School’s out for summer. As the last class bell tolls,
children across the country will return home, toss their ragged backpacks in
the corner, and satisfy their cravings for more sleep, TV and video games, and time
outdoors. As youngsters welcome back the fun-in-the-sun
mentality, learning habits and study skills tend to go out the window. To the
dismay of parents, many kids abandon reading, problem-solving and most types of
learning during the impending summer months. —
Commonly referred to as the “summer slide,” most students
return to school in September suffering from brain
drain. What is a parent to do about this learning loss? Our advice: check out this great article on battling the drain from our June issue. We were so inspired by the findings, that we’ve expanded upon the topic with more great ideas for parents. So take advantage of
the typical summer trend among youngsters–after two weeks they’re out-of-their-minds bored. And encourage children to become devoted readers, writers and lifelong learners with some of these
great incentives.
Creative Classroom
There’s no better way to escape summer slide than taking a
visit to the most loved learning institution—your local library. Before your
kids reach the age where the library becomes “uncool,” teach them that having
fun with books is as easy as scanning a library card.
The Stephen
A. Schwarzman Building at the Library has their very own children’s center,
a wonderland for summer learning sprinkled with weekly events such as Preschool
Storytime, Toddler Story Time, Reading Aloud and the book discussion group
Bookalicious!. To deflect the assault on brain waves during the summer, the Aguilar Library presents Summer Reading Aloud (along with
Computer Workshops and Board Games for school age children), the 96th Street Library
provides Picture Book Time on Monday afternoons, and the Hamilton
Fish Park Library offers Summer Reading Book Club and Becoming Storytellers.
Most local libraries offer some type of story time for young children and other
educational programming. Check out upcoming events here.
What’s Old Is New
Again
Jump start your child’s learning with simple activities that
are part of your daily routine. Any area for of your life can be an
introduction to a reading lesson. And remember that reading enhances learning
in all other subjects.
You know those magnetic letters that nonsensically decorate
your fridge? Leave a message for your child with them and witness as they too mix
letters in all types of arrangements. Make a plan to leave each other notes on
a daily basis. You can even incorporate new vocabulary words into your
messages.
When it comes to eating, three meals a day makes for a lot
of cooking so have your child help out. Ask your little one to dictate a recipe
aloud or to read the nutritional information on food boxes. It will stimulate
their dozing summer brains and help
you out in the kitchen. This kind of activity works the whole year, so
don’t stop when the summer sun fades away.
Screen Time
The addictive lure of the computer is a gnawing fear of any
parent. But with the proper supervision and the use of the parent control
features, you can sit back and relax as your youngster learns from loads of
free educational websites. Check out kidsknowit.com
or funschool.kaboose.com with your
tots. Let them click on whatever subject catches their interest and finds loads
of games for a virtual study session.
Have your child take part in the Scholastic Summer Challenge.
Children will learn to love books (if they don’t already) by logging the
minutes they’ve spent on their stellar summer reading list and aiming to read
for the world record!
If direct
intervention is more your style, check out Quiz
Puppy. This web app interrupts your child during screen time to pop quiz her
on math and spelling. Parents can set the grade level, the length of frequency
of the flash card quizzes and also view progress reports to see how junior is doing.
Stop, Drop And Read
There’s a reason schools give out summer reading lists;
there’s no such thing as a vacation from words! But if you don’t have a reading
list already, pick some of the great options from our list of suggestions.
Little ones will love Victoria Kann’s recently released Silverlicious,
Pinkalicious’ journey to discover the origin of sweetness. Also worth checking
out is Ladder
To The Moon, Charlie
The Ranch Dog, and Back
To School, Splat!, perfect for tiny tots just starting to sharpen their
reading skills. And to broaden your child’s horizons, introduce her to Alphabet Kids, a new
multicultural book series that teaches little ones the wonders of diversity
through language, foods, customs and music.
For older children, pick up a copy of The
Lemonade War. It teaches life lessons related to math, getting along with
siblings, and choosing right from wrong.
Inquisitive middle schoolers will be absorbed by The Mysterious
Four series, the story of young detectives who solve mysteries in less than
6 questions! If you’re looking for something more timeless, introduce your kid
to Where
the Red Fern Grows or Mr.
Popper’s Penguins, before bringing them to see the new movie version,
starring Jim Carrey.
More reading fun for girls in the tween age group can be
found in I
So Don’t Do Famous, Judy
Moody And The Not Bummer Summer, and New
Girl in Town.
For tweens who enjoy a scare, check out R.L Stine’s newest
series Hall
of Horror. Also worth checking out is Sarah Dessen’s, What
Happened to Goodbye, a story of finding your place in school…and life.
Travelogue
If you’re on the go this summer, the learning can tag along
too. For those of you with smartphones (which is most of us!), hand it over to
your tots for an hour a day and watch as it transforms into a learning device.
Educational apps include TouchyBooks,
which houses a collection of children’s books (some of them free!), Kids
Can Spell, which was rated the top-selling educational app, and Preschool
Memory Match, a new twist on a classic game.
And to keep a pair of siblings mentally (and otherwise) occupied
on a road trip, give them the newest game from the Bananagrams Family, ZIP-IT! The fast and
furious two-player game is a crossword race that can be played anytime,
anywhere. ZIP-IT even comes with Weords, a new mini-dictionary featuring “weird
words that win word games” (e.g. “Q” words that do not have a “U” in them), for
extra help.
Build-A-Business
In addition to lemonade stands and paid chores, you can
stimulate your kid’s entrepreneurial brain by teaching them all about the
business world this summer. With extra time on your hands, introduce them to Prosperity
4 Kids’ great line of teaching tools.
Buy your littlest ones their first piggy bank to teach them the importance of
saving. Gift your older children an allowance chart calendar so they can get
the hang of budgeting. Moreover, a rainy day is a great time to pop in The
Money Mammals: Saving Money is Fun DVD
for great music that teaches sharing, smart saving and spending, and financial
literacy.
For even more great ideas on how to avoid summer brain
drain, see our Growing Up article in New York Family’s June issue.
