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Title: Keep Your Kids Learning All Summer
Word Count: 780
Author: Sheryl Wood
Category: Home & Family
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Sheryl Wood
http://www.alleducationalsoftware.com
Keep Your Kids Learning All Summer
School may be out for summer, but the learning doesn't have
to stop there. In fact, the real challenge of summer is to
let your kids relax, enjoy their leisure time with friends
and family and still keep their minds sharp and their
curiosity piqued. How can a parent help make that happen?
Read the tips below and find all kinds of activities, some
that the entire family can enjoy, that will keep your child
learning all summer.
1. Encourage daily reading. Kids don't have to read
textbooks or the classics to maintain reading skills over
the summer. Summer is for fun. Take them to the library
or the bookstore and let them choose anything that
interests them. If you are going to the beach or to visit
relatives for vacation, somewhere you know they won't have
the distractions of home, they might even welcome reading.
Give them a fun novel about kids their own age. Young
girls still love the Nancy Drew Mystery series. It builds
curiosity, problem-solving and strategy skills. If comic
books are all they will read, indulge them.
2. Summer is the perfect time to visit a museum with your
kids. Build a family outing around a favorite theme, such
as space and visit a local museum, space or science center.
If you need to be more subtle, stop by a museum
spontaneously on the road to somewhere else! If your young
child is enraptured by dinosaurs, scour the web for special
showings that you could make a trip to. Prepare for the
trip by reviewing all the different dinosaurs and facts
about them. Discuss with your child what they might see,
learn and get to do at the museum.
3. Help your child to learn about their surroundings. Do
you pass a historical marker on the road every day, but
have never stopped? Stop and read it with your family. Go
home and look up more about it. Is there a famous
homestead near you; maybe a president's birthplace. Take
the tour and learn more about it.
4. Visit a working farm, cheese, soap or candle factory.
Feed their curiosity in how things are made and how they
run. If your child has a special interest, check the web
and yellow pages and see if they can stop by for a tour or
a work shadow day.
5. Choose day or overnight camps with learning in mind.
Camps that teach about nature, wildlife and conservation do
double duty. NASA runs a space camp and there are numerous
others. Again, your web is the best place to look. You
may have missed out for this summer, but plant the seeds of
interest in your child for next year. Make it a goal for
next year. Plan, read and discuss what the experience will
be like.
6. Catch fireflies and look up with your child what makes
them light up. If your kids catch frogs, encourage them to
look up how to care and feed them. Build a fort and teach
your kids about angles and construction. Create the habit
of using reference materials to learn more about everything
around them.
7. Encourage activities that broaden your child's
perspective of the world. Ask them to volunteer to help an
elderly neighbor with their lawn or garden. Clean up your
town's park or your own roadway. Clean their room and make
a trip with them to donate their good used clothing to a
family shelter. Caring about others and spending time in
service to others is one of the best lessons your child
will ever learn.
8. If your kids spend hours with video games, barter with
them. And the younger they are when you start this, the
better. Provide them with educational software and require
that some of their computer time is spent using any of the
learning software that's now available. Not all
educational software is going to put your kids through the
rigors of learning algebra, although if they need the extra
help, that is certainly an easy source. There are numerous
computer learning games out there that teach
problem-solving, critical thinking and strategy building
that are disguised as fun, adventure games. Search some
sites with your kids and let them choose what they'd like.
They will be learning without even realizing it. There are
even clever educational software games that use cartoon
characters like Spongebob to teach kids to type.
It is by exposing your child to sights, sounds and smells
that they don't get in school that their horizons and
interests are broadened. Creating and feeding a healthy
curiosity in your child will give them a thirst they will
never outgrow.
----------------------------------------------------
Sheryl Wood is co-owner of All Educational Software, an
online store with a wide selection of software for learners
of all ages. Find software the entire family can use to
learn to type, learn a language, help with homework and
more at All Educational Software.com.
http://www.alleducationalsoftware.com
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