Summer time comes with long days of family fun, relaxation, and parents getting to spend time with their children. Summer, however, is also a time when many children experience the “summer slump” and lose some of the educational gains they have gathered during the academic year. In order to avoid this slump and build quality family time, it is important that parents capitalize off summer fun to find teachable moments that can bolster a child’s learning and love of knowledge. Here are some simple ways you can incorporate learning into your family time.
Add Knowledge to Fun Family Trips
While enjoying the experience of summer fun is critical, share knowledge with your children as you go on family outings. Going to the park? Take a look at the different types of trees and wildlife. Heading to the pool? Talk about animals that make water their natural habitat. For younger children, sharing interesting information is liable to get their curiosity going and lead to more learning. For older children, consider discussing impact issues about the environment or other current events. These discussions do not have to be long or take away from the fun of the day to get a child thinking and growing.
Capitalize on Boredom Time with Reading Activities
Eventually, every child in the summer hits the boredom stage. Away from friends and longing for more social interaction, many children become bored and listless as summer draws on. Capitalize on this time by introducing new, exciting literature to your children. Reading during the summer can help keep up vocabulary and promote critical brain development. Choose exciting books – and let your child choose them with you. Summer beach time isn’t the time for opening up a classic novel but many award winning novels and popular young adult and children’s literature can provide page-turning entertainment.
Let Your Child Explore their Own Interests
Children have a broad variety of interests that may not link with yours. Use summer time to let them explore their own interests and creativity with projects of their choosing. From art to hands-on technology and STEM activities, kid scan use the summer hours to dig into new topics that keep their brain active and engaged. Many kids love hands-on kits that walk them through new science concepts or science kits like seed growing kits that encourage exploration of new concepts. Talk with your child and find out where their interests lie and let summer be a time to explore!
