Listed below are activities you and your middle-schooler can do at home that will reinforce and further the learning done in school.
Shared Reading Experiences: Share and talk about the main ideas of articles with your child that are about material she learns in science, social studies (including current events), or topics she finds relevant or interesting. Share items in articles having to do with data collection and analysis as studied in math. You can even read the same book that your child is reading for English and form a family book club.
Write for Enjoyment: Encourage your child to keep a journal; try keeping one yourself. When you or your child finds a passion topic, write about it in a relevant way. For example, write letters to favorite authors, write letters to publications about articles or even try and submit an article to a local publication or website.
Share and Solve Math in Your Life: When you encounter math in your life, show your child how you solved the relevant math equation or have him assist you in solving it. This may occur in areas such as:
- Changing the measurements in recipes, especially when it involves adding, subtracting, or multiplying mixed fractions.
- Computations having to do with creating and working with a budget.
- Figuring out distances when traveling or sales prices when shopping.
- Data collection or analysis.
Use Technology to Enhance Your Child’s Learning: Since most middle-schoolers are technology fans (and experts), encourage your children to use technology to "show what they know" or further their learning. Of course, as with any use of technology, be sure to monitor your child’s technology use, access, and communication with others. Some ideas to get you started:
- Making short-video book reviews of books being read.
- Making quick videos (or using one of many various apps) for presenting short narrated lessons about topics being learned so that your child can teach you.
- Create photo collages or scrapbooks of work completed and or books read.
- Create a continuous conversation via email or another technological format in which your child sends you quick snippets (pictures and or texts) of something interesting she learned. Follow up with questions or comments on what your child sends.
