Summer holidays are just around the corner. From a standpoint, this is a time for leisure and relaxation. Your child doesn’t have to worry about quizzes and exams for a while, and you have fewer responsibilities on your plate since you don’t have to oversee them getting up, getting dressed, having breakfast, making sure they don’t forget their homework at home, preparing their lunch box, making sure they get an umbrella just in case and so on.
However, as with all good things, there are also some drawbacks. For instance, the phenomenon known as summer slide, the tendency of students to lose knowledge over the summer months and start the following school year with lower achievement levels than at the beginning of the vacation, has been observed and referred to as a problem by experts. There is also the problem of your child simply lounging around and wasting the whole break away, staying inside and not doing any exercise.
Introduction
These are all realistic concerns. However, that doesn’t mean you should resign yourself to your child having an unremarkable summer. From kids dance classes to teaching them a new music instrument, you can have several plans this summer! So, with this in mind, have a look at the following ideas to get some inspiration about what your child can do to fill summer days constructively.
Summer camps
A tried and tested way to provide kids with both intellectual stimulation and physical activity, summer camps never go out of style. They’re the perfect opportunity to have fun and learn life skills simultaneously. There are two types of centers to consider, day and sleepaway. There’s a wide range of activities that your child can get involved in, depending on their interests. Performing arts, music, math, programming and language learning are just a few of the specializations they can try. Typically, the campgrounds are located around wooded areas, so hiking, campfires, swimming and canoeing are just a few of the athletic pursuits they can benefit from.
Children’s day camps can be booked by the day, week or month depending on the organizing institution, so they are preferable if you don’t believe your child is ready to be away for the whole summer. When looking for summer camps in Brooklyn, NY, make sure to choose a facility dedicated to providing children with a fun but safe and caring experience that’s guaranteed to bring you many pleasant memories for the years to come. And because no summer is complete without playing around in the water a bit, you may want to choose a camp that offers one of the largest swimming pools in Brooklyn to make sure fun is guaranteed.
If you live east of Brooklyn, there are many Queens NY summer camps to look into that offer a wide range of tech and fine arts programs that fit the interests of your little one, so they don’t get bored for a single moment this summer.
Complete a reading list
It’s the concern of many parents. The children are not reading enough. And this comes with a multitude of issues. Not reading affects concentration abilities, memory, communication skills and imagination. Books provide knowledge and help improve mental health by regulating stress levels. But despite all these benefits, if your child is averse to reading, getting them to become invested in books can be tough. Nevertheless, it is not impossible.
The most important thing you can do is teach by example. Consider how often you yourself read. Have you been falling behind as well and reach for the remote control more often than a novel? That can be one of the problems. Parents are the role models of young children, and they are likely to internalize and emulate the behavior they see you exhibit. Subconsciously, their minds believe that whatever you do is good, so you should set an example. Turn reading from a chore into a free-time activity. Children should be pulled out of the mindset that reading is something boring you only do because you have to and embrace the idea that books are a fun pastime. Unless they genuinely enjoy reading, they can’t reap its rewards.
Choose books that are appropriate for their age level. Something too difficult will likely be nearly impossible to get through and put them off reading forever, while something below their capacity will seem immature. Talk to your kids about the stories they read. Sometimes a lack of enjoyment for books comes from their lack of understanding of the material. If your little ones are just starting their journey in the world of stories, they need a little help in the beginning until they amass enough knowledge to figure out the interpretation and symbols on their own.
Do household chores
It’s never too early to learn some important life skills. Managing household chores is one of the most critical aspects children should be educated on. Starting when they’re young is the most effective approach, as it can be harder to convince teenagers of the importance of skills they’ve never exercised before.
Pick tasks that are appropriate for their age group. Start with the very simple, like putting away toys after they’re done playing, putting their fresh laundry in the wardrobe or feeding pets. It’s important to be consistent and make it a routine. Otherwise, they’re unlikely to keep up with it. As it becomes a habit, it’ll be normalized as something they should do to keep their home neat and tidy.
Don’t become frustrated and scold them if they do something incorrectly or incompletely. Offer guidance or, if the mistake wasn’t a major one, let them figure it out themselves. As they begin performing some chores with no errors, move further and assign doing the dishes, the laundry, or vacuuming to them. And make sure to praise them when they succeed. Kids, like everyone else, are more likely to do something if they see that their effort is actively appreciated.
Summer break is a time for fun, but you shouldn’t miss the opportunity to have your child learn new things. It’s not very difficult to mix the two to create experiences they’ll remember for many years, and that’ll help you bond.
Also, if you need tips when it comes to your son’s first birthday, you may check out our article Little Man’s First Birthday Party.