SUMMER

This summer has been great! No.. it has been AMAZING! Not only have I been able to do personalized academic work with Buddha, but we’ve had so much fun. The pressure of school was off, but the schedules and point systems stayed in place. Buddha received a weekly schedule every Monday and a daily schedule every morning. We read every day, did math and typing at least twice a week and tried to incorporate science at least once a week. We took trips to the beach, we played in the park, he even went to baseball camp! It was truly a wonderful summer.

Since school starts in one week, I thought it would be a great time to discuss incorporating academics into fun activities so your kids can have a great time and still learn/ practice their skills.

Ways to incorporate academics and social skills (which are just as important as academics) into fun activities:

Fun Activity Academic/Social skills to practice
Going to the Beach Social Studies- Reading a Map

·      Print out a map of the beach

·      Ask your kids to mark all the places he/she wants to go to

·      Have them figure out which order you should do things based on the map (i.e. first get snacks, then go to the beach)

·      Have them make a to-do list

Math- multiplication/algebra

·      Figure out how long the trip to the beach will take driving (i.e. its 50 miles away and you can go 60mph the whole way. How long will it take to get there?)

 

Playing in a park Following multi-step directions:

·      Give a list of 5 things they have to do in a row and see if they can follow it in the same order without you repeating yourself)

·      Practice using a timer (i.e. ask- how long does it take to go over the monkey bars? How long did it take the second time? Which time was faster and why?)

Playing a board game Math- data collection

·      Ask your children to take data on how many times everyone is winning by making a graph

·      See if there is a pattern. Is someone winning more than the others?

·      Use the data to make guesses on who will win next.

Going to the pool Social skills practice

·      Have them practice introducing themselves

·      Practice ‘please’ and ‘thank you’

·      Work on taking turns (i.e. first let your sister play with the ball then you can)

·      Practice being a good team member by playing games with friends and cheering them on as well.

 

While you might have already been doing these things, it’s important to point them out and continue doing them. I’ve met children that have no idea how to introduce themselves or children that cannot connect math to real-life problems, so start early! Incorporate what they’re learning into daily activities and remember… Have fun!

I hope you all had as wonderful a summer as I have! If you need any help before the school years starts with graphs, charts or just in need of advice, feel free to contact me at alexscardapane@gmail.com It’s important to start off the school year right!