Keep Kids Learning All Summer Long

The school year is busy and overwhelming. So when schools out for the summer, children and parents are ready to relax.

But just because the summer is here doesnt mean that children should take a hiatus from learning. In fact, according to the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA), it may be more important than ever to provide learning opportunities throughout the summer.

Kids learn in many different ways, says Katie Hart, Ph.D., program director of Summer Reading Explorers in Miami, Florida - a Childrens Trust-funded program created as part of the read-to-learn initiative. Its important to keep it hands on and fun and interactive and high-quality.

Use these ideas to develop your own list of summer learning fun:

1. Play board games

Play Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders and help your child further develop counting skills. Monopoly is a great way to teach your child about money. Dont forget about a simple game of rolling dice. Its an easy and fun way to make up subtraction, addition, multiplication and division problems.

2. Use sidewalk chalk

Encourage kids to spell words on the sidewalk, street, or back porch. Dont worry about the mess; it washes away easily.

3. Form sentences with magnet strips

Purchase kids craft magnetic tape at Walmart and get out your cookie sheets. Cut the strips into smaller magnet pieces and apply words written on paper to the sticky side of the magnet. Kids will have fun moving around their magnetic vocabulary words to create sentences.

4. Plan a trip to the grocery store

Before heading to the store, have your child help you make the grocery list while you dictate the words to help with spelling. Once you arrive at the store, read the labels on food packaging together. Help with math skills by asking your child to add the prices of some of the items you have purchased. See if your child can figure out how much you will owe the cashier at the end of the visit. Teach older children about sales tax.

5. Let kids help with the cooking

Children can brush up on reading skills and learn the importance of following directions by reading recipes. Sneak in a fun math lesson by teaching your child how to use measuring cups and spoons.

6. Explore the world around you

Science is all about asking questions, says Hart, so you dont have to actually do an experiment to help (kids) build their science skills. Have some ice cream together, and talk about how the ice cream is changing from a solid to a liquid. Or go to the beach. If kids ask a question about a jellyfish or anything in nature, take a picture of it and look up facts about it together online. This also encourages reading!

7. Use driving time for fun and games

Have kids count all the yellow cars they see when running an errand. Taking a road trip? See if your child can identify all the letters of the alphabet on signs and billboards while driving along.

8. Sing songs and tell stories

Talk to your child. Tell him or her about your own school experiences or family trips. This is also a positive way for children to learn and develop their oral skills, says Hart. The more vocabulary they have, the better they will do when it comes to standardized achievement tests.

9. Choose reading material that interests your kids

The thing that is most important is getting reading material into their hands, says DavidReitman, Ph.D., co-director of Project RISE (Research, Inspiration, Support, Evaluation) - a quality improvement effort funded by The Childrens Trust. Read things that are of interest to your child. If you dont want to spend a lot of money, take a trip to the library.

10. Use the summer time to catch up

If you are already behind, use the summer to make up some lost ground, says Reitman.Check out your local library. Many offer free tutoring services.

This article was originally published in The Childrens Trust Newsletter (thechildrenstrust.org)