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Keeping Active Minds - Over Their Summer Break
Summer Break! Every student's goal . . . every parent's dream. Finally, after weeks of studying, homework, and testing, the glorious summer days are finally here.
Academic pursuits are generally replaced with a little more recreation. In fact, for 10 weeks your children may be expecting to sit back and do nothing . . . BUT . . . wait. What happens after a loaf of bread is not either stored in the refrigerator or used up? You got it! It gets stale and moldy. Not something you'd give to your dog, let alone your family.
Yet, when we allow our kids to use up the summer for ONLY rest and relaxation, we're in fact letting their minds turn from fresh to stale and moldy. Then, we wonder why it's such a struggle the following fall.
So, this summer, we're going to sneak a few fun but mind-working activities into our kids' summertime activities in order not only to bless them (by keeping fresh minds), but others as well. Read on to find out how:
Write letters
Pick one day a week and have your child write a letter to someone he/she loves. For older children, finding a pen pal to write can be fun, too.
Flashcards
Math facts (from adding to times tables) are important to keep fresh on the brain. Keep a pack of flash cards in your purse and play games with them in line at the store, at stop lights, etc. At the end of the day (or week depending upon how much you get to it), count up the points and whoever has the most gets a treat (Slurpees are great this time of year.)
Reading
Whether you read to them or they read to you, reading 20 minutes a day is always great! If your child does not like reading, be sure it's a book he/she has picked out. There are fun incentives for reading at your local library - be sure to check them out.
Grocery Shopping Fun
Instead of having your child walk down the aisles finding all the things, he or she would love for you to buy for him/her, give your child a fun job to do. As you're making purchases, have your child estimate the cost of the item (ex. $2.97 would round to $3.00) then have him/her punch it into the calculator. At the end of every addition, have your child read to you the sum just in case he/she accidentally erases, you can have an idea of where to go back to. This serves two purposes, math skills and reality check - stuff costs money . . . be thankful for it. (Clipping coupons is another great way to work on math savings. Maybe even use the money that was saved to do something fun together at the end of the summer. It adds up quickly.)
Keeping a journal
Where did the summer go? Come September, does your child always ask how it's already time for school? Well, if he/she keeps a daily journal - maybe every night before bed writes a few sentences about what he did for the day - when he asks that question, you can have him/her refer back to the journal. Also, depending upon the child, you can add pictures to this - photography for older kids, drawings for younger, possibly make it a family album, etc.
The important thing to remember over summer break is to have fun. Enjoy the extra time together as a family and do things you aren't normally able to do during the school year . . . like staying up later, playing Uno, and eating peanut butter cups. I speak from personal experience . . . it's a lot of fun. (Then the next day, you can all go for a family jog.)
Happy Summer!
Copyright © 2008-2015 Cindy Aitken
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