Summer Learning: Not For Dummies Anymore

Building a successful sand castle requires quite a bit of skill! (Image Credit:http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/1886R-25213)

The 2012/13 school year is quickly coming to a close and it is time to put some serious thought into your child’s ‘summer education’.  I know when I was a child the thought of summer was about anything BUT school.  Summer school was for kids who failed or had issues in the regular year.  I did go one year in second or third grade for reading and once I got over the ‘trauma’ it was actually quite fun and it did help my reading.

In subsequent years while there was always the threat of summer school it never materialized since I achieved pretty good grades. However, that meant the summer was generally an educational dead zone for me. There was the occasional family trip to the Buffalo Zoo, Buffalo Museum of Science, Corning Glass, Niagara Falls, Fort Niagara and local parks that were great fun and sparked my curiosity.  Nevertheless, it was really not enough to truly advance my learning through the summer. I’d get back into school in September and be amazed at all the Math, Science and English I had forgotten.

Times have changed since then and as parents we are truly doing our children a disservice if we don’t act proactively and use the summer to supplement our child’s education.  There are many options to doing this that can be fun, low-cost, effective and engaging for all of us…including the child. Some ideas include:

Summer Camp – We have many posts on these and how to select the one right for you and your child. Remember to do your research! Camps can be overnight or just for the day. In Buffalo, the Buffalo Museum of Science,  Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo Zoo and many others have some great offers for parents. The Nickelodeon site ParentsConnect has an OK listing you can explore. In Rochester the choices are just as amazing and can be found at MySummerCamps.com. Of special note are the offers by Rochester Museum & Science Center and RIT.

Community Activities – Here in Pembroke, NY there is an excellent program sponsored by the Town that runs for 6 weeks on Mon-Frid. for 3 hours. It is free and includes a host of supervised activities, crafts and swimming for the students that range in age from 5-14. I know many other communities also offer programs like this. The best place to check on them would be your local village, town or county government office.

Local Library – This is a great resource for increasing your child’s reading and language skills. Each tends to offer different types of programs but most are free. Check with your local branch and remember they tend to have programs for adults as well.

Music Lessons – Music or vocal training can be a real gift you can give to your child. Studies show the imense value music has in the development of a child. Your local school music department may often offers summer programs or you can look for a teacher yourself through the school, Craigslist or Tutor Doctor. Typically you can get someone for $20-$40 per hour. Remember to check backgrounds and get references on the instructor if you hire them yourself!

Tailored Programs – You might check with your child and find out what they might be interested in learning. From here you can try to work with a teacher, education consultant or tutor to find or develop something that meets the requirements. Two years ago we had a great request to help a student in 3rd grade who wanted to learn more about space and the universe. We developed a two week program that met his needs. We did in part with the Buffalo Museum of Science where we volunteered with the student and did our lesson in their ‘Our Place in Space Floor‘. It was fantastic and the student loved the program for what he learned and what he was able to share with others!

In closing…remember to include your child in the process. By engaging them early on you have a better chance of them liking what is decided since they had a role in the selection. It also helps them to learn how to budget, evaluate service offerings, and how they can be evaluated.  Also remember that in the summer your child would like time with their biggest educator…YOU!  Make some time for your biggest fan especially in their younger years.

How To Green Your Summer Vacation

Your summer vacation can be a wonderful time to reconnect with your family, have some fun and take time out from your busy schedule. Travel can carry with it a huge carbon footprint and take its toll on the environment. But with just a little planning and thought, you can turn your wasteful holiday into a green one that sets a positive example for your kids and provides you with a natural, authentic experience. Give Mother Nature a break this summer vacation with these green holiday tips.

Alternate Transportation
When planning your summer vacation, consider an alternate to the family sedan. You can take a train or a boat or share a ride with another family. Taking a train, bus or a boat will be a really fun and relaxing way to get to your destination. Sure, it may take a little longer, but you can enjoy the time with your family without the stress of driving, traffic and endless; “Are we there yet?” questions. Taking the train will cut 75% of your emissions and is much cheaper than traveling by car.

