Your child has worked SO hard this year and deserves to maintain or even increase his/her skills over the summer! Here are some ideas for keeping your child learning over the summer:
#1: READ!
No other skill is more important to maintain over the summer months. Children who read regularly are shown to have higher intelligence and general knowledge, better fluency, improved analytical thinking, broader vocabulary, better memory and increased writing skills. Please use every opportunity (long car rides, waits at the dentist/doctor, before bedtime, etc.) to have your child read to you and you read to them.
- The following can be used until no longer available:
- Stories in Seesaw (clever.com). Go to “Activities” and choose “To Do” or “Done”)
- iReady Reading (clever.com)
- Reading for All Learners iPad app (there is a cost)
- 2024 Summer Reading Programs (click for a digital flyer)
- Visit the public library. Your public library has excellent resources for choosing appropriate books for your child. Or check out some great online resources, such as:
- https://www.ala.org/alsc/publications-resources/book-lists (check out their summer reading list!)
- https://www.greatschools.org/gk/book-lists/favorite-books-for-kindergartners/ (Kinder)
- https://www.greatschools.org/gk/book-lists/favorite-books-for-first-graders/ (First)
- http://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/book-lists-and-recommendations/ages-6-7
#2: Write!
Writing is “backwards reading” and not only improves your child’s writing skills, but also improves his/her reading skills as well. Encourage your child to use best handwriting and to sound out words phonetically, and assist your child in creating complete sentences that include proper use of upper and lower-case letters, and to include proper punctuation.
- Encourage your child to keep a journal of happenings or discoveries over the summer months.
#3: Math!
It is important that your child practices their math skills so that he/she can build on them in 1st grade! Review counting to 100 by 1’s and by 10’s, writing numbers to 20, recognizing written numbers up to 100 quickly, count up to 20+ objects, and adding and subtracting within 10 (especially using real life problems).
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iReady math (clever.com) can be used until it’s no longer available.
- Find online games and resources for sharpening math skills, including:
- Math at Home Resources: https://hub.lexile.com/math-at-home
- Turtle Diary: https://www.turtlediary.com/games/kindergarten.html (Kinder) https://www.turtlediary.com/games/first-grade.html (First)
- Education.com: https://www.education.com/games/kindergarten/math/ (Kinder) https://www.education.com/games/first-grade/math/ (First)