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How to teach students about the solar system

Susan Cumberland July 24, 2015

Learning about the solar system is an important part of every child’s education. Planetary science or planetology, which is the study of planets, is one of the fastest growing areas of scientific research. In this lesson, we’ll discuss how you can teach students about the solar system.

Why is it important to teach kids about the solar system?

Knowledge about the solar system is more important than ever. It helps us appreciate the Earth. It gives us incentives to preserve and respect our natural resources.

And it helps us answer some of biggest questions of our day and age.

NASA says studying the solar system may help us understand important issues, such as how global warming will affect the Earth or how life originated on our planet.

Go to the movies!

Probably one of the easiest ways to get your children interested in the solar system is by showing them films. It can be hard to make the solar system interesting in a conversation. But showing videos, documentaries or even Hollywood movies can make planetary science come alive. With regard to documentaries, we’d recommend trying out National Geographic’s Journey to the Edge of the Universe.

But if a documentary is a little too much for your student to process, perhaps start off with science fiction movies. Yes, even watching Hollywood films can serve as an educational experience. But you need to make sure you hold a discussion with your kids afterwards to straighten out the facts.

One way you can teach students about the solar system is by having them watch a movie like Interstellar. Then ask them to spot what parts of the movie are scientifically accurate and what parts aren’t as they watch. Turn it into a game!

Of course, be on the watch for mature content and, if necessary, skip through parts of the movie you think might be disturbing to your child.

Make teaching the solar system visual!

A powerful way to show kids about the solar system is to create a model. One way you can do this is by cutting different-coloured planets out of construction paper and laying them out on the floor.

Put the sun in the centre and ask your children to place the planets in their right spots. Then talk about each planet. There are plenty of resources that can help with this.

Show students the planets and stars!

On a clear night, go to an area with little light pollution and try to find each of the planets. This approach often helps students learn about the solar system. Having children look at the planets in the sky helps makes the lessons tangible and real.

Spotting planets might be a little tricky at first, but with a little bit of practice, anyone can get it! Once your students learn how to spot planets, you can even start looking at constellations.

In addition to being a lot of fun, it can help students navigate. We’ve covered this topic before in our blog.

Make learning about the solar system fun!

Take the knowledge that you’ve taught your kids and turn it into a game! Family trivia nights about the solar system are a great way to start.

Another fun idea would be to play ‘I Spy” with your kids. Ask them to spot constellations and planets. See who can do it the fastest!

Use your imagination! There are many ways to make learning about the solar system fun!

Teaching students how to navigate without a GPS

Susan Cumberland July 17, 2015

GPS, or global positioning systems, are a wonderful tool. But they’ve become a big crutch that many of us rely on. There will be times when this technology will be unavailable. Perhaps some of us will go on family camping trips in remote areas. And, as a more dramatic example, some of us may be caught in a natural disaster. With that being said, it would be wise to teach students how to navigate without a GPS. In this article, we’ll go over some of the ways we can help our children learn how to travel without a GPS.

Show students how to use a compass

This is a topic we’ve already discussed in this blog, so we won’t go into extensive detail about it. But the long and short of it is that compasses are essential to navigate. Kids should learn how to use them. And it’s also wise to show children how to create their own compasses. We’ve suggested using a bucket of water and a magnet in the above post.

North, south, east and west — teaching students how to navigate without a GPS

Orienting yourself on a map is the first step to teaching students how to navigate without a GPS. We’d suggest you start by showing your children landmarks. If you live in the Vancouver area, start by showing your children the mountains. It is the easiest and clearest northern point you can show them. And regardless of where your kids are in the city, it’s usually easy to spot Cypress, Seymour or Grouse Mountain. If you’re not in Vancouver, many cities or towns often have a landmark that can serve as an reference point. Show it to your children. And on a clear night, you can also show them the north star.

