Stay Sharp Over Summer Break
For many families, summer break is the time of year to prioritize relaxation and fun – cookouts, trips to the pool, festivals, sleepovers and even a vacation or two. As parents, we want our children to enjoy their summer break, but that doesn’t mean we should let the structure we established during the school year completely fall to the wayside. Maintaining a healthy sleep schedule and routine, encouraging them to learn new skills and sprinkling in a few educational opportunities along the way can help keep your children active and mentally sharp while still giving them the much-deserved break they need.
First off, maintain routines and structure. Your child’s routine over the summer will likely look a little different than it did during the school year and that’s OK. What’s important is ensuring that their daily habits remain consistent. If you allow your child to go to sleep and wake up whenever they want over the next three months, or binge on junk food all day long, it will be difficult for them to return to a more regimented schedule once August rolls around. Make sure your child is still going to bed and waking up at a reasonable hour, eating meals at the same time they would during the school year, and taking care of their daily personal hygiene, like brushing their teeth, getting dressed and showering.
Schedule out your weeks. When your child doesn’t have a schedule with activities and tasks to help move them through the day, it’s easy for them to fall into “couch potato mode.” Come up with a weekly schedule that balances structure (daily tasks, chores and quiet time) with fun activities (a trip to the pool or the movies). Let your child provide input on the schedule and post it in a central area of the home where everyone can see and follow it.
Limit screen time.Not all screen time is bad, but research shows too much of it can cause a host of issues, including behavior and mood changes, sleep disturbances and weight gain due to lack of physical activity. When talking with your kids about screen limitations, explain that you want them to get the most out of their time off (something that can’t be accomplished if they are staring at a screen all day). Encourage them to use those weeks of free time to learn a new skill, try a new sport or develop a new hobby. Older children can pick up a part-time gig, like mowing lawns or babysitting, and children of any age can lend a hand with a long-term household project, like planting a garden or organizing a garage sale.
Encourage reading and writing.If you have a child that enjoys these activities, you can skip this step. However, if your child tends to balk at the idea of reading or writing outside the classroom, you may need to get creative in your efforts. Take a weekly trip to the library and start a challenge to see who in the family can read the most books before the end of summer. If your child has read about a topic that interests them – like dinosaurs or space – plan a trip to a museum or planetarium. To keep your child’s writing skills fresh, encourage them to keep a summer journal where they can write about (and illustrate!) their fun experiences.
Ensuring a smooth transition into the new school year this fall starts with making sure your child doesn’t fall into a slump over the summer. Keeping your child on a schedule and incorporating education into their everyday activities are simple ways to help eliminate boredom and ensure that the valuable lessons and skills they learned this school year don’t burn out in the heat of summer.