Keep Kids Engaged with Summer Learning: The Great Outdoors
Learning loss.
We’ve heard those two words often in the past year. They have become symbolic of how the pandemic has affected students, and also, representative of our concerns about it. While some of are heading back to school soon, others still have a number of weeks to go. Let’s take a look at how to keep our kids engaged!
In a Psychology Today article titled: “What We Know About Summer Learning Loss: An Update” (July 6, 2020), the author concludes:
“The evidence is clear: Children do forget skills and knowledge learned in the previous school year, and research is telling us more about the factors that contribute to those losses. But if families and educators encourage kids to stay engaged in learning throughout the summer, students may not only maintain, but improve their knowledge.”
Okay, got it, kids should keep their minds active in the summer––but how should they do that? In the past, students were given math and ELA packets to keep them busy during the down time. We all know kids detest this sort of practice, i.e., sitting for hours with a pencil and filling in blanks. Thankfully, teachers typically don’t send summer packets home anymore. But now we have a void.
So what can parents do to help keep their kids keep their minds engaged with learning during these months?
First choice, get them some structure. This might take the form of a class of some sort––whether it’s a content area (ELA, math, science) or an enrichment activity that builds other mind and executive function skills (Chess, programming, arts etc.). Having a set time/place to participate in a summer course makes the student culpable for showing up and being an active learner, and here’s one of the key parts… without parents having to be on top of them!
Of course, whether your child is participating in a summer class or not, there is still time to fill up. And we all know young people can’t keep their hands and eyes off of their phones, tablets, and laptops.
Well, there are two options here:
- Get kids outside as much as possible for active learning
- Have them engage with technology/media to practice skills
Let’s tackle option 1 first.
Outdoor learning and STEM are like chocolate and peanut butter (for those not allergic!). There are so many projects and activities your child can do just outside your home or beyond:
They could help plan out a vegetable garden. Sure, they might want to do some research online to discover which veggies grow well during which seasons and why, and to learn how best to use the environment and nutrients to make the growing successful. But research aside, this is primarily an outdoor, hands-on activity that they’ll learn so much from––biology, Earth science and chemistry are surely involved. And how cool it’ll be for them to watch food grow in the coming weeks and months.
They could use household materials to construct… well… anything. You know all that junk you’ve got down in the basement? The cardboard, the leftover wood, the broken toys, the old appliances… challenge your child to engineer something out of that stuff. They could set up an “engineering lab” in the garage, driveway or yard. Maybe they could build a soapbox derby car… or a birdhouse. Rather than just putting up birdfeeders and forgetting about it, how about you ask them to research what types of birds live in your area and how to engineer specific types of houses for different species.
They could visit a science or natural history museum. There’s a reason why schools often take field trips to these institutions. They’re super fun and they inspire learning and inquiry. It might just take a trip to a museum to spark an idea for a summer project! Maybe there’s a specific exhibit you’re going to check out or one that catches their eye. Help them think of a project they can do that relates to a topic of interest.
How about just going to a park to read. If your child has a summer book to get through, it might be super challenging for them to sit down inside and get it done. Just too many technology distractions. Encourage them to go outside to read, go to a park, find a nice spot under a tree. It’s so much easier to get started reading when screens aren’t right in their face.
You get the idea. Getting kids on their feet and outside prompts mental activity, encourages creativity and provides opportunity for innovation.
Along those same lines, technology and media can do the same thing, if used effectively. In part 2, we will look at ways kids can use media tech to keep their minds engaged with summer learning.