Explain to students how to use a paper map

Children who navigate with their phones might need practice using paper maps. Teach them the basics of the grid system many maps use. Also, show kids how to refer to destinations via major intersections. For example, if you’re in Vancouver, you can tell them how 41st and Dunbar is in the western part of the city. On the other hand, 41st and Joyce is in the eastern area. And if your children catch on quickly, show them how maps can be used to show other things. For example, an informative chart might show elevation, distance and population. Very detailed maps may include demographic information such as political ridings, GDP and much more.

The final test — teach children how to memorize directions

Sometimes parents get separated from their kids and have no way of contacting them. Go over this article with your kids. Once your children know how to navigate without a GPS, we’d recommend teaching your kids how to find their way to important meeting spots. You could start with the most obvious choice: your home. For example, if you usually take your children to the grocery store, you could show them how to get back to your house from there. Once you feel comfortable with their navigation skills, drop them off at the store and ask them to meet you at your house. Tell them to keep their phones on just in case anything happens. But ask them to try getting home without using their GPS. Obviously, make sure you are doing this in a safe area first.

How internships, work and volunteer experience can balance a student’s education

Susan Cumberland July 10, 2015

We as parents are concerned about schooling in large part because we want our children to succeed in the work world. Many of us value education because it will help our kids become capable at providing for themselves. With this idea in mind, it’s invaluable to ask ourselves how much time our children should be spending in school versus how many hours they should spend on internships, work and volunteer experience.

School is invaluable for developing skills, but what use are students’ talents if they don’t know how to apply them? Internships, work and volunteer experience can help make what they learn in school relevant to the ‘real’ world. Each child will be different, but in this post we’ll try and dig up some valuable perspectives that can help you come to a decision about the merits of internships, work and volunteer experience.

Work experience helps develop entrepreneurial skills

The man who was one of the masterminds of 1-800-GOT-JUNK says schools often don’t do enough to teach children business skills. In a TEDx talk that has garnered more than 1.3 million views, Cameron Herold says children who often show potential as entrepreneurs are repressed rather than encouraged to use their gifts. He says one of the biggest problems in schools is teaching children to become employees, rather than teaching them how to come up with viable businesses.

And he says even business schools are guilty of this! Cameron says there’s nothing wrong with encouraging children to become employees, but when children receive little entrepreneurship training, many kids who show promise as business owners are having their potential wasted.

The solution? Work and volunteer experience can help alleviate that problem. He says it’s important for parents to encourage their children to start thinking entrepreneurially at a young age. His parents encouraged him to find ways to create jobs for himself rather than ask for them. His father taught him the basics of supply and demand when he was seven.

Cameron credits this type of parental mentoring for his success — he did poorly in school and was diagnosed as having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. But he says entrepreneurship helped him channel his creativity — which was not appreciated in a traditional school environment — into something positive.

If your children can start volunteering or interning

Work experience helps students land jobs in the future

And even if you’re not grooming your children to become one of the next Forbes 100 CEOs, work experience increases their chances of finding jobs, according to a National Post report.

Furthermore, the Government of Canada also agrees that working while still in school is a good idea for a slew of reasons, including developing professional networks, getting your foot in the door at a company, or gaining valuable experience from mentorship.

Volunteering helps build communities

Many schools are encouraging or requiring children to clock in some out-of-school volunteer time. According the New York Times, high school students who volunteered in high school are more likely to become active in civic or volunteer work later in their lives.

Regardless of whether students choose to volunteer or are forced to do so by schools, the effects seem to be positive, the article says. But that’s usually dependent on the job and whether the program allows students to learn about their work in the greater context of a larger issue. For example, students working in a soup kitchen may become more civic minded if they’re given the opportunity to serve the homeless and discuss their experiences afterwards. This may not be the case if their volunteer work in the shelter does not give them the chance to interact with people.

What we know about internships, work and volunteer experience

Generally speaking, it’s a good thing! But obviously, as with everything, balance is crucial. Education shouldn’t be neglected, seeing that schooling is related to higher earning and lower unemployment.

Working also teaches children how to overcome obstacles, which helps develop resilience.

