On-the-Go-Learning

I love being outdoors- not in this heat we have had recently- but generally I enjoy being outside in every season. While you are taking a walk or at the park or in the backyard...stop and close your eyes and listen with your child. Ask them what they hear and have a conversation about it. If they heard a bird, ask them what type of bird they think it is, what color, where it is- did it sound close or far away, etc. Do they hear water dripping? Is it raining? Is there a sprinkler on, a bubbler nearby, etc. Is there a dog barking?

This simple moment of relaxing and taking in all that is around you can be a great time to develop so many early learning skills.

Now, open your eyes and look at the clouds! An oldy but a goody! Why? Because playing the game of guessing what the clouds look like not only develops creativity and imagination in your child, but also develops recognition, spatial concepts and abstract thinking skills.

I believe nature has been and always will be the best classroom in which to learn. Everything you read about in a book, can be learned through observing nature in all its forms.

On-the-Go-Learning

Talk, talk, talk...

Talk about what will happen next...You are about to go in a store, ask "what are we going to see in the store, what are we going to look for in the store, etc."

You are about to go into the doctor's office, ask "what is going to happen next, what do you think you will see?, etc."

You are about to visit grandma or go to a friend's house, ask "what do you think will happen?"

You are going to the library, ask "what do you think will happen in the library?, who do you think we will see, etc."

These little conversations develop logical thinking skills, vocabulary, language and conversation skills and more! It seems so simple, but generally we don't discuss things with children and I don't mean treating them like little adults because they are not, but simply just talking to them. It's such a simple thing that it is often not thought of having such a big impact, but it helps a child's brain develop during the crucial time when permanent connections in the brain are being formed.

On-the-Go-Learning

Make up silly songs to easy, well-known tunes. For example, Tow, tow, tow my car, gently down the street, Sadly, sadly, sadly, This is not a treat! Or Jump, jump, jump my boy, jump high and low right now, faster, faster, faster This is kind of neat!

Make up silly rhymes to easy, well-known rhymes. For example, Three brown dogs, three brown, dogs, hear how they bark, hear how they bark, they all make such a frightful noise, woke all the neighbors in the early light, have your ever woke to such a noise,  three brown dogs, three brown dogs.

I just made these things up right now as I was typing. You can make a game of it by alternating lines- you do a line and let your child make up a line- the goofier the better!

Cool Tips at Born Learning

• When cooking, encourage your child to help. For example, if a recipe calls for 3 eggs, ask her to get 3 eggs from the fridge. She’ll feel like she’s helping and counting will help develop her math skills.
• Turn chores like laundry into learning activities. Ask your child to identify colors, help you separate lights and darks, or count the number of socks. These activities will help build math and cooperation skills.
• Turn an errand into a fun learning game that helps your child make sense of the surrounding world. If your child likes trucks, look for trucks as you drive and see who can yell "truck" first.

On-the-Go-Learning

Here is another great site with ideas for OTGL!

http://www.bornlearning.org/default.aspx?id=3

Born Learning has great ideas and tips for On-the-Go-Learning- checkout the link above for activities when doing laundry, at meals and at bedtime.

Every Moment is a Teachable Moment- On-the-Go Learning

I love learning that is initiated by a child's own natural curiosity. On-the-go learning or real-life learning leaves a far more permanent mark than rote learning- learning through mere memorization than connection to a meaning. Embracing and acting on the idea that each moment is a teachable moment, in my humble opinion, create the moments that make a long-lasting impact on a child.


Print Awareness is one of the pieces in the early literacy puzzle. Print Awareness is noticing that printed words are all around us. It starts when children realize that print has meaning - people don't just look at pictures, they read text. This helps children understand that the print they see consists of words - the same words we speak and hear.

So, an example of using an "on-the-go learning" activity would be to use what is called “environmental print” to help your child develop print awareness. Using exit signs, stop signs, advertisements, menus, and other print in your environment is a simple and easy way to develop print awareness throughout your normal everyday activities. Point out the apples at the grocery store and ask your child what kind of fruit it is. Then point out the sign that has 'apples' on it- a is for apple- spell it, sound it out.