Summertime, Learning Time: Families and Parent Educators Talk about Ways to Keep Kids Learning Over the Summer (continued)

“When we go to the supermarket,” she adds, “we count how many of everything—like tomatoes—we’re going to put into the bag.” On the street, they count trees. You can also teach children the names of coins and how much they’re worth or help children figure out how much older you are than your child.

Set aside time to practice skills

“You can take old homework and recycle it,” says Jones. When her grandson was struggling in first grade last year, the family rallied around to help him. They put sticky notes on furniture at eye level around the house to help him drill spelling words. “It made it fun—we turned it into a game,” says Jones.

They used to have him do his homework in the kitchen, away from the television, but then he was working on it alone. So as part of helping him with school, the family cut back on TV-watching and Jones sat with him as he worked on his homework.

She also saved his work to help him study over the summer, she says. “Ask them in the car, how to spell this or what's this plus that.” If you’re helping them with their schoolwork all along, and talking to their teachers, too, “you don't even have to have it in front of you to know what they're doing,” she adds.

“When there's an adult working with him, helping him, it makes the experience a whole lot better,” she says. “You gotta say ‘We're going to do better next time,' or 'We need to practice.’ You have to find what works for you and your child.” Now her grandson is thriving in school, she says.

Provide drawing and writing supplies

Make sure that your child has books, paper, and writing tools at home. When young children practice writing and drawing at home, it helps develop their hand muscles and gets them in the habit of doing school-type work. Many Head Starts and schools will create summer packets for children with art supplies and activities for families to do together. Perez says Lydia “loves drawing. She always draws pictures of our family and they are kind of funny, but they are of us.”

Visit your library

Many libraries host free events, such as read-aloud times and puppet shows. Some have summer reading programs where children get small rewards for reading several books. Libraries also have listings for free community events like outdoor concerts or farmer’s markets.

Perez says she enjoys library trips with her daughter. “Most of the time she gets two or three books and we read them to her at home,” says Perez. Lydia has memorized some books and ‘reads’ them to her mother.

Make use of community resources

Belkis Gowhary—who was a Head Start parent (her boys are 18, 16, and 10) and now works as a family advocate in Alameda’s Head Start program—remembers taking her boys to parks and library story times. “It was fun for me because I was eager to learn more about what’s going on around me,” said Gowhary, originally from Afghanistan. “For parents who don’t speak English, we encourage them to take classes at the adult school,” she adds.

“I gather resources for the parents for the summer,” says Oakland Head Start Family Advocate Claudia de la Cruz, including activities “from Parks and Rec, the police department, the YMCA, the Girls and Boys Club.”

“As a mother I think that every time you have with a child is important,” says Perez. “Even if it’s just a few minutes. Children understand so many things.”

Resources

• Reading Rockets has tips for families and a list of recommended children’s books, www.readingrockets.org/families
• Figure this! offers math challenges for families, www.figurethis.org/index.html