Here, Phil Soutar, Head of Prep School at Ashville College, looks at ways to keep your child engaged with learning during the long hot days.
It’s a well-known fact that some children can start to lose a few of the academic gains they have made during the year if they are not engaged for long periods. But there are plenty of ways to keep children ahead of the game and ready for school when they return in September.
The holidays can be a great time to enjoy reading at home, while away or in the garden. Sharing a love of books and reading regularly with your child during this time will help them when they return to English lessons – building fluency, vocabulary and communication skills – in preparation for those chatty times with classmates. Or perhaps they could write or draw their own diary of all the wonderful things that they have been involved in over the break.
On long journeys, your child might enjoy listening to audiobooks – another great way to build listening skills. You could take turns choosing an audiobook that you listen to as a family in the car and discuss together. Help to strengthen their comprehension skills by asking questions like:
· What do you think is going to happen next?
· How would you describe this character?
· What happened in the chapter we just listened to?
· Why do you think the author chose to end the chapter in that way?
· How might this story be different if it was told from another character’s point of view?
There are lots of easy Maths game to play on long car journeys, simple counting exercises at airports or even logging on to BBC Bitesize and taking part in some simple Maths exercises to refresh their minds and simulate their learning.
If the weather doesn’t live up to expectation, try some simple science experiments at home. Encouraging scientific curiosity in everyday life will help your child build and maintain critical thinking habits so they hit the ground running in September. Or you can use the natural world outside to produce artwork and modelmaking.
Online learning is a handy way to keep your child engaged with their education. Most importantly, it’s fun and doesn’t feel like work, so your child gets a well-deserved break.
It also fits flexibly around other activities, and your child can do it from anywhere, without supervision. Why not bring the tablet on holiday with you so they can collect some gold stars while lounging by the pool?
Encourage your children to look at the world around them, take notice of their surroundings, draw pictures, and make memories so they can share their stories with their friends when they return to school – feeling refreshed and ready for the hectic Autumn term!
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