But keep in mind, not all internships, jobs or volunteer experiences are equal. The benefits your child will get out of internships, work and volunteerism depend on whether those tasks encourage entrepreneurship, creative thought, problem solving and community consciousness.

Of course we’re not belittling menial labour, because those jobs have their benefits too.
In a nutshell, encourage your kids to get internships, work and volunteer experience. Try to find work that encourages the attributes we discussed above. But try to avoid overwhelming your children to the point their grades suffer.

How easily do children get sick? (Especially in summer)

Susan Cumberland July 3, 2015

As parents we’re always on the lookout for our kids’ health. In many populated areas, it’s not uncommon to have daycares and schools with lots of students huddled together for hours. Some parents think this can be a health problem waiting to happen. But in reality, how easily do children get sick?

Younger children get sick more often

Kids five years or younger typically get sick the most. That improves with age. Immune systems are fully developed when children hit 12 to 14.

The type of transmission and illness can determine how easily children get sick

The type of disease and the kind of contact determines what your child is more at risk for. Take a look at the bullet points below. So for example, if children are touching each other (e.g. a game of tag, high-fiving etc.) they’ll be more at risk to contract bacteria, viruses and parasites. Here is a great video to show kids about the ways they can get sick (including cross-contamination), and the importance of washing their hands.

This is because that’s how those infections are transmitted. If your kids are with other children who don’t cover their mouths when they sneeze, they’ll be more at risk for the common cold, since the cold is transmitted through the air. So take a moment and examine the information below to see if any of these scenarios apply to your children.

Direct contact can spread infections from bacteria, viruses and parasites. Some of the examples of infections caused by this include impetigo, scabies, lice, chickenpox, cold sores, ringworm and pinkeye. The best way to prevent this from happening is by encouraging children to wash their hands often. Keep infected areas covered as well.
Respiratory transmission is when children breathe respiratory droplets from an infected person’s lungs. Examples of this include the common cold, the flu, chickenpox and pneumonia. Keeping children at home might be a good idea to prevent these illnesses from spreading.
Fecal oral transmission is pretty much just as it sounds. Teach your children to wash their hands thoroughly after using the washroom. If they are too young to use a restroom, take extra care when changing their diapers. The consequences can be illnesses such as diarrhea, pinworms, and hepatitis A.
Blood transmission happens when your children come into contact with another person’s blood. Teach your children to report whenever they’ve been hurt and ask them if anyone had also drawn blood nearby. Examples include scraped knees in a soccer match (did the child you checked also get a bloody knee?), a schoolyard fight (did both of you get bloody noses?). Pay attention to the information your child gives you, and visit the doctor if you feel any cause for concern. Blood-transmitted illnesses include HIV, Hepatitis B or C, or cytomegalovirus.

Kids will be playing in the grass a lot — how easily can children get sick playing in parks or outdoors on vacation?

Kids play in tons of green space. Whatever local municipality you live in, there will probably be a park close to your home. When you’re on vacation, you may spend a lot of time in nature. That means there will be plenty of chances for your kids to play in the grass and murky waters. So how easily can children get sick when tussling in the green stuff?

Well, like most things in life, everything depends on the context. It seems how easily children get sick from playing in the grass is related to how often they’ve played in it beforehand. Kids who’ve played in grass more have tougher immune systems. So it seems like they won’t get sick as easily.

But take swimming in lakes and oceans, or even pools for example. Here is a video explaining diseases you can contract from swimming. Also rare, but real, is contacting the Amoeba disease through swimming in very warm waters (or using infected water), usually in hotter climates. No matter how small the likelihood is, parents should be aware. It never hurts to take a few minutes to check on any municipal announcements regarding lakes or swimming areas before diving in.

But there can be downsides. Lawn care chemicals can be harmful to anyone playing on the green stuff. The bottom line? Do some research about the place if you want peace of mind. Contact whichever municipality is in charge of the park to see what kind of fertilizers they use. And should you trust deet as an insect repellent? DNews explains this issue.

