By Dr. Annette Weissman

Bulletin: Teaching and learning are not restricted to the classroom!  When Sunny Isles Beach Community School opens in August, the teachers will be well prepared to deliver the curriculum in every subject area.  There will be carefully constructed lessons presented in decorated classrooms supported by state of the art technology.  But that is not the only arena in which teaching and learning occur.

Every day there are valuable, informal opportunities for teaching and learning.  Recognize them and take advantage of each occasion.  For example, does your family eat in restaurants? If so, the menu should serve as your reading and mathematics textbook.  Depending on the age of your children, the menu provides letter and word recognition lessons, nutrition lessons, vocabulary building lessons, and sorting lessons (identify all the vegetables, fish).  How did you travel to the restaurant?  Did you walk, bicycle, drive, or take a bus? Reading road signs, street names and numbers, planning routes, estimating distances, and projecting time are all important learning experiences. 

Similar opportunities arise each day in your homes as you read cereal boxes, food labels and recipes, prepare shopping lists, and read television and movie times in the newspaper.  These activities require different types of reading skills that the children must apply to their reading assignments in school.  By taking the time to engage your child in these activities you are actually strengthening their reading and mathematical skills.  Here's another example.  The mathematical concept of elapsed time is a very difficult one for students. So, instead of telling your children they need to be ready to leave the house at 4:30pm to get to the movies on time, try figuring it out with them.  First, show them how to read the listings in the newspaper.  (That skill falls under the heading of reference and research)  Once you've determined the time the movie starts, estimate how much time you need to travel to the movies, park, walk to the theater, purchase tickets and find seats.  When you have calculated how much time that will take, you can figure out when you need to leave the house.  Of course, if you are taking a bus, you will need to "read" the bus schedule as well.

These life lessons bolster student skills in the classroom so make an effort this summer to involve your family in these informal, relaxed teaching and learning activities.  Take advantage of newspaper and magazine articles to reinforce getting the main idea and the author’s purpose.  Compare and contrast television stars or programs and find similarities and differences in favorite foods.  Learning is all around us.  Seize the moments!