Link the Holidays to Learning

Holiday break is the perfect time to promote learning in fun, non-traditional ways. Try some of these ideas: many of them involve the whole family; all of them will make the holidays an enlightening, memorable time for your children. Plus, they build traditions—and learning skills.

• Start a family tradition of reading holiday stories out loud. If your children are older and can read, have all family members take turns. From the whimsical to the classic, some holiday favorites include:

  Lvl	Title	Author	ISBN
  K	Froggy’s Best Christmas	London, Jonathan	0670892203
  1	How Santa Got His Job	Krensky, Stephen	0689806973
  2	December	Bunting, E.; Diaz, D.	0152014349
  3	The Borrowed Hanukkah Latkes	Cote, N.; Glaser, L.	0807508411
  4	My Prarie Christmas	Ray, D.K.; Harvey, B.	0823408272
  5	Follow the Star	Elmer, Robert	1556616600
  6	Gift of the Magi	Henry, O.	0689817010

  Quizzes for all of these titles are available on BookAdventure.com, Sylvan’s free reading incentive program for children.

• Take in some holiday performances. You shouldn’t have to look far to find them. Local colleges typically perform holiday classics like the Nutcracker; churches often give holiday-themed concerts that are open to the public.
• Bake holiday bread or cookies together. There’s nothing like rolling up your sleeves, getting covered in flour, and savoring the sweet aroma of fresh baked goods. Baking also affords the opportunity to apply several different types of lessons: math can come into play when you’re measuring ingredients, particularly if you halve or double the recipe. For children of all ages, baking awakens the senses—smelling each ingredient on its way to the mixing bowl; feeling the dough as it takes shape between fingers; and tasting the final product.
• Take a family field trip. This can be as simple as a walk around the neighborhood to enjoy the holiday decorations on lawns and in store windows, or getting in the car to explore local points of interest. To pique children’s interest in such a trip, let them choose the destination, within a given mile radius. If they’re old enough to do so, have them research the choice on the Internet before the trip, then compare their findings afterwards.
• Put on a play for extended family members. Gift opening doesn’t have to be the only highlight this holiday season. After the presents have been opened and the food eaten, let the real entertainment begin—a child-created play. If some forethought goes into it, your children and their cousins or close friends can take time creating and learning scripts, designing costumes and sets, and bringing together the show on your living room or basement ‘stage’.
• Have your children document the holidays. Provide a throw-away camera (or, if they’re responsible enough, a more durable one) and have them take pictures during family outings throughout the holidays. Encourage them to capture as many extended family members on film as possible. Then, provide materials to create a scrap book, including not only the photos but also illustrative captions that tell the story behind the people and events.

To help your child catch up, keep up or get ahead, consider speaking with a Sylvan expert about our in-center and live, online tutoring programs. Call 1-800-228-3413 or click here and we’ll call you right now.