Summertime for children is for playing with friends, cooking out, baseball, apple pie and basically lounging around. Or is it? Studies show that the break from school activities often causes a lag in learning upon returning to school in the fall. Continued education during the summer, can help your student to maintain their knowledge base and potentially even have an edge when he or she returns to school in the fall.
Here are a few suggestions that family’s can do to keep the intellectual juices flowing over the summer:
Join a local library’s summer reading program. Often they offer prizes and other cool incentives to keep the kids reading. It would be great if each child could read at least one age appropriate book per week. This will help to keep their minds sharp and ready to jump back into the rigors of school in the fall. Even if you decide not to partake in the reading program, try to make regular visits to the library to stock up on books for rainy days and when the children will inevitably cry out “I’m Bored!”
Visit an art museum. One of our local art museums offers cool kid crafts once a month where kids can learn about a particular type of art such as watercolor, glass etching, pottery and more, and then partake in creating something using that medium.
Let the kids surf the net on educational websites such as PBS Kids.org, BrainPop www.brainpop.com (Some of the subject areas are free and you can sign up for a 14 day free trial for the others),and Kaboos which offers fun educational games through their “Funschool for Pre-K through 5th grades.
Science in the summer-Yes! Not only is our local science center air conditioned, but offers free admission one Sunday per month for children. This really helps the budget and offers a fun day for the whole family to partake in cool science activities.
Educational TV programming has made tremendous progress over the past few years. A lot of shows on cable and even mainstream television are both fun and educational. My children love to watch the National Geographic, Learning, and History channels, and they don’t even realize that they are learning while they are watching.
What are some of the things you like to do during the summer to help your kids stay academically fit?