Summer Fun and Learning Go Together

Summer Fun and Learning Go Together

Summer is perfect for blending fun, learning, and companionship with your child. There's more time to spend together, albeit sometimes in routine activities. Within those routines can be some exciting "lessons" that turn the routine and "boring" into the "challenging and fun." Here are just a few ideas to make this summer a productive learning time and a fun time for kids.

An ordinary trip to the grocery store might be easily turned into a learning journey. With small children, you might talk about colors or shapes seen along the way. For a child a little older, road signs and more complicated scenery offer topical conversational possibilities.
With your child, look around the grocery store with fresh eyes. Where do many of the things in the store came from? How they were made? These questions provoke thought, discussion, and wonder. Letting kids make up the grocery list helps them with writing—even the little ones like to try their hand. (Let them make up their "list" while you make up yours. Their list might look like sheer scribbles to the uninformed, but you'll know better!)
Grocery stores are bountiful environments for learning about math. For the older child, work together to figure out package sizes, unit costs, and nutritional content. Calculations come into play when comparing prices. Was the cost of a gallon of milk higher or lower than last week? How much is the difference? (And by the way, just how many quarts are there in a gallon? Hmmm. Let's look that one up when we get home.) Involving your child in weighing items such as fruits and vegetables, and then estimating and calculating the cost per pound and total price not only teaches math skills, it helps to make them savvy consumers.

If there is only one learning activity you can do this summer, then truly, reading is fundamental. Reading aloud to children is not only a great fun activity, it's a sure way to start them on the path to a love of learning—and it's never too early to start! While reading aloud to kids helps increase their reading interest and ability, how about turning the tables and have them read aloud to you. It helps to increase their reading fluency. Make a game of it—"you read one page; I'll read one page." Reading together is a tender way to build loving memories while reveling in the enjoyment, enrichment and knowledge to be gained from reading.

Let's face it. Sometimes turning off the television is just too, too hard. Well then, OK. How about watching appropriate shows with your child—followed by discussion. What was this show about? Was there a main character? Where did the story take place? Was this a good show, or a bad show? Was this a good use of our time, or do you think we might have used our time more wisely?

Educational researchers call out the message loud and clear: Parent and caregiver attitudes toward reading, mathematics, and learning have a tremendous influence on children's attitudes toward learning. Actions speak louder than words, so take this summer time to communicate to your child the importance of these subjects through your daily activities—doing and learning, together.

This column is provided as a public service by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, a nonprofit institution, 101 SW Main, Suite 500, Portland, Oregon 97204.