That brings us to the case of bug bites. This is no small issue. According to DNews, “mosquitos are considered one of the deadliest animals on earth with their ability to spread diseases.” Also, take the example of tick bites, which can go unnoticed, or mistreated at first.

Some ticks spread Lyme disease, and knowing whether you’ve contracted the disease is not as easy to catch as we might think. It’s not always the case that you get the ‘ring’ around the bite, and initial symptoms may seem like an ordinary cold, or another condition. The other problem is that Lyme can remain dormant for a long period before attacking the body. And when it does, it can be painful and debilitating in many ways. The reason for the symptoms could be a mystery at that point. Watch this video from DNews for more information on the topic, which is increasingly warranting more attention in the media.

Mingling with lots of tourists while travelling can expose children to illness

As you may have heard, there was an outbreak of measles in Disneyland earlier this year. This case had everyone pointing fingers at a variety of purported causes. But perhaps one key lesson to take from this is to be vigilant about illnesses when frequenting areas where there are a lot of travellers.

The Center for Disease Control says travel is related to the spread of sickness, so it would be wise to take precautions when passing through areas with many travellers. An example would be to wash hands more often when frequenting tourist attractions. For example, like Stanley Park in Vancouver. Simple steps like these can reduce how easily your kids get sick. Be sure to check Health Canada’s travel advisories before leaving your city as well.

Herd immunity can determine how easily your child gets sick

Another thing to take note — how easily your children get sick is also related to how healthy their friends and classmates are. If your child is surrounded by others who do not get sick easily, chances are he or she will not get sick easily. This also works in the opposite direction. Surrounding your kids with others who are easily sick increases their chances of falling ill. This is called herd immunity, and those of you who are statistically inclined may want to examine the illness rates of your community (or herd) to get an idea of how vulnerable your child may be. This subject commonly brings up the issue of the need for vaccines. Science has agreed, practically universally, that there is no harm to getting vaccinated, though we know this is a contentious issue nonetheless.

How easily can your child get sick? Sometimes it depends on how prepared you are!

Worried your children may get sick? Learn about their surroundings! Ask your kids what kind of activities they do with friends. If they do a lot of contact sports, teach them to scrub their hands afterward (but stay away from antibacterial soaps! Here is why).

Was your kid in a schoolyard fight? Make sure they get in the habit of telling you if blood was drawn. Are they going to a place with a lot of tourists? Bring a bottle of Purex! (But don’t overdo it with hand sanitizer, as it can have negative effects too). Adapting to each situation is key!

Learning how your child learns: making the assessment

Susan Cumberland June 26, 2015

We’ve already provided some pointers in this blog that will help you learn how your child learns. Now it’s time to take the next step and make an actual assessment on the kind of learning style your child has. Before we get started, make sure you’ve already seen part one of this series, because everything we do here builds on that post.

Tips on assessing how your child learns

Children often don’t have the knowledge or ability to tell us which category of learning style they fall into. During your one-on-one time, let your child decide what he or she wants to do. Take careful note of what they choose and what they enjoy. Remember, these may be two different things. Kids may choose something to please their parents, not necessarily because they enjoy it. Pay attention to the activities your child appears to be genuinely fond of.

As a starting point, Parenting.com has a checklist that could be invaluable for figuring out what kind of learner your child is.

The above site recommends looking at what activities your children seem to enjoy the most. Is their favourite board game Operation? Do they like making hands-on crafts? You may have a physical or kinaesthetic learner.

Does your child like Scrabble? Is she good with names? Does she like reading and writing? Chances are she may be a verbal/linguistic learner.

Does your child have a knack for humming melodies and remembering song lyrics? He may be an audio/musical learner.

Do your children respond to diagrams? Are they moved by pictures and photography? Do they daydream? They may be visual learners.

There are also some good online tests which you can have your child take.

Edutopia has what is called a multiple intelligence test that provides a percentage scale of how your child interacts with the world. There is also an explainer that provides details on the kinds of activities your child would find most engaging. This is useful for finding out what interests your kids and their potential hobbies or career paths.

