There’s
still a lot of summer ahead of us - with no mathematics or language classes in
sight. Can your child really loose academic skills that aren’t practiced over
the summer? Yes. Faster than you think. But you don’t have to be a taskmaster,
chaining your children to workbooks or daily journals to keep those skills
sharp.
Summer
learning can be as fun as summer playing. Keep in mind you don’t need to teach
new skills over the summer, just keep your kids practicing the ones they already
know. Math and language skills are used daily. The trick is knowing how to
include your children in these activities and maximize their academic value.
Math
is part of any shopping trip. Include your children with money games. Give them
1 to 5 dollars to spend if they follow the game rules: #1 candy, soda, frozen
desserts and toys are excluded from purchase choices, #2 they must buy at least
3 things from 3 different sections of the store, # 3 they must have change left
over. Let them bring along a calculator or pad and pencil to facilitate their
arithmetic work. A little guidance is helpful the first time, but children
become more creative and independent the more they play. An “adding”
benefit: children focus on their criteria plus you can focus on your
criteria equals a less stressful shopping trip.
Cooking
is also a great math skills builder. Let your child choose the recipe to
maximize his interest. He should read the recipe and do the measuring, pouring,
mixing and spooning as you go along. You can handle the chopping and the hot
stove or oven. Doubling or halving a recipe increases the use of math skills.
With an older child, have him plan and prepare a full meal. Summer picnics are
great for this. He should calculate how many people he is serving and prepare
chosen recipe(s) accordingly. Encourage 2 vegetable servings, one fruit serving
(juice counts), one whole grain carb, one protein or dairy serving, and water or
lemonade instead of soda.
Don’t
forget the games! – the face to face kind, not the electronic ones. Card games
and board games are loaded with math calculations and problem solving skills.
Forget “Slap Jack” and “Go Fish,” try “Spades” or “Gin” or
“Rummy.” Go on-line or pick up a Hoyle Card Games Rule Book and learn
“Spite and Malice” or “Euchre.” For board games, anything with dice and
moving tokens is great: Sorry, Trouble, Parcheesi and Backgammon are old
favorites. There are many great new board games, too. Monopoly has the extra
benefit of figuring out money transactions. Yahtzee involves multiplication
practice.
You
have probably heard that children should read everyday, at least for half an
hour. They should also write that much. This, too, can be painless.
If
your child is not a bookworm, go for short stories, children’s poetry
collections, comic books, joke and riddle books, and magazines. It doesn’t
have to be Shakespeare to be meaningful. Almost any reading practice is good
practice. Large varieties of children’s magazines are available with subject
choices from sports and entertainment to kids’ versions of Time and National
Geographic. Most importantly, BE AN EXAMPLE. Let your child see you reading,
EVERY DAY.
Utilize
out-of-town family and friends and the internet to encourage writing. Children
that seem allergic to pens and pencils usually love keyboards and e-mail. Got a
digital camera? Play the “There’s a Story Here” game. On your next outing,
let you child snap 3 to 5 pictures (or point out scenes for you to snap) of
things they can develop a story around. Use the computer to put their picture
and typed text in a document. No digital camera? Cut pictures from magazines and
do the same thing. Purchase decorative lined stationary paper as an extra
incentive.
The
“Collection” game encourages thinking beyond the obvious. Pick an adjective,
like “green” or “soft.” Your child collects 10 things that fit the
adjective. Then she writes a sentence describing each thing, but she can’t use
the chosen adjective or the name of the object. So instead of writing, “a
green pencil,” she writes, “a thin writing instrument made of wood that can
also be used to erase.” At first, take some turns yourself to give examples or
ask questions to get her thinking in different directions. Variations of this
game are endless - things on our vacation, things in nature, types of insects,
etc. Collecting is contagious, especially if you make room for displays! Up the
challenge with things that fit 2 adjectives (soft AND green) or things that
rhyme or things that are opposites.