Home-Schooling
What children can gain from at-home learning
after the school day ends
BY MEGAN CONWAY
Integrate the Arts
Dr. Mariale Hardiman, co-
founder and director of the
Johns Hopkins Neuro-Education
Initiative, is a major propo-
nent of the arts. Her studies
have focused on arts-integrated
curricula, in which visual and
performing arts are embedded
into traditional instruction.

“There was an advantage for
arts integration, but a particu-
lar advantage for children who
do not learn well with tradi-
tional instruction,” she explains.

This advantage applies not only
for those with learning disabil-
ities or language barriers, but
for all students who don’t enjoy
learning mainly through reading
and writing.

Before her role at Johns
Hopkins, Hardiman was a school
principal. As her school’s curricu-
lum became more arts-integrated,
she notes, “Parents would tell us
that when they asked what (their
kids) did in school, instead of say-
ing, ‘Nothing,’ they would say,
‘Well, we did this movement
activity, and I really learned a lot
about how cells divide through
this movement.’”
How does this example
translate to the home? For par-
ents who want to engage their
children after school, it can
be as simple as getting them
art supplies.

“Put some crayons and a big
piece of paper in front of them
and ask them to draw, write or
anything that will give them
a way to recall what they’ve
learned. That can open the door
to further conversations,” rec-
ommends Hardiman.

This recommendation isn’t meant
to be taken literally. For exam-
ple, some children would rather
sing a song about what they
learned. The goal is to intro-
duce a dialogue in which parents
allow their children to rehearse
knowledge from their memory.

“The more we rehearse anything,
the more we revisit anything,
the deeper it becomes embed-
ded into our memory systems,”
she concludes.

Arts integration is the second
leg of Hardiman’s “three-legged
stool.” She emphasizes the
importance of discrete arts
classes and exposure to culture,
which parents can promote by
bringing children to museums,
for example.

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T he U.S. Census Bureau
notes that rates of home-
schooling as a primary
instructional method for school-
age children skyrocketed during
the COVID-19 pandemic, likely
due to ever-changing restric-
tions and familial decisions.

Homeschooling is not realistic
as the perfect fit for every family.

However, all kids have much to
gain from the idea that learning
shouldn’t be limited to the tradi-
tional classroom. Educators and
educational specialists see a sig-
nificant benefit in expanding the
definition of schooling to encom-
pass unorthodox and enriching
experiences beyond the desk.

What teaching techniques can
parents tap into to cultivate a
curious, educated child?