Biweekly Newsletter

Expert advice and practical ideas for raising kids and becoming a vital part of their education.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Studies show that summer learning opportunities keep kids from losing ground. Summer offers parents the chance to make learning fun for their children, and to give them time to explore their own interests. This issue of PTA Parent lists some ways to provide learning activities without making kids feel like they're back in school.

Summer Learning = Fall Success

Fun Learning Activities Help Retain Knowledge
While summer provides kids a welcome break from school, a lack of educational opportunities during this time can erode academic progress made during the school year. According to Ron Fairchild, executive director of the Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University, children need opportunities over the summer to learn and practice skills. This doesn't mean the learning has to be formal and rigid. It can have an entirely different look and feel from school.

Research shows a lack of summer learning opportunities contributes to an achievement gap, especially among lower income youth. With athletes and musicians, performances suffer without continual practice. "The same is true with kids," Fairchild says. "If they're not engaged in learning activities, they're going to lose ground.

"Parents miss out on opportunities in summer," Fairchild says. "Summer is a time for creative exploration, hands-on learning. It's a time for kids to pursue and hone their own talents and interests."

The kids' interests should be the guiding force. This reduces resistance to the whole idea of learning over the summer break, Fairchild says.

Prior to summer break, you can meet with your child's current teacher and teacher in the fall to discuss what skills to work on, he adds.

Some structure or routine is necessary to encourage learning, Fairchild says. Kids actually thrive with structure and it aids in their transfer back to a school schedule in the fall.

Some other tips:

• Set aside reading time. For younger children, read aloud to them or have them read aloud to you.
  
  
• Participate in your library's summer reading program.
  
  
• Hang a thermometer outside to track the temperature. Observe weather patterns and make forecasts.
  
  
• Visit a local park and observe different types of rocks, animals, insects and leaves. If parents grew up in different states or countries, they can talk about the differences in plant and animal life where they used to live.
  
  
• Plant a garden to show how seeds develop and how things such as weather and fertilizer affect growth.
  
  
• Make maps of your neighborhood and places you want to visit with your children.
  
  
• Take virtual field trips online.
  
  
• Learn capitals, countries, and continents by playing games.
  
  
• Take field trips to museums, gardens, zoos, and local history sites.
  
  
• Interview neighbors or older community members about their lives and history of the neighborhood. Ask them to compare the neighborhood they live in now to the neighborhood where they grew up.

For more information, visit summerlearning.org.

PTA Briefs

Student Leadership Opportunity
The National PTA youth involvement committee has created personal growth and leadership development workshops at this year's PTA National Convention in June in San Diego. With every student registration, you can get one free. For more information, go to www.pta.org/rays2.html.

Take 25 to Help Kids Stay Safer
Ensuring children's safety is a primary parenting concern. That's why PTA supports Take 25, a campaign from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® designed to heighten awareness about children's safety issues and encourage parents, through resources and events, to teach their children ways to be safer. Take 25 commemorates National Missing Children's Day on May 25.

Take 25 minutes on May 25 to talk to your kids about staying safer:

• Teach younger children their full names, address, and telephone numbers. All children should also know their parents' and guardians' full names.
  
  
• Take your children on a walking tour of the neighborhood and tell them whose homes they may visit without you.
  
  
• Teach your children how and when to use 911, and make sure they have a trusted adult to call if they're scared or have an emergency.
  
  
• Set up "what if" situations and ask your children how they would respond. "What if someone asked you to help them find a lost puppy? What would you do?"
  
  
• Volunteer your time to help with local Take 25 events. Visit www.take25.org to find out what Take 25 events are planned in your community. For "25 Things to Do as a Parent," go to www.pta.org/take25.

Reading Rockets

Use Summer Fun to Build Background Knowledge
You don't need to have a book in hand to help your child become a better reader. Interesting experiences give kids a broader framework for new information they might encounter in books. When kids have lots of experiences to draw on, they have a better chance of making a connection with what they read! How can you help build background knowledge this summer?

Step 1: Take summer field trips
Go to the park, the zoo, the aquarium, a sports event, a historical landmark, or a children's museum. Go on a hike or to a natural attraction in your area. When you're indoors, watch a TV program about volcanoes or the rainforest or marsupials, or use the Web to take a virtual field trip to a faraway place.

Step 2: Talk about it
Talk about the plants and animals you see, or the rules of a game, or the history of your town, or the new things you learned. Ask questions that get your child to talk, such as "If you could be one of those animals we saw today, which one would you be?" or "Why do you think those boulders were shaped like that?"

Step 3: Follow up with a book
Find out what interests your child, and visit the library to get more information. Check out books about butterflies or basketball players or whatever catches your child's attention. Encourage their learning with comments like, "That was cool to see the inside of a computer at the museum today. Let's learn more about that."

You could even have your children create their own book with photos or illustrations of your activity and their own commentary. This is great writing practice and makes a wonderful summer memory book.

Building background knowledge isn't just fun, it's also a great way to spend your summer! 

Get more resources to launch kids into fun, enriching summertime experiences.

100 Ways to Help Your Child and School Succeed

There are many ways that you can help your child succeed! A few small activities each week will pay huge dividends over the course of the year. Here are a few that you can do this week:

• Attend PTA, school board, and/or town meetings, and speak to issues of concern.
  Asista a las reuniones de la PTA, de la junta directiva escolar y/o del distrito, y plantee los temas que le preocupan.
  
  
• Learn candidates' positions and participate in school board elections.
  Conozca los cargos que ocuparan los candidatos y participe en las elecciones de la junta escolar.

In the News

• Naples students kick-off teacher appreciation week (European PTA News)
  
  
• Family-School Partnerships Promote Student Achievement
  
  
• Appreciate your teachers, it's their week
  
  
• 'Cyberbullying' on board agenda

In This Issue

Summer Learning Tips

Teacher Appreciation Week

PTA Briefs

Reading Rockets

100 Ways

In The News

Spanish-language Resources:
Toma 25

Look for these topics in an upcoming issue: