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Help your kids stay smart this summer

July 7th, 2009 • Related • Filed Under
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How do teachers make sure their kids keep learning during the summer? We asked some veteran educators to share their secrets to success; here are two ideas that are certain to work in your home.

  • Sarah McNary, who teaches at La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, recommends that parents take their children on summer outings around town.


    • “I would suggest getting a local travel book aimed at kid-friendly activities. Take one day each week this summer and let the kids pick a location from the book,” said McNary, who is one of her district’s teachers of the year. “No parent influence, input, or suggestion required. The good outings are fun but the horrible ones are fodder for family jokes for a lifetime.”

  • Arlene Gapusan, one of the teachers of the year in the Poway Unified School District, said she asks her children to do the same thing she asks of her students: keep reading.

    • “When kids are reading a (good) book, they are forced to use phonics, analysis and reading comprehension skills. It is a great, easy, inexpensive way to keep practicing essential skills over the summer,” said Gapusan, who teaches at Black Mountain Middle School.

    “In my own home, I trade my children, ages 8 and 10, video game/computer time for reading time. It is a minute per minute. I keep a small white dry erase board on the fridge and log the minutes my kids read on their own.” 

    Gapusan said she lets her sons choose what they want to read. If her younger son decides to read “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” or “Captain Underpants” over and over, she doesn’t stop him. Once her sons read for at least 30 minutes, she will allow them to “trade” the minutes for the same amount of time playing on the computer or enjoying a video game. 

    “If I catch them cheating on minutes, ALL the video game privileges stop for the rest of the week and they lose their acquired time,” she said. “This keeps them honest.”
     
    “The most exciting part that I find is when the boys keep reading for ‘free’ - meaning the time doesn’t count toward video game time. It rarely happens, but does happen sometimes.”
     
    “My philosophy at home is the same with my students: The only way to be a better reader is to READ.”
     
    Want more ideas? Read Such A Smart Mom’s “Great summer fun ideas from parents who are teachers, too” and “More summer fun ideas from parents who are teachers, too”

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    1. Pingback by More summer fun ideas from teachers who are parents, too | suchasmartmom.com on 7 July 2009:

      [...] our summer learning series, “Great summer ideas from teacher who are parents, too” and “Help you kids stay smart this summer” Share and [...]

    2. Pingback by Great summer fun ideas from teachers who are parents, too | suchasmartmom.com on 7 July 2009:

      [...] summer learning series, “Great summer fun ideas from teachers who are parents, too” and “Help your kids stay smart this summer” Share and [...]

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