Bring Your Own
Take your own water bottles and coffee mugs. Using these will save tons of wasted disposable coffee cups and plastic water bottles. Pack your own snacks too so that you reduce the amount of garbage you create. These options also have the added benefit of reducing holiday costs.

Bring your own toiletries and share them with your family so that you don’t have to create waste by using the tiny bottles in hotels and motels.

Shop at local farmer’s markets to reduce the carbon footprint of your food. Have picnics to reduce the amount of restaurant meals you eat. This is a healthy and inexpensive option.

Give Your House A Holiday Too
Turn off all the AC and appliances in your home. Even when they are on standby, appliances use electricity, so turn everything off or unplug it. Make sure your fridge and freezer are empty too so that you can turn those off as well. Just think how much you will save on your utility bills!

Green Your Accommodation
Get outdoors! Going camping and hiking is a great way to save money and reduce your summer vacation carbon footprint. Choose a green hotel if you aren’t camping to further reduce your carbon footprint. Green hotels have reduced carbon footprints and use only natural products so they are healthier for your family too. You can help by not turning up the room thermostat and not getting a change of towels and linen each day.

Why You Should Go To Summer Camp

So you think you are being a good parent. You remember last summer and the moans of being bored from your child. This year you spent tons of money on a summer camp for your child. However, your child doesn’t want to go and ‘hates’ you for thinking of sending them away. Here are some points you can bring up with your child that can help them want to go to camp.

First know that the summer holidays are stretching out in front of your child and they may be so happy to have a break from school that they don’t want to think about summer camp. But you should; summer camp is a great way to really provide them a break from their day-to-day life and have great new experiences. Some of what they can expect are:

Meet new people
Some of the best friends they will ever have will come from summer camps. Meeting new people will help them develop their social skills and expand their circle of friends. It’s great to meet people who come from different places and have different views and perspectives.

Try new things
Get out of their comfort zone and have some interesting experiences. They will be able to partake in new and exciting activities at summer camp. They may find a new sport, hobby or interest you never had before or learn a brand new skill. Finding out how capable they are and taking on new challenges will help them to be more confident.

Get into shape
At camp, they are so active that it’s easy to get into better shape than they will sitting at home on the sofa. The activities are fun and they’re enjoying their self, so they won’t feel like you’re working out. Take this opportunity to eat well and get some fresh air. Being outside in a natural environment, doing fun activities with good friends will really help them to de-stress and rest after a tough academic year. Know that they will come home refreshed and ready for the challenge of a new school year.

Its fun!
Choose a camp that suits their personality and offers experiences you know they’ll like. While it may seem like they just want to rest after writing exams, staying home will get boring fairly quickly…remember last year? When they have a summer camp to get look forward to, they won’t find your summer vacation boring.

Summer camp can be a really great personality-building experience. Your child gets to socialize outside of their circle of friends which means they can meet new people from different schools, states or even countries. Going to camp will give them the opportunity to spend some time outdoors and in a natural setting so they can relax and de-stress.

Let your child know that challenging yourself and getting out of your comfort zone is a characteristic of successful people. They will learn new skills and surprise their self at just how capable they are. They will return from camp with more confidence and mature which will help them cope with the demands of a new academic year. Lastly let them know that summer camp is fun, and will give them memories to last a lifetime!

Note…as a parent do your homework and make sure you choose a camp that has high recommendations and check references! The last thing you want to do is worry about your child’s safety or experience at camp!

Cheap Summer Activities for the Whole Family

The summer vacation and holiday seasons are fast approaching and you know that it won’t take long before your children are ready for entertainment/action. Doing this is not an easy task and trying to link it to learning is not an easy task for parents. Then there is the cost factor. However, with a bit of imagination and planning there are some things that you can do that won’t cost a fortune and will provide your family with fun/learning activities.

Star Gazing
Take a drive out of the city and pack a blanket or some camping chairs, a picnic dinner and your smart phones. Download an app to help you identify constellations and then head out to a picturesque natural setting. You can enjoy the setting sun while snacking on your picnic dinner. Once the sun sets, hold your smart phones up to the heavens. Your GPS will track your position and help you identify the constellations and stars that you can see. You can download apps for stargazing here.

