5 Things Teachers Really Want Your Children To Do This Summer
We just wrapped up our eighth camp of the summer last week, which means summer is already half over! If you’re a glass-half-full person, it means you still have another 4 or 5 weeks of summer memories yet to make. It also means that we’re that much closer to the start of the school year and you're wondering: “Have we read enough? Have we practiced our math facts enough? Have we even started those workbooks we bought in June?”
Before you start sharpening your number 2 pencils, consider doing these 5 things that will have a real and lasting impact on your child’s academic and emotional development:
1. Experience Summer
It’s more than a catch phrase or a term only used by Millennials. When you expose your children to a new experience, you are broadening their knowledge and skills. This doesn’t have to be a trip to Europe - although that would be quite an experience! A walk to a pond to feed the ducks, watching a play put on by a local playhouse, a volunteer opportunity at your place of worship, a hospital, or charity of your choice, or a day trip to one of our area’s family friendly destinations are all great ways to make the summer meaningful. The more meaningful experiences your child has, the easier it will be for them to make connections to texts and deepen their understanding of what they are learning in school.
2. Be Authentic
Drilling sight words and completing worksheets may have value, but these out-of-context (and often meaningless) tasks do little to create real opportunities for learning. If your child is still learning to recognize sight words, all the better to recognize them in books than on flash cards! Give your child one or two sight words to find as you’re reading together and you’ll see how quickly he or she will be able to read them on their own! Opportunities to count coins are becoming rarer as we rely on our debit/credit cards, but every once in a while let your child pay for a small item with cash. Set up a lemonade stand and subtract the cost of lemons/cups, etc. from the profits. Cook together and follow the recipe. Use every day successes and mistakes as opportunities to discuss the cause and effect relationship. Practice penmanship by writing letters to grandparents, cousins and friends. Keep a travel journal of each trip or vacation you go on this summer. Not only will you be increasing their written language stamina and skills for their school assignments, but you’ll treasure having these letters and journals to look back on when they’re older.
3. Build Something
Our reliance on technology can get in the way of hands-on learning. Whether it’s putting together a model from a kit purchased at the hobby store, making a fort out of cardboard boxes, or creating a piece of “art” made from odd materials in your home, put those hands to work! Let your children use (appropriately) a hammer and nails. Remember the days of neighborhood kids building a backyard treehouse? Your HOA may not allow that now, but there are plenty of opportunities for children to construct whatever their imaginations will allow. Build a bookcase together, or let them build a birdhouse on their own. As an 8 year old, I spent many a happy afternoon playing with the dollhouse I made out a box and left over wallpaper and carpet scraps. The children who have had opportunities to build something over the summer will head back to school with greater independence and problem solving skills.
4. Try Something New
Summer is the perfect time to let your children do something they’ve never done before! Do they want to try an art or sewing class, attend a theatre or science camp, or take some tennis lessons? Maybe they’re asking to ride a roller coaster or jump off a boat. When your children are given the opportunity to go beyond their comfort zone, they’ll be more open to attempting difficult tasks at school and will have an easier time recognizing themes like courage and compassion in their reading assignments.
5. Read Aloud and Often
Of course reading is on every teacher’s wish list of what they want your child to be doing this summer! Visits to your local library and time set aside for independent reading should be a priority. The best way to keep all the gains your child made in the previous school year is to continue reading over the summer. But teachers love it when independent readers are read to. When you’re reading out loud to your child, whether by taking turns reading pages or reading an entire chapter or book, you are modeling the phrasing, pacing and expression that they should be striving for with their own fluency. You’re introducing advanced vocabulary that’s missing from the leveled books they’re reading on their own. And chances are, if you’re reading a book to them that’s above their reading level, the themes and complex character relationships are more mature than what they’ve encountered in life or books. So having a comforting adult to explain these issues before they read about them on their own will give them the background knowledge and critical thinking skills to better participate in class discussions or reading responses in school.
So don’t worry if you haven’t cracked open that workbook this summer. You’re too busy making memories that will send your child back to school refreshed, well-rounded and eager to learn. That’s what teachers really want.
For individual tutoring and summer camp availability, visit Ballantynereading.com or info@ballantynereading.com.
