pre-school and third- or fourth-grade levels, it is, but in more specific terms the issue becomes more important. We need to remember that kids, like all people, learn best when the chosen lesson fits their current mastery of a subject. Pick a level that’s too difficult and the child will become frustrated and discouraged. Pick a level that’s too easy and they become bored. Neither scenario promotes learning. If we want to take advantage of the opportunities for free learning for kids, we first have to know the child’s current level within the given subject.

Make it fun
Before we examine the options available, let’s use an analogy to ensure we understand the issue. We all know that our kids need vegetables. But what do we do with a kid who hates broccoli? Do we employ torture methods to coerce the kid to eat broccoli, or do we simply give up? Neither choice is going to solve the problem. What if we instead find the vegetables that the child likes? It’s the same with learning. Ask any teacher and you will hear that the most difficult part of teaching is finding ways to maintain the students’ interest. Sure, some kids like math and some don’t. But math practice, like vegetables, comes in many different varieties. So next time you select a math lesson and your child seems to learn nothing and even complains that it is boring, try letting them play an online game where the only way to defeat the villains is to solve math problems. You’ll be taking advantage of an opportunity for free learning for kids, but your child will simply be playing a game. You both win.

Next time we are tempted to blame recreational things like the television or Internet for providing a distraction from our children’s’ learning, we need to remember that the Internet is full of opportunities for free learning for kids. We just need to know how to take advantage of those opportunities.

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