healthykids
counsels Christy Wright, activities director of Big Horn K-12 summer school, in Wyoming. Here are some ways to keep kids’ minds active when they’re out of school.
1 School’s Out
Five Fun Ways to Keep Kids’ Minds Sharp This Summer
by Janet Forgrieve
Every year, kids across the country close their schoolbooks and adjust their inner clocks to the more unstructured hours of summer. They’re ready to let the good times roll.
during their joyful break, according to Patricia Froehlich, youth services consultant for the Colorado State Library. To combat this, parents can find ways to strike a balance between learning and fun, grabbing opportunities to teach when and where they can. These parents find that the more this learning feels like
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schoolwork, the faster you lose them. But keeping it fun can not only keep kids from falling behind, it also may give them a leg up when they head back to class in the fall. The key is in “just hiding the learning in the fun,”
et, studies going back decades have documented a resulting “summer slide” among kids who don’t engage their minds as much as school demands
2 Reading
Summer community reading programs provide age- appropriate options for kids of every grade and help
those who aren’t naturally adept readers to find topics that will make them want to pick up a book, advises Froehlich. Lisa Parry’s inspiration for her own family reading
program came on Mother’s Day, when her children asked if they could get out the beads and make their mom some jewelry. They decided that each time her first-grader, Grace, finished reading a book aloud, she got to put another bead on a string that hung on the wall. Grace watched her accomplishments grow, while her parents saw her reading improve.
Science Families that spend time camping and hiking can capitalize on the abundant natural learning opportu-
nities that such activities foster, aided by books on the local flora and fauna. When traveling to another part of the coun- try or the world for outdoor adventures, do some homework together first about what you’re likely to see when you get there.
Indoor science lessons, cleverly disguised as games or
toys, may be just as valuable, not only for teaching scientif- ic concepts, but also in fostering skills kids will need when they head back to the classroom. Kelly Pascal Gould relates how Jackson, her elemen-
tary school-age son, naturally gravitates toward experi- ments and creative projects. One spring, she stocked up on chemistry sets and science kits. Several of them worked to engage the budding inventor, who needed to increase his attention span. Wright notes that many students that participate in her
summer school program are referred to her because they have trouble concentrating in regular classes. She’s learned that projects that teach them about science, nature and how things work tend to keep them focused on the task at hand, and also begin to ingrain in them ways to better concentrate in the future.
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Phoenix
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