Education Week 2020 celebrations don’t have to simply finish when you leave the school gate for the day.
NSW Education Week 2020 explores the theme of ‘learning together’ in the uncertain times we’ve faced this year. This means bringing teachers, students, parents and families together to be partners in learning, to collaborate and build strong relationships.
Embrace Education Week 2020 and think about how you can learn together at home, out and about – really, wherever you are.
Here are five ways you can celebrate ‘learning together’ from outside of the classroom.
Start a New Book Together
Education Week is the perfect time to jump into a new book for bedtime story time.
Studies show that just 20 minutes of reading time at home each day exposes a child to about 1.8 million extra words a year compared to a child who doesn’t have that same amount of reading time.
So why not learn together, read together and dive into another great book together!
Discover Somewhere New
Get out and about and find a new bush walk, bike path or pavement to explore. Chat about the things you see and make observations about your new environment.
Listen to the sounds of the landscape and describe what you’re hearing. Count the amount of cars you see in the street and try some simple maths. Read the street signs together and guess the meanings of the names.
Ask, What Does Learning Together Mean to Me?
Ask the question, what does learning together mean to you?
Be that in the car, at the dinner table or while on a walk, ask your little ones what ‘learning together’ means to them.
This will give you a great opportunity to learn more about what your child needs to best learn and develop.
You could turn your conversation into a crafternoon activity by drawing a mind map with coloured pens and cardboard. For older kids why not approach it in a journalistic way? Get your kids to interview family members about what Education Week and ‘learning together’ means to them.
Start Learning a New Skill as a Family
Why not bring your family together to learn a new skill?
Try dedicating some time during Education Week to start learning a new game, a new recipe or even a new language!
Learning together in a fun family environment might mean that even parents learn some new things too!
Go one further and let your little one guide you home, although you might need to use something like Google Maps if you get lost!
Start Writing Together
There is no time like the present to start a new diary or journal.
Starting with Education Week block out a few minutes each day and write a journal with your child and you can relive memories and events from your past together.
Write down a list of things you’d like to learn together or individually over the next year and reflect on them at a later date. This would be a great place to set and write down goals with your child, e.g. read 20 books before the end of the year, memorise times tables.
Another challenge and a perfect way of learning together, maybe for the tech savvy, would be to start a video diary or blog.