Summer Learning Loss: Everyday Learning Opportunities!
Congratulations, Another School Year is Complete!
You're exhausted. You're ready to take a break, and you deserve it. As we enter the summer months most parents and educators are thinking about their upcoming vacations, or finding a way to relax after the school year. While relaxation is crucial, so is making sure your child doesn't forget the lessons they learned during the school year. Research indicates that your child could lose as much as one month's worth of school year learning over the summer. So our focus turns to creative ways to prevent learning loss during summer break.
Here are some ideas for learning activities to incorporate into your summer adventures:
Idea 1: Take your SnapWords® with you on a family hike!
Before your hike, find a dozen or more words from our SnapWords® Science Teaching Kit for a scavenger hunt! When you start the hike, go over the words with your learners prior to setting off on your adventure. Then instruct them to search for these objects during your hike! Our five year old used the flower SnapWord to find a flower in nature! To make a game out of it, we tried to identify as many SnapWords® as possible!
Studies continue to confirm that children absorb more information when they are physically active than when they sit at a desk. If you are interested in this topic, you can learn more by reading this blog How Movement Activates Learning.
The reward for finding all of these words? Slushies of course!
Idea 2: Surprise Your Kids with a Science Experiment at the Beach
Before setting off to the beach, or in the comfort of your own sandbox, pack a box of baking soda and a bottle of vinegar to surprise your children with a fun volcano experiment! Have your children build a volcano, and pour some of the baking soda into the top. Then, add your vinegar and watch the volcano come alive! You can also add food coloring! For more detailed instructions, check out this blog!
Idea 3: Use our SnapWords App!
Need a short break from the outdoors? Our SnapWords® Application can be found on both Apple ios and Google Play stores as a fun way for your children to practice their sight words!
Studies like this one, Apps as Learning Tools: A Systematic Review, indicate that children benefit from learning on their touch screen devices.
Wherever life finds you this summer, we encourage you to include fun learning activities for your children! Shop our new SnapWords® System Kits for resources you can include during your relaxing summer!
Also in Outdoor/Free Play
Activities and Games That Will Keep Kids Learning All Summer
16 Reasons Why Free Play Will Help Your Child
