How can parents increase Experiential Learning

“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”- Aristotle

Not everything we learn in life is written in textbooks or confined to a classroom. Teaching and learning can become innately spontaneous and student-centered if moved away from the confines of the classroom into the real world.

Experiential learning is essentially the process of learning through gaining experience and reflecting upon them. Experts say that this manner of educating a child is a jewel among all other teaching methods.

With this manner of education, your child will be using an age-old method that comes naturally to them and integrates that into their classroom lessons. This way they are going to find their own ways of dealing with any issues they face. This develops their management skills. Your child is inevitably going to comprehend the experience and make modifications. So the next time they do the same task, they are bound to get an improved result.

Parents should encourage experiential learning from the very beginning. But you must ensure that your child is comfortable with it. So, it is important to plan out the situation before engaging your child in it. You must then have the necessary materials that might be required for the ‘experience’. After the entire process, you must sit with your child in order to review what they think of the experience. Remember to advise them, but do not instruct them!

There are various methods of gaining experiential learning that come naturally in the course of growing up. Some of which is learning how to walk or cycle. But as a parent, you must always look out for more and more opportunities to provide for your child so that they expand their horizon. To increase your child’s scope of experiential learning you can opt for the following methods:

v Traveling

Travelling will make your child look out for new adventures. It makes them come close to different cultures and gives them a great exposure to the real world. Hiking and trekking are also an excellent way to come face-to-face with challenging issues that are going to stay with your child all their life.

v Sports

Sports is an excellent way to understand teamwork and encourage a child’s ability to analyze competitiveness. Moreover, outdoor sports is always going to involve a child being out in the field and this is going to make your child feel accountable for all their actions. This will give their confidence a boost!

v Art and Craft

Art and craft foster a sense of creativity and patience in your child. They are going to use the age old ‘hit-and-trial’ method every time they want a perfect result. This will enable them to identify small and specific problems easily. This will help them recover from performance deterioration.

v Field trips-

If your child learns about a certain places’ historic importance, you must try and visit the place with them. This will quench their curiosity and also put in a sense of trying to know more about anything they can. This instills overall improvement.

v Making new friends

Having many friends will expose a child to different perspectives that are going to give them different experiences. This will make your child be comfortable with speaking with many people around and expressing their opinions.

v Keeping a journal

As a child notes down their experiences daily, it will help them develop a habit. This will eventually help them be vocal and open about themselves. What they write down will turn into long term memory.

Experience is used to test out ideas, rather than to passively obtain practice. Remember, experiential learning isn’t the same as discovery learning.