Parenting In Focus: Lessons to learn during summer vacation

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, July 26, 2023

Yes, school is finally out, and your family is on summer vacation. That means your child has more time to do more things than even when school is in session.

That includes learning during the summer months. Parents need to take advantage of the extra time their child has to learn more things to help when the new school year begins.

Recent studies have found that much learning that usually takes place during the school year was taken up with COVID. As a result, children are behind in two major areas of learning: reading and in math.

One of the easiest ways to help your child get ahead in school is to encourage and help with reading, which needs to be a part of your child’s learning every day. Make it a fun goal. Get some help picking out some books for your child. Talk to other parents or other children close to his age — or just a bit older — and see what they suggest, or talk to the librarian.

Make reading for at least half an hour a goal. Consider doubling his reading time to another half an hour in the afternoon or evening. Sometimes read together, but always include some added time to talk about what they have read.

Bring reading up when others besides the two of you are around. Have your child tell the grandparents or an older sibling about these books. This helps your child get excited about what will happen next in the book.

Encourage your children to sound out words based on the letters. See if they can be ready to read any part of the book. Don’t let them pick books beyond their abilities; you want them succeed.

Be excited about what your children are reading. They get excited to read when they see you looking through their books.

If your children are relatively young, talk about the book as well as reading the words. Who is the main person in this story?Have them show you different people or point to pictures of animals in the stories.

The important thing is to spend the time reading. Let your child know you are pleased with any progress you see.

Cynthia Martin is the founder of the First Teacher program and former executive director of Parenting Matters Foundation, which published newsletters for parents, caregivers and grandparents.