Creating Teachable Summer Moments with Your Child

Summer brings long days of family fun, relaxation, and spending time together. However, it’s also a time when some children experience the “summer slump” and lose some of the educational gains they made during the academic year.

To avoid summer learning loss and build quality family time, parents can tailor summer fun opportunities to find teachable moments that bolster a child’s knowledge and love of learning. Here are some simple ways you can incorporate active learning into your family time.

Add Knowledge to Fun Family Trips

While enjoying summer fun is the top priority, sharing knowledge with your children on family trips can have a lasting impact. Even simple outings offer plenty of chances to pique young learners’ natural curiosity.

Going to the park

• Use a mobile app to identify trees and plants
• Explore various wildlife (safely) and their habitats
• Have them write a short story from the point of view of a plant or animal they discovered
• Draw a map of the park by identifying key features and distances
• Teach them to ride a bike or skateboard

Heading to the pool

• Talk about animals that make water their natural habitat
• Discuss why some objects sink and others float
• Break down the aerodynamics of different swimming strokes
• Talk about the sun and how it heats the pool and keeps us warm but can also damage our skin without proper sun protection

For many children, actively engaging with learning often leads to a deeper understanding of a topic. Consider tying in environmental impact issues or other current events for older children. These discussions don’t have to be long or take away from the day’s fun to get them thinking and growing.

Turn Boredom into Reading

Eventually, summer fun hits a stage of boredom. Away from friends and longing for more social interaction, kids can become listless as summer draws on.

Take this time to introduce new, exciting literature to your children. Reading during the summer can help keep up vocabulary and promote critical brain development. Choose exciting books on topics you know they’ll enjoy, and let them choose the books with you. Many award-winning novels and popular young adult and children’s literature can provide days of page-turning entertainment.

Let Your Child Explore Their Own Interests

Children have a wide variety of interests that may not always link with yours. Use summertime to let them explore those interests and creativity with projects of their choosing.

From art to writing to STEAM and STEM activities, kids can use the summer hours to dig into new topics that keep their brains active and engaged.

Many kids love hands-on kits that teach them new science concepts. Seed-growing and other science kits encourage the exploration of these new concepts to engage their minds with the world around them. Talk with your child to find out where their interests lie, and let summer be a time to explore!