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When it comes to Summer, we cannot forget to keep working those brain muscles, so when Fall comes around your kids won't be overwhelmed and neither you.
This year has not been a typical school year. Add the turmoil of the Covid-19 school closures and your kids could experience a 6 month loss of learning.
Create daily routines (not strict schedules) with your family. Divide your day into morning and after lunch. Together, set wake up and bedtime agreements.
Start the day off with an activity. Research supports morning as the most productive time of day for the majority of people and #kids. About an hour after waking is best and mid afternoon is usually the least productive time. If you want to make the most of this trend, plan #learning time right after breakfast and activities or screen time in the afternoon.
Keep your routine fresh by giving options. You can make learning time easier if you give kids one or two choices of #academic tasks. You can also play “Let’s Make a Deal” and agree on reading or academic time in exchange for a little extra screen time or favorite pastime later in the day.
Involving your kids in the planning process can help the plans succeed. You might ask, “Other than screen time, what activities would we like to plan for this week?” Each family member can use sticky notes or small slips of paper to nominate ideas. Parents can select one from each person, or let the family vote on the ideas.
Pick a special area or skill to learn. “What would we each like to learn more about this summer?” It can start individual interest quests for each family member including parents. Kids need to see that learning is a lifelong process. These can be fun too! Things like learning to play an instrument, sing, dance, building a dog house or hamster habitat.
Read!! It has been found that reading just 4 books of choice over the summer vacation can reduce or eliminate summer slide. These are books the kids choose for themselves and can be read silently or out loud. (If you have your child read to you, try not to correct minor mistakes. Let them enjoy the flow of reading the story.)
Write!! Let your kids write what they want to: journals, travel logs, letters, etc… The important thing is for them to be in the practice of putting down ideas on paper, without being corrected.
Math!! Summer is a good time to master those math facts: #addition, #subtraction, #multiplication, and #division. Quizzing each other on these can be a family game in the car, or other places. Let your kids make their own addition or multiplication tables by filling in a blank grids made with rulers. Or print one of the thousands you can find online.