In just a short time, school will be out for the summer. Educators say that children lose some of the skills they learned over the summer. If you want to help your child retain more of their skills, we have a few simple suggestions for summer activities.
If your family is planning a vacation, your child can do some age appropriate research on the sites you may visit. I remember my children reporting on Mt Rushmore and Yellowstone National Park. They were mid-way through elementary school at the time, so the reports were not terribly detailed but they each had a chance to see photos of our destination and learn a few interesting facts. We made a trip to the library and they looked for references, took notes, and then made a one-page report for the family that they read to us in the car as we headed out on vacation.
Children can also help with grocery shopping. Even young children that have not mastered spelling can write down the grocery list. As long as they have mastered the alphabet, you can spell out the items on the list. Have them look through the kitchen to decide what foods need to add to the list. Help them understand fractions like half, thirds, and quarters. Visualization helps make fractions real.
Once you are shopping for groceries, provide a calculator to older elementary students to track total spending or explain how to figure unit pricing to know which size cereal box is more economical.
Sometimes we do not realize all the reading, writing, and arithmetic skills we use in everyday life. Help our child maintain their skills and have fun, too.
