One complaint both teachers and parents have is that children have too much time on their hand during the summer and that they forget some of what they learn during the school year.
Read, Read and Read
Open a book and expose your child to a whole new world. Learn to love your local library (and librarian!). It’s a wonderful place to promote the love of reading, and the librarian can suggest books suitable for your child’s age as well as pure recreational books that will keep your kid’s brains working. Click here for some book suggestions. The Summer Reading Challenge launches in mid July and this year's theme is Space Hop!
Forward Thinking
Plan ahead and think about what your child will be learning in the year ahead. You can get this information from your child’s teacher or even off the internet. This is especially necessary if your child is weak in a particular subject or afraid to answer questions in class for fear of being wrong. Summer is a great time to fill in the learning gaps and to begin the next year in a confident manner.
Academic Summer Schools
Consider summer school or tutoring. Struggling kids can get a lot of different kinds of help from these programs. Summer school can also enrich and accelerate learning in areas where kids show a special interest.
Learn from a holiday
Think of your summer holiday as a teaching opportunity. It’s sort of like tricking your kids into learning without them even realizing it! Let the kids go online to sites such as Mapquest or one of the travel sites to help “research” the journey to and from the holiday destination, as well as activities surrounding where you will be spending your summer holiday. Even if you can’t leave town, have your child compile a “virtual holiday” by doing some research and downloading pictures of events that he or she would like to take part in. Who knows, maybe next summer they will be able to actually visit the location!
Learn Locally
Don’t forget summer learning opportunities locally, in addition to your library. Check out Stockwood Discovery Centre and Wardown Park Museum, Whipsnade Zoo, concerts and parks that you don’t usually get to attend during the school year. Look up local events on the internet. Have them keep a journal (writing skills!) of their activities, and perhaps e-mail friends and relatives about what they are doing.
Set Some Goals
Finally, try to motivate your child to complete one activity of maths a few times a week, and to read a chapter in a book several days a week also. Keep it short, sweet and simple and your child will do it for enjoyment.
Don’t delay — now is the time to take action for keeping the brain stimulated, as well as the body moving, over the summer months. Let the kids pick out the books to read and the sites to research on the Internet (only safe sites allowed!). Learning alone and informally or via a structured class for part of the day will help to prevent summer learning loss and help your child stay sharp for school next year. But, please remember that summer is also for relaxing, taking some time off, and just being a kid. The trick is to balance fun with learning, and with all of the local options available to you, it’s a task worth tackling!