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Beaches Near Staten Island

Let’s Go to the Beach!

Beach blankets, swimsuits, the ocean breeze, and more! Nothing says summer like a day (or night) at the beach. Whether you like to lay on the sand, take a dip in the water, or try your hand at boardwalk games, there’s something for everyone at our local beaches. Check out our round-up of beach destinations located nearby in New York and New Jersey—including right here on Staten Island—then head to the shore for some fun in the sun!

point pleasant

Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 732-892-0600 pointpleasantbeach.com Features arcades and games, beach, restaurants, Jenkinson’s amusement park rides & aquarium, live entertainment, and fireworks shows.

7 presidents oceanfront park

Long Branch, NJ • 732-229-7025 monmouthcountyparks.com The 38-acre park includes an activity center, a boating launch, fishing, a playground, swimming, sand volleyball, pavilion with snack bar, and restrooms.

Seaside heights

Seaside Heights, NJ • 732-793-6488 seaside-heightsnj.org The beach and boardwalk features Casino Pier amusement rides, Breakwater Beach water park, plus go-karts, mini golf, arcades, games, and food.

ocean City

Ocean City, NJ • 609-399-7082 oceancityvacation.com Two and half miles of boardwalk containing family amusements like OC Waterpark and Gillian’s Wonderland Pier, plus the beach and free entertainment.

Sandy hook

Sandy Hook, NJ • 732-872-5970 nps.gov/gate/planyourvisit/sandy-hook One of New Jersey’s most beautiful beaches, visitors can go fishing, birding, camping, boating, canoeing, enjoy picnics, take sightseeing tours, and eat at local seafood restaurants.

wildwood

Wildwood, NJ • 800-992-9732 wildwoodsnj.com Features more than 100 rides and attractions including Morey’s Piers & Beachfront Waterparks, Ocean Oasis Waterpark & Beach Club, Splash Zone Water Park, games, arcades, food, and restaurants.

Coney island

Brooklyn, NY • 718-373-5862 coneyisland.com Amusement park rides for kids of all ages, games, food, fireworks shows, beach, live entertainment, New York Aquarium, ferris wheel, carousel, and more.

nautical mile

Freeport, Long Island • 516-377-2200 longisland.com/freeport-nautical-mile A lively, seaside destination featuring great restaurants, shopping, fishing boats, mini golf, and ice cream shops.

rockaway Beach and Boardwalk

Queens, NY nycgovparks.org/parks/rockawaybeach-and-boardwalk/ A year-round destination for locals along the Rockaway peninsula, it comes alive each summer from Memorial Day to Labor Day weekend. It features the city’s only legal surfing beach, a variety of concessions, playgrounds, and other activities.

Franklin D. roosevelt Boardwalk and Beach

Midland Beach and South Beach, Staten Island nycgovparks.org/parks/fdr-boardwalk-and-beach Features a 2.5-mile boardwalk, barbecue ares, playgrounds, basketball courts, soccer fields, baseball fields, and kayak and canoe launch sites.

gateway national recreation area: great kills park

Great Kills, Staten Island 718-354-4606 nps.gov/gate/learn/historyculture/great-kills-park This beach area has a multi-use path, fishing areas, a marina, and boat launch. Plus, ranger-led programs are offered throughout the year.

wolfe’s pond park Beach

Prince’s Bay, Staten Island • 718-984-8266 nycgovparks.org/parks/wolfes-pond-park/facilities/beaches A small and calm beach located on the Island’s South Shore, it features a beautiful water view, sandy shores, and picnic tables.

Cedar grove Beach

Great Kills, Staten Island • 718-987-2060 nycgovparks.org/parks/great-kills-park/facilities/beaches Another small and tranquil beach on the Island’s South Shore, this one features playgrounds and lots of natural areas to explore.

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Stop The Summer Slide

Before It Starts

BY JESSICA ALLEN

Summer slide, brain drain, skill slippage. No matter what you call it, learning loss during school vacation is real—and so are its damaging effects. Studies cited by the National Summer Learning Association estimate that more than 50 percent of U.S. students experience summer learning loss. Spread across five years, some students can lose, on average, approximately 40 percent of academic advances.

But learning loss can be prevented, with some effort and engagement on the part of grown-ups. Amita Gupta, Ed.D., professor of early childhood education at CUNY, recommends families use a schedule. “The planned experiences for children should serve to support their growth in four developmental domains (cognitive, social, emotional, and physical), and also address some academic content learning in literacy, social studies, math, and science. This may sound daunting to parents, but the good news is that several of these targets can be reached with a single activity or experience.”