Educationplanner.org has a test that tells you what kind of learning style your kids have. Once they finish it, the site also gives tips on what kinds of activities will help them study and learn.

These are just a few examples. A simple Google search will reveal many more. But be sure to check and see if the site appears to be credible.

If your kids are a little too young to understand the queries, try taking the test together. Reword the questions and ask each child yourself. And remember some of the questions may need adaptation. For example, older questionnaires may ask if your child listens to the radio a lot. Since this is 2015, you might ask your child if he or she downloads a lot of music or listens to podcasts.

How you can help once you figure out the learning style of your child

Once you determine the learning style of your child, it becomes much easier to assist them in their education. Some parents may even be able to inform teachers how to best school their child. And even if that’s not always possible, there are ways you can help your kids learn once they get back to the house.

Kurt Fischer of the Harvard Graduate School of Education says one of the best predictors for a visual learner’s success is the amount of books available at home. When it comes to auditory learners, Fischer says it’s best to keep audiobooks, music around the house. These children will also benefit from engaging conversation with peers and adults. Verbal instructions are also helpful when explaining things. And as for kinesthetic learners, Fischer recommends keeping toys around that help them learn by doing. LEGO is a great example. And don’t be afraid to ask them to re-enact passages of books they’re learning in class. Even getting them to play teacher could be a good idea.

Learning styles are not always set in stone

Children’s learning styles can change over time, so it’s helpful to schedule check-ups to see how your kids are doing. Be flexible and adapt to your child’s needs. If your child is a reader but develops an interest in music, perhaps in the future he or she will learn better by listening rather than reading.

A final word — learning assessments are not substitutes for careful observation

We have heard of a case where a child did not get diagnosed with a learning challenge even though he was tested by the school. The mother of the child saw her son was still struggling, so she started homeschooling her child. It was only then that she discovered her son was dyslexic. If it weren’t for her one-on-one attention with her son, her child could have fallen through the cracks.

The moral of the story? Make sure you spend alone time with your children before assessing them. Zero in on frustrations they have. Remember that checklists and tests are still imperfect tools and are no substitute for carefully observing your child.

Spending one-on-one time with your child to figure out how they learn

Susan Cumberland June 19, 2015

Life can get really busy, especially if you are running around driving your kids to soccer practices, music lessons, and other activities. However, it is very important to make sure you put aside at least a little time regularly to spend one-on-one time with your child. But making it happen can be hard, and recognizing its importance isn’t always obvious. We’ve got tips for spending one-on-one time with your child.

Plan for it!

Yes, life can be busy, but don’t make spending time with your child the last thing on your list. If you have to, schedule it in so that you don’t miss it.

Get rid of distractions

During alone time with your child, try to put away your cell phone and turn the TV off, to make sure you can both focus on each other.

Get creative!

Alone time with your child doesn’t have to be some formal time to sit down and talk. Do something simple yet fun (here are some ideas from motherscircle.net), and change it up! It could even be doing a puzzle, or taking a walk through a nearby park to search for wildlife. Maybe take them out to a restaurant for a ‘date’ with mom or dad.

Benefits of spending one-on-one time with your child:

Figure out how they receive information best

Through spending one on one time with your child, you will be able to notice how they learn best. Do they like to move around while thinking? Or are they a really good listener? Little details like this can easily be noted when you spend some time alone with your child.

Find out how long they can concentrate

When you spend one-on-one time with your child, you will also be able to get a sense of their ability to concentrate. Do they have a 10 minute attention span? Or are they fine to sit and focus for 30 minutes? Once you know what their limit is, it can help you plan when to have them take breaks from homework and studying.

Discover the environment they learn best in

You can even figure out what environment they thrive in. Do they love reading outside? Or do they get distracted when the room is full of things to play with? This way, you can set up a learning environment that will keep them focused and ready to learn.

Spending time individually with your children will not only make them happier, but it can also help you figure out how they learn best. So take note of these tips, and plan some one-on-one time with your child to make the most of their learning!