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With schools closed for at least the next three weeks, Queen鈥檚 University researcher Lynda Colgan says it鈥檚 critical for parents and guardians to continue to keep young people engaged through informal learning opportunities.听This will help them to feel more positive and prepared about returning to the classroom, when school is back in session.

鈥淲e know there is evidence of a 鈥榮ummer slide,鈥� which teachers have to work through in the fall. Some researchers suggest that in mathematics, children lose about 2.6 months of learning over the summer vacation. This situation is really no different,鈥� says Dr. Colgan, who has been an educator for more than 30 years. 鈥淩outines have gone out the window, but we need to keep learning a daily routine and there are lots of ways to do that and keep it fun at the same time.鈥�

Both locally and on a provincial level, there are a lot of learning opportunities available. Dr. Colgan says there are many free resources online for both younger learners and those at more advanced education levels. Locally, Science Rendezvous Kingston () is tweeting new activities daily including bird watching, creating green cleaning products in your own kitchen, building a bottle rocket, and is supporting a Lego building challenge from听

On a provincial level, organizations like听听are offering online astronomy courses while听听has a wide range of information for parents and unique activities for children.听听is also sponsoring daily book readings by popular authors. Young people interested in history and science can visit the听听for videos about dinosaurs and fossils.

鈥淲e are trying to do our best locally and I鈥檝e personally been听听every day,鈥� says Dr. Colgan. 鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 important have children reading and also doing some other kind of educational activity on a daily basis. This could include cooking with the family, which involves reading recipes and measuring ingredients. We know anxiety is increasing in children as the adults in their worlds are becoming increasingly stressed. Family activities like these are essential, educational, and reinforce the importance of human connection especially at a time like this.鈥�

Dr. Colgan, who has taught at all levels of public education in Ontario and is a leading researcher in elementary mathematics education, also addresses the increasing number of 鈥渆ducation鈥� videos popping up on social media channels as well as via workbooks and flashcard sets available in stores. She says worksheets do not often result in meaningful learning and many videos not only lack instructional quality, they contain content and strategies that are misleading at best, and wrong at worst. It is important to use websites, videos and on-line tutorials that are developed and recommended by educators.

鈥淭he most important message is that learning at home should not generate anxiety on the part of parents or children. Learning at home should be more about instilling the attitude that the world is our classroom and that we can acquire new skills and interests simply through everyday actions more than being about meeting formal curriculum goals,鈥� she adds. 鈥淚nstead of playing video games, why not read a book online instead, or to reduce children鈥檚 screen time, try planting some vegetable seeds and measuring their growth or playing games like UNO and Quiddler. Learning, especially learning that is fun because it is achieved through alternative methods like kitchen-sink science and word games, will be engaging and most importantly, memorable."

For more even more resources visit the Queen鈥檚 University Faculty of Education鈥檚听.

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This article was originally published in The Queen's Gazette.