Keeping Your Child's Mind Limber During the Summer

Summer is a great time for family activities. Swimming, camping, hiking, and sightseeing. Are all fun activities and offer many opportunities to increase your child's learning and keep their minds active during the time they are out of school. 

A day at the beach offers not only an opportunity to sunbathe and take part in a variety of games and water activities, but also provides a way to learn a little natural science as well. Identifying birds or bird feathers, shells, and collecting drift wood are all great learning experiences as well as enjoyable activities. 

Camping trips give families a way to experience some of what the early settlers to this country may have experienced such as building campfires, catching their own food, and cooking fish on a stick. 

Field trips to forts, museums, planetariums and nature preserves are all great ways to get out and enjoy the sunshine, see new things, and learn while doing it. Children can practice math skills and geography by choosing a driving route to different venues and computing the mileage involved. They can also learn budgeting by being given reasonable amounts of money for snacks and souvenirs and having to choose those they can afford. 

Summer may also be a time to help your child catch up on some skills that they had difficulty with the previous school year so that the next school season will find them better able to cope. Hiring a New York high school entrance tutor or finding a volunteer who will work with your child on catching up on necessary skills does not have to ruin your child's summer. A half an hour a day spent working on math concepts, or learning study skills and be rewarded by spending time at a beach or enjoying a cook out or other activity. 

Planning small rewards for each goal set and one big reward for completion of gaining a new skill will make your child more willing to spend the time with the New York math tutor and concentrate on learning the necessary skill. Especially, if that learning can be done in an interesting and fun way.

For example math skills may be practiced by purchasing food items for a weekend camping trip and then by measuring the ingredients to prepare the meals while at the camp site. An inventive tutor may use long jumps, or Frisbees to measure distances. Field trips to interesting places, that include plaques to increase reading skills. 

No matter what summertime activity you and your children partake in there are ample opportunities for your child to continue learning, increase their problem solving skills, and in general enjoy all that summer has to offer both academically and recreationally.