Home Is Where the Fun Is: Your Affordable Summer Learning!

How's your summer going? Amidst all the popsicles and playtime, are you engaging your kids' minds to set them up for success this fall?

Overcoming the Summer Slide

Worried about the "summer slide"? You're not alone! Studies confirm that kids can actually lose significant academic ground during those long breaks, a phenomenon the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) highlights in their 'At a Glance' overview.

At Timberdoodle, we tackle this head-on with engaging activities you can do right in your living room!

Target 3 Things This Summer

1. 1
   Strengths - What does your child excel at?
2. 2
   Weaknesses - Do you want to see your child master emotional intelligence? Bring reading skills up to grade level?
3. 3
   Interests - If your child loves art, STEM, or has always wanted to build his own website, invest there this summer!

Strengths

Getting caught up in "fixing problems" is easy, but here's your reminder to also invest in strengths. Buy your advanced artist a painting kit or encourage your genius reader to complete the reading challenge and win prizes!

Weaknesses

Many families opt to do "school lite" in the summer, which is the perfect chance to fill in gaps. For instance, you could work through an emotional intelligence curriculum, spend 10 minutes on math daily, or make special summer play time contingent on completing today's reading time.

If your child is barely on grade level, consider tackling the same grade in another format. For instance, if he just finished 2nd grade math using Math-U-See and you'd like to see him keep that information fresh, you could assign him Mathematical Reasoning 2nd Grade over the summer break months. It will be a bit on the easy side since he's covered most of the concepts already, but the fresh take and thinking-skill-based approach can help bring those concepts to life. (Need a jump start on spelling or reading? Take a look at TTRS.)

Interests

The sky is the limit here! Preschoolers may be thrilled with a new summer art kit or two, elementary students may gravitate towards construction kits and logic games, while teens would relish learning to fly planes, code websites, play the piano, or even speak a foreign language.

Not sure where to start? Try:

• Arts
• Foreign Language
• Games
• Music
• Puzzles
• Science
• STEM
• Thinking Skills

One question to ask

A quick conversation with your child can go a long way: "What's something you'd like to learn or improve this summer?" (Model this yourself, too!)

Your Best Summer Yet

Remember, keeping kids occupied while learning during the summer doesn't require expensive camps or consumable toys. With just a little planning, you can easily create a bespoke summer packed with exploration, skill-building, and discovery right at home.

Have a lovely summer!