Now I know what you’re thinking – who wants to do homework over the summer and I thought these guides were about having fun? Both valid points! However, summer is still a time for learning and you can sneak some homework in there without them realising that can help their learning, give them a bit of a head start for September and even have some fun in the process. Promise!
Here are a few tips for doing that.
If you know any of the topics that you child(ren) will be following in September you can prepare a few projects that will help them learn. If you don’t know the topics you can always have a look at the National Curriculum for their age and see the kinds of things they’re likely to be studying. You will have to do a bit of research first yourself but, depending on their age, a few key facts and stories will usually suffice.
When you’ve armed yourself with a bit of knowledge you can use this information to create different activities that will help your children learn. Here are a few ideas:
Rather than making learning a formal ‘sit down and do it now’ process why not have items around your kitchen that inform their learning in an almost subliminal way? For example, buy a map of the world and put it up on the kitchen wall. Every now and then challenge them to find a country. They’ll soon get to know where places are, the size of them and their relation to the UK.
Pin up prints by artists that are all quite different in composition, style and technique (eg a Picasso, a Van Gogh, a Constable, a Da Vinci and a Jackson Pollock). Ask them to describe how they are different, what they’re about and how they might have created them. Kids generally respond well to visual challenges and there are no right and wrong answers.
Pin up spellings on the fridge and ask your child to copy the words with letter magnets. The next day remove the sheet and ask them to try again without it. Try a new word each day using this technique – it only takes a few minutes each day and by the end of the holidays they could have 42 new words!
Most children love a Treasure Hunt so why not create one that builds learning into the clues? The clues could be based around facts or topics or even just support your child’s reading or problem solving skills. Make sure there’s a nice reward at the end and they’ll enjoy the whole process – probably without even realising that they’re learning!
Imagine going back to school already armed with all this knowledge AND having enjoyed themselves as well! If you have any tips for helping your children to learn over the summer in a way that they will enjoy please let us know over on our Facebook page – you could win a £25 toy voucher for doing so!
Next week is the final week in this series and we’ll be looking at games so come back on Monday 25th August for more summer holiday ideas. Take a look at the whole series so far here
