Children grasp better if learning is made interesting. It is not necessary that children can learn only in the school boundaries. Rather they can learn even while travelling.
If one is planning an overseas trip with the family, one can gain many benefits. Research studies have made it clear that it has a positive impact on mental and physical health, and also family relationships.
Travel is also an educational opportunity. It leads to a rich experience for understanding other cultures.
Travelling Supports Education
Play-based learning and travel stimulate children’s minds by enhancing their creativity and imagination. Both can also help them to develop social and emotional skills and encourage language and communication skills.
Travelling initiates many new scenarios and problems for the children to solve for example: finding the route on a map, explore new food, encounter people communicating in a different language, notice cars driving on the opposite side of the road and billboards, come across products which they have not seen before. They become more vigilant and come across new experiences.
4 Major Learning While Travelling:
❍ Learning While Travelling 1 Explore About the Destination
This will help one to identify where and how learning might occur. One might also engage children in this process. For instance, if one is going on a cruise to the South Pacific. Prior to leaving one must explore the map of the Pacific with children to identify the various islands located in this part of the world.
One can also encourage children to discover the special landmarks of different places using Google Earth. Such activities will support the development of the children’s guess and thinking skills. This will help children in future anticipation experiences which would increase their intellectual involvement.
Educational research has shown that this approach will help one in predicting their strength connections between children’s new knowledge and their existing understanding of the world.
❍ Learning While Travelling 2 Initiates Learning of Some New Language
Children get an opportunity for learning a little of the local language and will open up characteristics of the culture one may not have otherwise experienced, if not had planned for any travel.
Together with children, one can start learning the basics of the new language by downloading some interactive language apps. Another fun would be to expand the vocabulary and improve the pronunciation by singing songs in the targeted language.
If one learns a little bit of the local language, this would demonstrate respect to the localities, which means people are more likely to open up soon with you, further supporting learning opportunities.
❍ Learning While Travelling 3 Inquisitive Mind
Travelling motivates one to ask many questions, by asking and responding to the questions of children, will encourage them to acquire new knowledge and help them to get engaged in critical and creative thinking.
For example, when one is walking down the street of the city one is visiting, encourage children to take notice of what is going on around them and engage in open-ended questions such as:
- Comparison to the supermarket with the one, we normally go to our home.
- The architecture of the houses “Why the houses are built that way?” etc.
❍ Learning While Travelling 4 Sum Up the Entire Visit of the Day
This is very true that travel opens the wide horizon and will provide many learning experiences; one needs to give time to children to pause and make sense of them. Professionals say that reflection often takes place when the deep connections are made between new experiences and existing world views.
Some children reflect their own concurrence, but establishing a routine of doing this together will make sure it happens. Keeping a travel diary is still a great tool to engage in self-reflection. Some of them might enjoy looking at photos taken and reflect on the day through family conversations. Fact is that learning is a life-long journey that extends well beyond the walls of the traditional classroom. By planning for just a little intentional teaching, can help children learn to critically think about and appreciate the world around them.
❖ Read More:
➥ Quick Lunch Ideas and Recipes for School Kids.
➥ Diet of Kids Changes with Their Age
➥ How far Milk Contributes to Health Benefits?
➥ The 10 Best Snacks School Children Love
➥ Parents Are the Best Mentor to Motivate their Children
