Teaching a child about the world around him is sometimes a little dry when looking at the subject in books, writing definitions, and taking tests ( these are necessary, but can get dull to a student).

One routine task a parent has is buying groceries. Take your child with you the next time you are going to the market, and it may make things more interesting for you and your student. Start in the produce department, and you have an instant laboratory (of course, the age and grade level of your child will determine how involved you will get in these “mini” lessons) for learning.  With the toddler, talk about all the different colors you see. Ask them to show you something red, yellow, etc. Look at the “sale” signs. Show them various letters/numbers you see. If they are familiar with the alphabet, ask them to find an “A”, or other letter. See if they can identify what some produce items are.

School age children can be taught a nutrition lesson. Talk to them about the importance of eating healthy foods (fruits, vegetables, etc). Math can be incorporated as well. Look at a sale item, something that is 3/$1, for example. Ask them how much it would cost to buy 9 of that item. Social studies/geography can be included. Look at the meat/seafood section. Remind them that seafood items come from the ocean(s), and other meats come from land animals.  Look at the dairy department. Science is a good subject to use here. Look at the different types of  cheese, milk, butter, etc. Tell them about all these byproducts that come from one type of animal (cows) . Of course, you could talk about other animals that give milk and the byproducts that come from them, as well.

There are a myriad of other topics/subjects you could touch on, these are only a starting point.

To me, it has always been important to instill in my son the idea of shopping economically. I didn’t realize how much my husband and I had talked about something being “on sale”, until one day (when he was about 3 or 4) when we went shopping. He ran ahead of us and reached a jell-o display. He screeched to a halt, whirled around and at the top of his lungs yelled out, “Mom! Jell-o is on sale! Can we buy some?”

I was torn between ducking my head in embarrassment  or smiling proudly at my little economist. I think I reached somewhere between the two.

The thing to remember is to be ready for teachable moments, even in something mundane as buying groceries. There are lessons to be learned ( for both parent and child).