Every year, school comes to an end. It’s such a bittersweet time for both teachers and parents. With the beginning of the summer comes the anticipation of outdoor cookouts, swimming, traveling, and the much-needed relaxation for the teachers! But along with all of the fun summer brings, both teachers and parents have reservations about the summer slide. With almost two months of no instructions, it’s possible that students fall backward and lose some of the learning they occurred the year prior. But the summer doesn’t have to packed full of worksheets, educational apps, and morning to night tutoring sessions. Here are 4 creative ways to extend learning into the summer!
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Summer Learning Idea #1: Take “Field Trips”
Field trips don’t need to be elaborate! Students can learn all sorts of things simply by tagging along on errands. For example, many kids have fun weighing produce at the grocery store. Older students can practice their mental math by figuring out the cost of items per pound. A trip to the bank is also a great opportunity to practice money skills as well as addition and subtraction. Car trips are also a fun way to practice math skills, such as calculating miles per hour and gas mileage. This also gives kids the opportunity to learn about distance and estimation!
Idea #2: Summer Learning Packets
Finally, my summer review packet is a great way to get your students learning across multiple subject areas throughout the summer! This 8-week pirate-themed packet includes print and go pages that your students and families will enjoy using throughout the summer. Each week has one page for the students to complete. The resource also includes a parent letter to help explain how the resource works as well as a treasure map tracking page for students to use to record their progress! Students will love coloring in the map each day, one step closer to the treasure!
No matter how your students learn this summer, be sure to recommend some great books for them to read while school is out so they can come back ready to rock the next grade!
Summer Learning Idea #3: Check Out Your Library
Libraries are chock-full of summer activities. From summer reading challenges to special events to story hours, libraries are always hosting great FREE learning-based activities. Additionally, kids can have a great time choosing books about their favorite things at your local library branch. Librarians can also be a great help to teachers when choosing read-alouds and classroom library books. Stop by your local library and check out all of the great summer learning activities they have to offer!
Idea #4: Learn Outdoors
There are so many ways that kids can learn about different subject areas while they are spending time in the great outdoors! Here are a few great ideas:
- Nature walks. These are great for learning about animals, weather, colors, seasons, and more!
- Games like hopscotch or jump rope can be adapted to help pair spelling practice with kinesthetic learning!
- My outdoor learning guide is FREE and full of great ideas to incorporate learning with getting outside.
I know there are many more fun summer learning ideas out there but hopefully, these four can get you started! Want to save these for later? Make sure to pin the image below!
