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Parents often struggle with wanting their children to rest and have fun while also avoiding learning loss over summer break. While children need time to rest after a challenging school year and before the upcoming one, they also need to keep up the learning momentum. Fortunately, this does not have to mean cracking open a textbook every day or taking summer classes. Here are five creative, practical ways families can keep children learning this summer while helping them discover more of who they were created to be.
Create a Summer Passion Project
Summer learning should focus on experiences, and working on a summer-long project is a great way to try new things. Student athletes can take this time to learn about optimizing nutrition and training. Artists can begin building a portfolio or come up with a concept for one large piece. Science-minded students can choose a summer research project. A summer passion project can be anything that excites and activates your child all summer long.
Turn Everyday Errands into Real-World Lessons
Choose age-appropriate ways to make errands educational. Younger children can help with creating grocery budgets and calculating savings with coupons to build up their math skills. Older children and teens can help with planning a family outing, setting budgets and comparing the value of different activities. The more your children see what goes on behind the scenes of everyday life, the more they will appreciate the work it takes to make things happen.
Use the Outdoors as a Classroom
The outside world can be the perfect classroom. Being in nature allows children to marvel at God’s creation while appreciating the ways everything is connected. An artistic child can start a nature journal with sketches of different plants and animals. Summer is also a great time to try home science experiments, like comparing the growth of plants in different conditions. For athletic children, hikes or bike rides provide opportunities for mapping out routes, as well as learning about timing and distance. Children can learn many essential skills outside, all while reaping the benefits of getting outdoors and staying active.
Make Reading and Storytelling Active
While some children are voracious readers from the first time they open a book, others need an extra push to find joy in reading. One thing that can help is making the experience interactive and relatable. Create a family summer reading challenge with book choices that fit your child’s real-life interests. After the family reads a book, encourage your child to act out a scene or design a new book cover for the book. Maybe they can even write their own stories about the characters in the books, imagining them in different scenarios.
Encourage Service Projects That Combine Learning with Purpose
There’s nothing like a summer service project to get a child motivated and energized throughout the summer. Help your child find a service initiative that speaks to them and a way they can help using their own unique talents. A child who loves building things could try building birdhouses or helping out at community gardens. An artistic child can try writing notes or creating cards for people in nursing homes. There are so many ways to serve others, and they can all be fulfilling ways to spend summer break.
At North Tampa Christian Academy, we believe education should help students understand how they can use their gifts with confidence and purpose. Students at our Tampa private school thrive creatively, academically and spiritually in a real-world learning environment. Faculty and families work together to inspire leadership through Christian innovation. Contact us today to learn more.