In this issue: activities to help your family keep minds sharp and prevent the “summer slide” for students, including reading ideas, learning on the web, and executive function learning.
In this week’s issue of the Family Guide, Lia Wiersma and Kevin Taylor team up to provide some suggestions for preventing the “summer slide” by keeping academic skills sharp. We asked our teachers and some community friends for ideas, and we would love to hear your ideas as well! If your family has a fun summer learning tradition, email it to one of us and we may feature it in a coming issue of the Family Guide.
This issue brought to you by Lia Wiersma and Kevin Taylor, with a contribution from Leah Pirozzi
Family Activities
MID-SUMMER CHECK: IS EVERYONE READING?
One of our favorite summer activities when my (Lia’s) kids were young was our weekly Book Picnic (or BookNic, for short!). Each week, we would go to the local library and everyone would pick out books. I would prep some of our favorite lunch foods and snacks, we’d spread a blanket under a tree, and everyone would dig in. No screens allowed . . . or needed!
The point is to make books something to celebrate and enjoy. Let your child see you reading often — that’s one of the best ways to raise a reading family. If your child struggles with reading, it may take a bit more effort to find materials that entice them, but they are out there. Start with the child’s interests, and search online for books that meet that goal. Picture books, comic books, magazines, and graphic novels all count as reading!
Mrs. Pirozzi’s Favorite Learning Apps
Looking for ways to bust summer boredom and sharpen skills before school starts again? Try these cool online resources, collected by Junior High Learning Specialist Leah Pirozzi.
READING: Downloadable Library Resources
Children who read twenty minutes a day are exposed to 1.8 million words a year, and by sixth grade, this will add up to the equivalent of additional 60 school days. If you don’t feel comfortable going to your local library, try the online resources. RBdigital, Overdrive, and Hoopla are a few of my favorites. You can download books to your Kindle or load audiobooks on your phone, and if you don’t have a library card, many libraries are issuing them online.
MATH: Apps for Facts Fluency and Skills Practice
Math facts are the building blocks for higher-level math concepts. Mastering addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division will make advanced concepts easier to understand and faster to complete. There are many apps that focus only on math fluency; I like Sushi Monster (iOS) and Math Flash Cards (Andriod), but there are several other free apps available, so find the one that most appeals to your child. If you would like your child to practice math concepts, try Prodigy Math. It is free and includes a diagnostic test and 1,500 math skills for grades K-8.
SEVERAL CONTENT AREAS
If you would like to focus on several content areas, there are two websites that I recommend. The Khan Academy Kids app is great for ages 3-7 and older children can create an account on Khan Academy to complete lessons in Math, Reading, and other content areas.
MobyMax is another resource for grades K-8. Their diagnostic test helps find gaps in a student’s learning, and then provides lessons in Math, Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies to fill in those gaps. FRCS has a sample license until September. Email Leah at lpirozzi@www.frcs.org with your child’s name and grade level if you would like to be added.
More Ways to Learn from the Web
Ann Dolin of Educational Consultants, Inc. recommends these websites to re-engage brains in learning:
- Scholastic Learn at Home: Let’s say your child doesn’t want to pick a book with you and doesn’t want to read on his or her own. That’s okay! Scholastic Learn at Home features online book clubs that enable kids to engage with others online as they read.
- No Red Ink: For a website that makes writing fun, try No Red Ink. The software asks questions to gauge your child’s interests, then creates problems and prompts that use the child’s name, their friends’ names, the favorite characters’ names, and so on. It’s a fun, motivating way to practice things like sentence structure, parts of speech, contractions, and other grammar rules.
- BrainPOP (5th Grade and Up) or BrainPOP Junior (Elementary): For holistic learning on a wide variety of subjects, I recommend BrainPOP. Kids can click on any subject they want to learn more about. For example, if you’ve got a math-loving daughter, she might like to explore coding. Or perhaps your son loves social studies and wants to learn about a famous historical figure. The program uses videos, interactive lessons, and quizzes to help kids practice their language arts skills and build on their content knowledge.
- IXL.com: While IXL.com covers a variety of subjects, the highlight is its math program. It’s an adaptive online learning platform, which means the software will recognize when your child is having difficulty in any one task. Then, it will go back and reteach it until your child is caught up. It does cost about $5 a month per subject, but I think the ability to be hands-off with your child’s math practice is well worth it!
See Educations Connections and Tutoring’s website for more ideas and resources from Ann.
Family Activities that Help Develop Executive Functioning
Did you know your child can learn crucial success skills, just by doing fun things with the family? Our friend Tammy English, Educational Facilitator for Results Learning in Denver, sent us these activities:
Summer is here, so let’s have some family fun while we learn!
Now is the perfect time to get the whole family involved in applying executive functioning skills like planning, organizing, and time management to real life situations! By following these simple templates for planning a meal or a day trip, you can actively engage all family members in the planning process. Each template also includes a Reflection section which allows family members to process the experience and see what they have learned.
The Meal Planner allows children to pick a recipe, work within a budget, create a list of what is needed, and estimate the amount of time it takes to prepare and cook the meal. This is also a great way to expose children to the shopping experience, whether it is ordering the ingredients online or going to the store. Encourage children to utilize the store’s website and weekly sales ad to find the best deals; provide rewards for staying under budget.
The Day Trip Planner allows children to pick a destination, stay within a budget and plan what will be needed for the trip. This is a great way to expose children to how to navigate websites for specific information and utilize mapping services. This is also a wonderful way to help children understand the importance of planning ahead and to be prepared for any obstacles they may encounter.
Parents will have to provide children with proper support when completing the templates based on the age of the child, but you will be amazed how engaging this process can be for the entire family.
