Families and teachers alike hope that their students will not disengage from learning over the summer. We know that students are excited about a break, but keeping up with the hard work they’ve been doing all school year can be fun and effortless. Here are some tips that may help your student stay engaged and learning even during the upcoming summer months.
Encourage your child to make his own academic goals for the summer. Let your child be the one to take ownership over his own academic growth over the summer! Encourage your child to make academic goals such as reading a certain number of books over the summer or practicing math facts or problems every day. Your child may feel more motivated to keep up with goals that they personally set.
Visit Academically-Centered Places. Visit local museums, art galleries, and other places where academic learning is embedded in the visit. The ACCESS Philly Program allows individuals with a PA ACCESS Card to attend 48 cultural sites & theaters for just $2! Encourage your child to read plaque descriptions, make observations, and talk about what she is learning during the visit. And of course, don’t forget to pay a visit to your local library!
Conduct your own at-home science experiments. Let your child ponder what kind of questions about the world they might have. Use those questions to sketch out possible science experiments that you can do at home! For more ideas of easy experiments you can do at home, check out Scholastic’s list of science experiments here.
Start a Book Club with family members, peers, and/or friends. Get a group of your child’s friends together for a book club or start a Book Club! Everyone in the group can read through a book together and either answer questions about the book or talk about what each person is thinking and learning. The group members can meet as many times as they want to go through the book together. A book club can be a great way for friends and family to hang out, encourage reading together, and learn from one another’s thoughts about the book!
Play Board Games. Did you know that even playing board games together can keep students academically engaged? There are many mathematical and literacy skills that can be reinforced while playing certain board games. What a fun way to enhance academic skills! For a list of academically-invigorating board games, check out recommendations for skill-boosting board games!
Remind your students that they have been working hard this past school year, and we don’t want them to lose any of their academic progress during the summer months. We hope that summer learning can be fun, interactive, and ongoing!