1. rEaD

According to the Colorado Department of Education, reading “just four to six books during the summer has the potential to prevent a decline in reading achievement scores from the spring to the fall.” The New York Public Library is offering tons of summer reading activities around this year’s theme of “Tails and Tales.” Check your local branch for events and reading lists divided by age. Heighten the fun by having your kid start a virtual book club with a far-flung relative or friend. And remember the value of modeling. Kids tend to do as we do, not necessarily as we say. If you want to raise a reader, don’t forget to make time to read yourself.

2. Cook

Cooking your own meals doesn’t just help your wallet—it helps your child’s brain. Use cooking as an opportunity to talk and learn about: • Math: How much do you need of each ingredient? How many people are drinking soda? How many people are drinking milk? • Chemistry: What happens when you mix one ingredient with another? What happens when you add heat? • Human anatomy: Why does food taste the way it does? How do we convert food into energy? What happens to the calories or food we don’t need? • Environmental sustainability: Where was this food grown? How, and by whom? How did it get from there to your table? • Culture: Why does your family eat what it eats? What kinds of foods did you grow up eating? How does food reinforce culture?

What kinds of foods are common across cultures?

Dial the conversation up or down, depending on your kid’s age and interest. Remember too that it doesn’t have to be cooking. “Whatever the household chore—gardening, grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, organizing, taking a walk—can all be turned into experiences in sorting, classifying, sequencing, observing, predicting, sharing, helping, team building, and problem solving,” Dr. Gupta notes.

3. Do SomE math

Incorporating learning into your everyday life will help your child become a lifelong learner. It also reminds kids why fundamentals and facts are so important.

At the grocery store, talk about what you could buy for $5 or $500. Discuss budgeting. Have a chat about wants versus needs. Point out different shapes to little kids. Teach tweens how credit cards work. And teenagers can learn about the magic of compound interest. Avoid falling into the all-too-common parent trap of saying, “I’m terrible at math” by showing how much we all use math every single day.

4. play gamES

The boom in tabletop gaming means there’s a game for every skill you wish to cultivate in your child. But your kids will be having too much fun to realize they’re actually learning. In Scotland Yard (suitable for kids 8 and older), for example, players use logic and critical thinking to find a criminal’s London location. Weird But True—based on the beloved book series by National Geographic—requires players (age 8 and older) to consider whether a wacky factoid is true or false. The uber-popular Wingspan teaches players (ages 14 and older) about birds, ecology, and biology.

5. ChECk thE mail

Subscription boxes give you the chance to experience the world without leaving your house. The day our Universal Yums subscription snack box arrives is one of the happiest in my household. My son and I make predictions about that month’s country, then we enjoy reading about the fun facts (and ranking the snacks) in the colorful, fun booklet that accompanies the treats. Sometimes we draw maps. Sometimes we talk about history or politics. No matter what, we eat all the candy.

6. go to living room SummEr SChool

Is your kid a budding coder? Mixed media artist? Cat lover? Regardless of your child’s interest, there’s a class for that. The pandemic has seen a boom in online learning, with options ranging from a short, one-off class to a multiweek deep-dive. Outschool has tons of video-based classes for kids age 3-18, including math practice, geography, and chess. Social clubs too.

7. Join, or ExtEnD, a lEarning poD

When COVID shut down in-person learning, many parents formed learning pods—small groups led by a teacher or tutor. If you already have one from the academic year, consider extending it through the summer, perhaps with some extra sports or crafts thrown in.

If not, consider finding a few like-minded families to form a learning pod. Establish your expectations (frequency of meeting, topics discussed, amount of work to be done, masks on or off). The pod’s facilitator could be a recent high school or college graduate, or perhaps a teacher on summer break. How much to pay this person depends on several factors, but you should be realistic about what you’re asking the person and the kids to do.

8. SEt goalS anD CElEBratE

Set actionable, realistic goals, then celebrate them. Maybe you want your soon-to-be third-grader to read five books over the summer. Set up a chart, add some stickers, and break the big goal (five books) into smaller goals (one chapter every week). Every two chapters gets an ice cream. The right incentive can help motivate.

Above all, make it fun. It is summer, after all.

Jessica Allen writes about food, culture, travel, and New York City, where she lives.

I asked my son’s first-grade classmates for suggestions about ways to grow their brains during the summer. Here’s what they said: • Write for fun • Do workbooks • Keep a journal or diary of all the fun things you do • Cool your brain by going swimming • Eat a lot of good stuff • Go to summer camp • Have a sleepover on the Intrepid

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