Now that school is out for the summer, what can I do to keep the children ready for when school starts in 9 weeks? - Summer Help
Answer: : Living by the old saying "no more pencils, no more books ..." this summer could be a prescription for your children to avoid any school-related learning. Certainly, they will enjoy a break from routine classroom activities; however, there are wonderful ways to promote learning in everyday settings with far less structure. For the next nine weeks, we will be giving you activities to do with your children to strengthen their language-arts skills.
The language arts are extremely important. They are the means through which your children are able to receive information, think logically and creatively, and express their ideas. In the school curriculum, this includes reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary building, listening, speaking, handwriting, grammar and storytelling.
Listening is one of the most important language-arts skills. Your first summer learning activity with your children should involve lots of listening. We have suggested activities for different levels at school, but almost all of the activities can be adapted for every age level. Besides being fun, all of the activities will improve your children's listening skills.
Preschool and Kindergarten
--Go outside two or three different times in the day. Everyone should shut his or her eyes and listen for several minutes. Then in turn, everyone should tell one thing that he or she heard until all the sounds have been named.
--Use books in which your children press a button to hear sounds from the story.
Elementary School
--Find a docent-led tour of a museum that would be fun for your children to visit. For example, you might go to a toy, children's or car museum.
--You and your children can visit a shop, art gallery or museum where you follow instructions to complete a craft project.
Middle School and Beyond
--Join your children at a cooking school, like those you see in grocery stores. Everyone will have to listen carefully so the food item will taste like it should.
--Listen together to the news or a talk program on the radio. Or listen to a television program without looking at the picture.