With the summer holidays just around the corner, it’s important to think about how parents can help to keep their children’s learning to keep ticking over. Children returning to class ‘cold’ in January can feel their progress has slipped after a summer away from structured learning. Happily, the holidays are a chance for all the school-based learning to be applied to real life situations. Children will do this without realising that they are using the skills developed at school. So with a little guidance, parents can stimulate learning without their children being aware they are continuing to learn.
A great idea for keeping learning alive is a holiday journal, as it not only promotes writing skills, but can draw from a host of curriculum subjects. Maps can be drawn of the area they are visiting, plans of towns, beaches and castles can all be added to the diary. Drawings and paintings can also be added to bring it to life. Sending postcards also supports and helps brevity skills and letter writing. Summarising the day’s activities is a skill in itself developing a child’s ability to write concise and succinct copy! Remember, journal writing can be digital too (on an iPad, speech-to-text.) Through journaling you might focus on expanding vocabulary or spelling.
Working out what to spend pocket money on may also be an important feature of the holidays. What an authentic maths activity! In the car, instead of constantly being asked ‘Are we there yet?’ ask the children to ‘guesstimate’ the kilometers travelled from beginning to end. Or you may like to suggest 5-10 minutes of Mathletics* a few times a week. Using games with some dice is great for learning ‘friends of 10 (12)’ [4+6=10, 6+6=12, 9+1=10]. Dominos are another excellent resource for practising subitising (Eg. [: :] [: :] is 8), card games, and of course times tables [Maths Rockx].
As we know ourselves, holidays are a good time to catch up on reading. If you are not members of a library, go and join one. Good libraries often have many other things apart from books... magazines, talking books and CDs; perhaps author visits or story reading will be taking place and these provide a different environment for learning. Keeping reading alive right throughout the holidays is most important for our developing readers. In the words of Donalyn Miller, Author of the Book Whisperer, “As a teacher and a parent, it is our duty to awaken the inner reader in every child”.
Provide as many opportunities as you can, Sunday morning for example, the whole family reading in bed, taking a book to a park or beach, reading under a tree, reading at a café, reading aloud to each other – even using plays, songs. Enjoy all the joys of reading with your child/ren. PLEASE try to read daily.
The holidays are also a chance for children to explore and learn for themselves. No greater learning happens than when children experience things first hand. If they are lucky, some children will leave their usual surroundings and be able to visit new areas of Australia or the world. These opportunities can enable children to discover new cultures and ways of life or just discover new parts of Sydney. Remember, talking with your children, following these experiences, will help make the learning more meaningful. So let the learning continue while enjoying your holiday!
Brenda Dalheim Head of Learning Support
8th December 2017
