When school shuts down for summer vacation, studies have shown that students often forget some of what they learned during the course of the school year. In addition, many teachers report that the first month back to school is spent re-learning some of what was learned the previous school year. Overall, research suggests that children lose the equivalent of one month’s learning over the summer vacation.
There are all sorts of summer and day camps you can enroll your child in to keep them learning over the summer months, but there are also a lot of fun activities that will incorporate learning and keep their brains stimulated on your own.
Put on a Play or Make a Movie
Taking part in performing arts can spark your child’s creativity and imagination. Let them come up with the story line and work together with them on the script and making costumes. Let them perform for friends, family and neighbors or make a video with your phone.
Not only will they have the chance to be creative, but the script is an opportunity for them to use the reading, writing and memorization skills they learn in school. Even young children whose writing and reading skills are just beginning to develop can benefit from this type of activity
Start Cooking Lessons
We’re not talking about anything fancy, and the recipes can be suited to the age of the child. With young children it can be something as simple as a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Or maybe they want to make cookies. While you may not want them messing with the oven just yet, they can help you gather, measure and mix the ingredients.
There are several cooking apps for kids available that you can take advantage of as well. Cooking with your children will allow you to spend quality time together and while they are measuring ingredients and checking the baking time, they are using their math and reading skills. And of course they will get to eat homemade cookies as a bonus!
Go to the Library
Even if you child’s reading skills are not yet developed, they can still enjoy and benefit from going to the library. Make going to the library an adventure that you share. They can pick out books they like. Reading them together will give you the chance to guide and encourage their reading skills.
They can also participate in any programs or activities the library offers. Even something as simple as the library staff reading to the children for story time can keep them interested in reading and while giving them chance to interact with other children and continue to develop their social skills.
Be Artistic
Outdoor art can be a great summer activity on a beautiful day that will protect your home from artistic disaster. Put an old sheet on the picnic table or spread it on the ground in the the shade of a tree. Make sure everyone has on old clothes and break out the finger paints. They can do small works of art on paper that they can frame and hang in their rooms or they can just paint the whole sheet!
Creativity is an important component to problem solving. Your child probably won’t produce a Picasso, but summer art activities will help keep their creative juices flowing. Making the activity something fun makes it even better.
Learning Together Can Strengthen the Child/Parent Bond
Children grow up quickly and the summer goes by fast. Doing learning activities with your child over summer vacation with not only help keep their learning on track, but help you create a stronger connection with your child. Don’t miss out on all the benefits summer learning activities can provide for both of you.
Home Away From Home Academy believes that every child has an instinctive need to learn from birth. We value each child as an individual and encourage natural curiosity and personal development. We offer programs for infants, toddlers as well as preschool through second grade. We also offer after school and summer programs. Stop in or call today to see if Home Away From Home Academy is right for your child.