Fun Ideas to Keep Your Student Excited about Summer Learning
The school year is fast coming to an end, but learning doesn’t have to stop. Summer vacation is a great time to keep your child connected to math and reading skills in creative ways.
Why bother? Because summer learning loss is real — particularly for this year’s fourth graders, who are among the K-5 students most disrupted by the move to remote learning during the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, they were kindergartners just learning to read and write, and many of these students still need extra support.
To combat learning loss, keep your K-5 student consistently engaged. The key is exploring hands-on activities that are fun and boost their confidence to succeed in both reading and math — while enjoying the more relaxed day-to-day routine that summer allows.
We consulted the experts, and here are some activities, games and projects to consider while you’re at home or on the road this summer:
Reading
- Read in 100 Places. This challenge is all about encouraging your kids to read, but it also gives your child the freedom to run with their imagination and be a little whimsical. They can read their favorite books in a treehouse, inside a pillow fort, on a boat dock or at an ice-cream shop. They can use a handy checklist or come up with some of their own unique locations.
- Start a Book Club. Invite siblings or friends and other parents and agree on a list of books — everything from picture books to chapter books — to read and discuss. Raise the fun factor by making each gathering a party with book-themed snacks, costumes, music and games.
- Record an Audiobook. Record your child reading some of their favorite books. You can hold practicing sessions to prepare and then edit it until you get it just right. The end products make great gifts for grandparents and close friends.
Math
- Hire a “Contractor.” Encourage your child to calculate the square footage of rooms inside your house, on the back deck or for some portion of the backyard. Grab a tape measure and review the formulas for finding the area of squares, rectangles and other shapes before getting started. Check your little contractor’s work at the end of the day.
- Attend Math Camp. Treat your child to a summer day camp centered around exploring math and math concepts. You can find math camps at colleges and universities like USF in Tampa, where kids learn everything from basic addition and telling time to decimals and word problems.
- Grocery Store (and Kitchen) Fun. Set a budget, make a list and let your child do the family food shopping. Guide them as they use multiplication and division to compare prices and amounts and even let them pay with cash and coins. Back at home, allow your child to prepare a meal of their choice with some of the ingredients, using a recipe that requires precise measurements and telling time.
Summers are for easing back on the rush of homework, school project deadlines and afterschool extracurriculars. But incorporating a few fun academic activities will keep your child sharp and ready for the new school year!
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