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August is here again and school starts on the 19th day of this month. That is less than three more weeks of free time for kids and three weeks of childcare duties for parents and grandparents. We all hope for the best when school starts, but grim news reports are telling us that academic scores are down all over the world -- except in Singapore.
Short of moving to Singapore, what can we do to make a difference for the kids we know and love? The best advice I can offer for adults who care about kids is to have fun talking with them about math logic patterns, word meanings, and appropriate social behaviors.
Cooking offers great math logical learning experiences that can happen daily. Research shows that people who are good at math do not think as much about numbers as they do about quantities and amounts of things. The sad truth is that schools are not places where teachers can offer real quantitative experiences for every number combination and every math operation. However, home is the place where cooking happens, and children can benefit from helping to measure ingredients, set the timer for the amount of time it will take to bake cookies, and enjoy the results of their efforts. Of course, adults have to help with the cooking process to keep it safe, but it is also important to talk about the difference between a cup, and a half cup. When adults can share the responsibility for measuring anything with children, it is a quantitative learning opportunity.
Shopping together creates good money math logic and language lessons when families can learn to calculate taxes and judge product quality together. Back-to-School ads are in stores now and the WV sales tax Back-to-School holiday starts August 2nd and ends the 5th. Students get a tax break on clothing, instructional materials, computer laptops or tablets, and sports equipment.
It's time to go shopping before school starts. This week is an important time to talk about prices and percentages as well as use vocabulary that helps define shared standards of quality, style, and taste. Parents can use new vocabulary that helps a child gain word meanings in real-world settings. As we think about what will help students most, we need to understand that math and reading go together in this life and in "word problems" on standardized tests.
The more adults help children reason through their choices, the better we prepare them for success in school and in life.
Nevertheless, appropriate social behavior is the most important lesson that families can teach children. The basic decency of caring social interaction is what we have to model every day at suppertime. Anything we do or say with our beloved children is part of their intellectual development. Subtle things take time to teach and learn. That is why children can gain so much from parents and grandparents who take time to talk with them respectfully. Thoughtful dinner conversation is one of the best predictors of good SAT Scores.