family fun
Make Learning Fun All Summer Long By Jennifer Halter
T
his was an unprecedented school year for students. Now that it’s winding down, you may be looking for ways to implement more educational activities into your days to supplement or expand upon what they learned. Here are some tips for helping your child stay on track and beat the summer learning slide.
Explore Museums, Zoos and Historical Sites
We are fortunate to live in an area rich in history and full of landmarks and museums for your family to explore, many at low or no cost. Plan a field trip to visit one, maybe for a “Take a Trip Tuesday” or “Field Trip Friday” adventure. Before you head out, have your child help with planning tasks like finding driving directions using a map and setting a budget based on the cost of admission, meals and gas to travel. Have them research to learn about the things they will be seeing, activities happening during your visit, as well as finding those important amenities, like restrooms or picnic areas, to name a few. Once you are at your destination, let them participate in hands-on exhibits or take guided tours, if available. Some places may have information packets just for kids, so be sure to inquire. As you explore new areas, ask your children questions about what they see, feel and hear. A great follow-up activity would be to have them write stories about their adventures or do additional research about what they learned.
Write Letters
In an era where technology is everywhere and communication can happen with the click of a button, the art of letter writing is no longer the exciting activity that it once was. However, writing letters develops many
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important skills and is great for children of all ages. Connect with friends and family, even if they are local, to set up a summer pen pal program. Try to match children of close ages together so they have more in common and have similar reading and writing abilities. For younger children, their letters could be focused on pictures instead of words as they are still learning. This activity provides a great opportunity for children to learn how to format a letter, address an envelope, purchase stamps and get things into the mail, either through your personal mailbox or by visiting the post office. Imagine how excited they will be receiving their own mail from their pen pal(s)!
Visit the Library
Reading to your child and/or having them read to you or themselves each day will keep them in their school year reading routine and help them maintain or grow their skills. Plus, reading can be a huge boredom buster,
