As a younger mother, I am fully vested in my children’s education but find it impossible to pay hundreds (or in some cases, thousands) of dollars for expensive summer camps. Since I work from home, keeping them with me is an option, but having them sit around all day watching TV is not going to work.
I’ve researched some of the best ways to keep kids engaged throughout the summer and have them already in learning mode by the time September comes around.
Here are 10 tips for keeping it smart all summer long:
1) Summer reading programs are offered for kids as young as newborns to those in high school. Summer reading programs offered by the local library or bookseller gives children a chance to rack up points for keeping track of the books they’ve read (or for the younger children, the books their parents have read to them). Some programs offer coupons to local restaurants, amusement parks and more. Check out Barnes & Noble’s summer reader program here.
2) Check out online resources like education.com which have printable worksheets and educational guides for students in kindergarten through high school. If you’re not sure what your child should be learning or what’s appropriate for their grade level, this site will help.
3) Play movie critic and see which is better, the book or the movie. Read a book together as a family and then sit down and watch the movie adaptation. Talk about plot points that were different in the movie versus the book. Have your children play “director” and tell you what they might have added/deleted to make it a better movie. Some suggestions: the Harry Potter series, The Color Purple, To Kill a Mockingbird, Charlotte’s Web.
4) Take field trips. Just because school’s out, it doesn’t mean that field trips are done. Take the children to the zoo, to a local farm or to a science center. Consider buying a season pass and going more often to make it more reasonable financially. One tip I learned from my daughter’s kindergarten teacher was the importance of the briefing and debriefing. Brief the children on the highlights of what they might see and when they get back, ask them to share their favorite parts, what they liked least, what was most interesting, etc.
5) Have kids keep a summer journal and have them write in it 10 minutes a day. Have them pick out some “cool” pens and notebooks and let them have at it.
6) Let them learn a new skill. Summer’s the perfect amount of time to tackle a new skill or hobby. Maybe they’d like to learn how to make jewelry or skateboard? Do they know how to make slideshows? Have them create a summer slideshow project, edit it and show it to the family at the end of the summer.
Check out the last four tips (I promise it’s worth it) at Loop21.com
Something else is to keep them busy is an organized sport. Summer is perfect to do soccer, baseball, etc. It may not be *academic* learning but it’s definitely educational and rewarding in it’s own right.