Summer vacation is finally here, but that doesn’t mean the end of learning. On the contrary, the summer is a wonderful time for your young student to explore his or her own interests and gather in-depth knowledge on those subjects. This break is also an ideal opportunity for scholars to play catch-up if they have found themselves struggling in certain areas of their academic work. That said, many young people frown at the idea of summer learning. After all, they have worked hard all year, and they most certainly do deserve a break from their typical academic studies. However, by setting your kids up in a perfect learning environment, you can ensure learning continues to happen through fun and engaging activities that don’t necessarily resemble schoolwork.
Below are a few ideas for setting your students up for summer learning success.
Provide Reading Materials
Perhaps the most effective way a person can gather knowledge on any given topic is through reading. For this reason, it is crucial that your summer learning space is well-stocked with good reading materials.
Because it can become quite expensive and time-consuming to gather a good number of books for a home library, many parents prefer to take their students to the public library once a week during the summer months. This ensures that your child always has something to read and allows them to choose books on the topics that most interest them. Additionally, by timing your visits just right, you may even catch a special class or club meeting that expands upon one of your child’s interests.
Create a Quiet Space
Proper studying, creating, and growing often requires peace and quiet. Therefore, if it is possible, a quiet part of the house should be set aside especially for your young scholar’s reading and projects.
In addition to providing the student with the quiet they may need in order to concentrate, the act of offering your child a space of their own to work in offers a whole host of benefits. These include teaching responsibility and organization skills, and shows the student that you value their ideas enough to give them space to grow.
Find a Tutor
Whether your child is showing an interest in a particular subject or they need help paying catch-up before the next school year, there is definitely something to be said for one-on-one instruction. By finding a local tutor or mentor, you will be giving your child the gift of understanding something they need to know, or something they are very passionate about.
For children accustomed to receiving this kind of one-on-one instruction, the tutor will be a nice, familiar part of the summer break. For those who have never had one-on-one learning time before, it will likely come as a breath of fresh air as they realize that things can bepresented in a way that makes sense to them.
Make Materials Available
If you want your child to experiment and create, it’s important to provide them with the materials to do so. A bookshelf that is well-stocked with art supplies and other typical school supplies and placed in the scholar’s study space should work out just fine.
If the student should require extra supplies, find time to help him or her acquire those things. This will encourage them to continue their exploration and learning about their world.
Don’t Push It
As tempting as it may be, it’s very important that you don’t push your child too much during the summer months. This break is a time for rest and recuperation, and if the student doesn’t get that much-needed time to decompress, you could be facing some serious issues with stress when the new school year begins. Therefore, it is important that you encourage summer learning, but if your child is on top of their regular school work, don’t force anything academic on them. It might help you to know that no matter what your child decides to do with his or her break, they will be gleaning knowledge from their life experiences.
By using these tips, your student’s mind should be in tip-top shape and ready to begin the next school year.
If learning at their own pace through the use of one-on-one instruction and self-driven lessons appealed to your young scholar over the summer, he or she might be best suited to a smaller private school setting where self-paced learning and one-on-one lessons are the norm rather than the exception.
If this sounds right for your child, we would love to chat! Please contact us at Tenney School for more information.