Summer Learning Activities

It is officially S-U-M-M-E-R in our household, well at least for everyone except the hubby lol, and the teacher in me has always planned a mini curriculum for my kids over the break. There have been multiple studies that analyze the “summer slip”, or the loss of reading and math skills that occur over the summer months. The data from these studies is honestly all over the place, and very inconsistent in including factors such as race, gender, and socioeconomic status. I don’t know if there will be studies published about this year, and I don’t think I will read them even if they are, because I already know what the data will say. In the past year, many students have spent some, if not all of their time in a remote setting. Some students received work packets, with very little instruction. Some of our low income communities never received devices to join virtual classrooms. Those that were fortunate enough to get into a school building may have been in a hybrid classroom, where their teacher’s time was literally divided between the students in class and trying to pull along the students at home. And those that were in a somewhat “normal” classroom setting, likely ended up quarantined at one point or another, had to adapt to different instructional styles because they could no longer have small groups, or use manipulatives, or even play together at recess. So this year, more than ever, I urge parents, guardians, and caregivers to spend some time reading and reviewing math concepts. So to make learning more joyful over the summer for all involved, I choose a weekly theme, and build activities around the theme to do throughout the week. Typically we do some “traditional” learning activities in the morning, such as math, reading, and writing. Then we spend a few hours playing, swimming, eating, napping, etc. Then in the evenings we extend the learning with creative activities or movies. The idea is to make it so much fun that they forget they are learning. Now, before you go rolling your eyes at me about doing too much, I’m going to be super honest about how this goes….

First, I am a planner by nature. This kind of stuff goes in the “fun” category for me, which is odd because I don’t find lesson planning for my actual classroom fun.

Second, I buy a few workbooks from Amazon or Walmart to use for math and reading worksheets. You would be surprised at how many of these themes you can find in workbooks. I also snap photos of worksheets my kids do during the school year so I can recreate them at home with different words, facts, sentences, etc. Over the prior weekend, I tear out the pages I want to use for the week and label them for each day. Typically I give 2-3 ELA worksheets and 1-2 Math each day.

Third, Pinterest is a great resource for summer learning. If you aren’t the planning type, or don’t have the time, you can grab tons of printables, ideas, etc. on Pinterest.

Fourth, tablets, tv, and gaming systems still happen in excess because they’re pretty qualified babysitters in my honest opinion. There, I said it.

Finally, I do not teach any new skills over the summer. Summer is strictly reviewing skills they learned from the previous year. Sure, if you have a young kid that is learning colors or numbers, you can teach that, or writing their name, or identifying shapes, etc., but I leave the teaching to their teachers, because I still firmly stand on carrying the 1. Anywho, my main goal for summer curriculum is to prevent academic loss, bring some joy to learning, provide structure to their days (making the transition from school to break and back to school a little easier), and most importantly, TO MAKE MEMORIES (which really should read as messes, but whatever)!

So, if you are looking at the next 2 months and wondering what to do with your kids who are already complaining of boredom, and spent more hours than you’d openly admit watching tablets and eating Goldfish, then this is for you!! Below you will find two things for FREE!

First, are the 10 Weekly Themes we will be using to build our summer activities this year. The second is a direct link to subscribe to our non-spammy, sometimes funny, parenthood-inspired email list. When you sign up, you will get a breakdown of activities for each week. These activities will include learning, creating, moving, watching/listening, and eating, FOR EACH WEEK!! The emails will be divided into 3, so basically one email/month, coming at you on the Friday before the activities start so you have time to grab any supplies and plan ahead. The first email will come next Friday, and will include activities for the first three weeks. On July 2, you will get another email with the next four weeks, and then finally, on July 30, you will get the final email with the last three weeks. I am literally taking 90% of the guesswork out of the planning for you! All you have to do is buy, print, or create the resources based on your child’s grade level. Easy like Key Lime Pie!!! SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?

LET ME GET THOSE FREE SUMMER ACTIVITIES

And P.S. you can mix, match, and rearrange as you wish. I will be emailing out based on the order from the chart below because that is what we will be following, but you do what works for your family. If your school year hasn’t ended yet, NO PROBLEM! Sign up and give yourself more time to prepare for when you are ready to start. Want to only use two of the themes, and spread them out across two weeks because you are short on time? NO PROBLEM. My hope is that this makes a parent’s life a little easier, brings joy to summer for families, and helps bridge some learning gaps for our youth.