Holly A. Sharp, three-time award winning author of Dream It & Do It, shares her insights on making the most of distance learning.

Distance learning has given parents a unique chance to sit front and center in their children’s education. While this comes with challenges, it also comes with opportunities as well. How can parents make the most out of this time?

According to a 2016 study out of Carnegie Melon, small, but frequent breaks actually make it easier for elementary school kids to focus on the task at hand.

Dream It & Do It is a collection of 100 short stories about modern day role models. Each story features a different career path. These two-paged stories make for easy “reading recesses” and activities that kids can do at home.

This idea of “reading recess” helps kids take needed breaks that fuel more focused learning. According to a 2016 study out of Carnegie Melon, small, but frequent breaks actually make it easier for elementary school kids to focus on the task at hand.

In talking to parents in this situation, I have found that short stories are an excellent way to allow kids to take a break from screen time or to have something to do if they are a “fast finisher”.

There are a lot of ways that parents can use this book to support at-home learning.

• Activities that fuel interests: Each story ends with a suggested activity that kids can do to learn more about that specific career.
• Discussions at Dinnertime: If kids are using the short stories during the day as a way to take quick breaks or when they finish before other students, use the book as a discussion starter over dinner. Who did they learn about today? What did they like about the job they learned about? Could they ever see themselves doing this job?
• Learning Supplements: Discuss what topics they are learning and read stories together at bedtime that relates back to the subjects that kids are studying. Help them to see how the subjects they are learning about today, lead to the real world careers that people are doing today.

Each book covers careers in the arts, sciences, technology, service, business and product development. There is certain to be one job that might start inspire your child to not just have a dream, but to go out and do it.

For more information about Holly A. Sharp and her latest book, Dream It & Do It, plus a chance to WIN an autographed copy of the book, visit my earlier post Blog Tour + Giveaway: Dream It & Do It.