Continuing Your Child’s Learning Over Summer Break

School may be over for the summer, but that doesn’t mean your child’s learning should stop! It’s important for children to continue their education after the school bell rings. Ongoing education is key to a child’s development and future learning habits. So, how does your child continue to learn while on summer break? Check out some ideas below.

Discover active learning environments.

Check with your local parks and venues to see about educational camps and other activities. Find out what exhibits, events or concerts are happening in your area town over the summer. A fun idea is to create a calendar to keep track of events and to get your kids excited.

Try to build reading and writing into everyday activities.

Some ideas include having your children read the directions for how to play a new game, or helping with meals by writing up a grocery list, finding things in the grocery store, and reading the recipe aloud during meal prep.  

Create reading charts. 

Create a fun way to increase reading by having a weekly or monthly reading chart. Have your kids make goals as to how many pages they can read in day, how many books per month etc. If you have more than one child, have a friendly competition on who can read more.

Encourage writing. 

Have your child write in a summer journal. Tracking memories is a great way to remember all the fun times they had during their summer break. It also promotes good grammar and sentence structure.

Invest in educational games.

Many games have an educational aspect to them. Whether it’s counting money in Monopoly, identifying numbers with card games or creating a strategy to win a board game, games can help with numerous  cognitive skills.

Written by Lauren Morelli, Director of Marketing and Communications.

We would love to hear from you! Please send any feedback or blog ideas to marketing@bsaece.com.

Why Reading to Your Child is Important

Studies show that toddlers and pre-schoolers who are read to every day have a larger vocabulary than those who are not read to at all. Even infants love being held and hearing the voice of their mom or dad as they read them a book.

Not only does reading enhance a child’s vocabulary, and to help them begin to understand how to read and write. Reading to your child also increases their knowledge of the world around them.

Studies also reveal that by reading to babies and toddlers, they often gain a head start in preparing then for school later on.

Read on to learn some more benefits associated with reading to your child.

Reading Develops Language Skills

Reading to your child helps further develop their language skills. Reading exposes your child to vocabulary on different topics, which means they hear words or phrases that they may not hear in their day-to-day lives.

Concentration Improves With Reading  

Children have to sit still and pay attention when someone reads to them. Therefore, by reading to your child every day, your child will learn to concentrate and better sit still for longer periods. This will be very helpful when they start attending school.

Books Teach Children About the World Around Them

Reading teaches children about different topics from all around the world. There are books on topics like animals and places. In addition, there are books that help teach children important lessons or life skills such as sharing, being kind and diversity.

Imagination and Creativity Grow By Reading  

Through reading, children are able to use and grow their imagination. Their minds imagine the characters, the setting and the story. This enables them to exercise their brains and become more creative.