The JumpStart Blog

-From the Desk of Heather Tuttle, Curriculum Writer-

This year, as the final school bell rings and your kids leave their math books behind, be sure they don’t forget to bring the learning with them. Prevent the infamous summer ‘Brain Drain’ by creating daily learning opportunities at home. From learning on the go to planned educational activities, it’s easy to surround your kids with some scholarly summer fun.

Science

By simply exploring the world around them, your kids will enhance their science brains.

• Go on a nature hike or nature scavenger hunt. Collect or take pictures of specific items on a list. Observe and compare different types of rocks, animals, insects, and leaves.
• After watching the summer weather patterns, make forecasts and weather predictions together. Make a rain gauge out of everyday items you have at home. Then, predict the amount of rainfall during a certain day, week, or month.
• Plant a garden and watch seeds develop into plants. As a bonus, you’ll have some healthy summer snacks to munch on as well.
• Give your kids the opportunity to separate recyclable materials. Teach them why recycling is important and show them where all the waste ends up in your community.
• Have a treasure hunt at the beach. Discover shells, seaweed, fish bones, and beach glass. Bring along a field guide or go online to do research about your treasures when you get home.
• It will be a tasty and hands-on science experiment when you and your kids make a delicious summer treat in a Ziploc bag! With just a few ingredients and a super scientific explanation, ice cream in a bag will be a summer treat and a cool experience your kids won’t forget!

Reading

Studies have shown that reading above all other academic activities stimulates and sustains the brain, making it grow the most. Kids who read during the summer start the next school year leaps ahead of those who don’t open a book all summer.

• Encourage your kids’ interest in reading by letting them choose books to read about their favorite topics.
• Make a chart to keep track of all the books your family reads during the summer. Set goals or make it a competition.
• Visit your local library regularly and sign up for the summer reading program.
• Read aloud to your kids. Older kids can read to you or their younger siblings.
• Listen to audio books as a family while you’re on the road this summer.
• Help your kids write a letter to their favorite author or favorite character from a book.
• Cut out words from a newspaper or magazine and arrange them into a letter for a friend or family member.
• Help your kids write a storybook of their very own, complete with illustrations and the key elements of a good story.
• Start a family or neighborhood book club. Your club can be as simple as two people reading the same book and chatting about it afterwards.

Work Learning Into Daily Life:

• Talk with teachers and look ahead in the textbooks for what’s on your kids’ school schedule next year. Then, when you plan the family vacation, take this future learning into account. For example, if your kids will be learning about the Civil War, consider booking a trip to Gettysburg. Or, if they’ll be studying geological features next year, visit a national park. Trips to historical villages or science museums are also great ways to get the mind in gear and prepared for what’s ahead.
• Bust Boredom: When the chorus of “I’m Bored” bellows from the backyard, you’ll be prepared with some great educational ways to break down and beat the boredom blues.
• Going on a road trip this summer? Packing the learning along with you won’t take up a ton of space, plus it will make the car ride free from the never ending questions of “Are we there yet?”.
• Summer is a great time to get creative and crafty. From tissue paper flowers to origami and coffee filter butterflies, your home will become a gallery of creative learning.
• It’ll be magic to the mind when your kids learn while putting on a mystical magic show.
• The musical tones of summer will echo in your kids’ minds as their brain expands by creating a homemade rock band.