Don’t Let Your Child’s Hard Work from the School Year Fall Victim to a Summertime Slump
Best in Class Education Center www.bestinclasseducation.com offers tips for parents to keep their students’ mind sharp during summer vacation
With summer vacation upon us, the kids are excited for bike rides, ice cream, pool parties and summer fun. However, parents are likely thinking about how to keep their kids’ minds sharp and active over the summer so that the transition into the next school year is a smooth one. Some of you may be getting ready for vacation/travel.
While Best in Class offers a variety of summer programs, there are also several ways parents can engage their children to make teaching and learning fun for the whole family.
Here are some recommended activities, most of which can be adjusted to apply to children of any age:
• Set aside 15 to 30 minutes of reading time every day for kids to read something of their choice. For even more fun, read out loud to make it a family activity.
• Encourage children to ask stories from older relatives (grandparents) about what life was like when they were younger. This simple story time is entertaining and is a great teaching moment for children.
• Take children grocery shopping and practice their math skills as you walk up and down the aisles. For younger children, counting the number of apples is a great way to get them engaged, and have older children work on figuring out % discounts and sales tax of items.
• Warm spring and summer nights are a great time to get outdoors and star gaze with your children to start talking about the solar system, moon phases and the rotation of the earth. Go outside and look where the stars are, then return to the same spot an hour later and see how much they have moved.
• Nature walks are full of endless lessons about the world around us. Buy a book about plants or birds and take your child on a nature walk to learn and start identifying the plants and birds around them. Try to keep your weekends screen free.
• Weather permitting take the kids on a bike ride and help them with conversions-miles to Kms.
• Bring your kids into the kitchen to work on fractions and decimals. Baking is a great way for children to start grasping the concept of fractions and measurements. This activity also help them with estimation, capacity etc.
• Have your children start a journal during their time off of school. Have them write down things they have learned and questions they have at the end of every night. It will be a great way for them to reflect on their learning in a fun way and help them with their writing skills.
• Encourage the kids/all family members to write “a word a day” on a note card during summer with 3 synonyms/3 antonyms and usage in a sentence. This can be a fun family activity.
Best in Class offers a variety of Enrichment program for Math and English as well as summer programs to help students not only maintain their knowledge, but also build their knowledge over the break.
For more information about Best in Class services for your student visit www.bestinclasseducation.com or call at 972 656 9242 or email me at allen-plano@bestinclasseducation.com