International Food Festival
Take out an atlas and ask your child to show you where different countries are. Pick a country to explore each week. You can play a game to find a country like pin the tail on the country or each sibling gets a turn to pick a country. Then find recipes from each country that your students can help you to cook. Cooking is a great life skill for students to master while reading recipes helps them to practice their reading skills. Following recipes is great practice for lab work and its fun too! This is a great way for students to learn about other cultures and cuisines.

Blanket Forts
This is a great activity for a rainy day which you are never too old to enjoy. Think big by converting your living area to an indoor fort city. Furnish your indoor blanket fort with comfortable cushions and a picnic dinner. Plan activities that will keep older children engaged like board games, or bring your laptop in and watch a movie. You can also tell scary stories or listen to audio books.

Trivia Night
This activity takes some preparation, but if your students are old enough, it’s a great way to keep them busy. Invite a couple of families for games night. Pick a couple of children to be the game masters. They must compile general trivia questions over a set number of categories like sports, history, literature, pop culture etc. They should also create answer sheets for each round (5-8 rounds work best). Families make up a team and get to answer questions in each round and the family with the most points wins the game.

Campfire Storytelling
Storytelling is perhaps one of the oldest entertainment activities humans have engaged in. It can be quite a compelling, entertaining and insightful experience to listen to a good storyteller. Being a good storyteller does take practice and some planning. Some useful help can be found at Building Blocks or FDCC. Often another good way to get started is to read from a book. Remember to invite your children to add to your stories or to provide them the opportunity to use their imagination and entertain you! Now add a fire and s’more for the ultimate summer activity.
You don’t have to go on vacation to have a good time in the summer; just a little planning will ensure an action packed summer that’s fun for the whole family.

Summer Learning Suggestions

As the summer holidays approach, it’s great to have a number of arrows in your activities quiver for when you kids get bored. Combine education with fun and make your kids more environmentally aware. There are many fun activities that can help to make your children more eco-friendly over the summer holidays. What follows are some suggestions

People Power
Encourage your kids to help you reduce your family’s carbon footprint. Use a carbon calculator to determine your current carbon footprint. Get the kids to outline a plan for reducing this carbon footprint. They can get everyone in the family to use their own volition to get places rather than relying on the car. This means that your family should walk or bike to destinations in your neighborhood. They can help you to switch your light bulbs, install water-saving shower heads and use electronic equipment less. They can work out how much they reduce their carbon footprint and get some exercise too! You can set carbon goals with rewards to make it more interesting.

Urban Farming
Growing your own food is enormously rewarding and a really great opportunity to educate your kids about the natural world. Dedicate a portion of your garden or use containers to grow vegetables and herbs. Not only will you save money, but you will have a carbon neutral source of locally grown organic food all summer long. Making an urban farm can be as simple or as complicated as you like. You can just grow a couple of herbs in a pot, make a vegetable garden, build a green house or explore hydroponics.

Internet Research
There are tons of green documentaries and websites which are designed for the younger viewer. Make sure the content is age appropriate, but get your child involved with issues that they care about. They can sign petitions, help spread the word or raise funds for causes that preserve our planet. Teens with a social conscience who get involved with causes that they care about get to network with other like-minded individuals, are more well-rounded and care about the world and community that they live in.

Eco-travel
Many of the most beautiful natural places are being lost to progress and climate change. You can take your kids to see endangered animals or habitats before it’s too late. You can also take adventures that increase your knowledge of the natural world or give you an opportunity to volunteer. Volunteer holidays enable your kids to see other parts of the world and help to preserve them.

Snow’s Falling But Still Thinking About Summer Camp

Sure winter is not quite over and Spring has not started, but that doesn’t mean it is too early to think about Summer Camp or activities to keep your children active and learning through the Summer months.  Parents often ask us ‘what questions I ask when considering a summer camp for my child?’ In responding we remind them that Summer camp should be a fun experience for their child that helps them to grow and develop socially. It’s really important to take into account their needs and desires when choosing a summer camp. Together you and your child should ask yourselves the pertinent questions that will help you form the questions that will help you to make the right choice.

Here are some suggested questions to try to get answer to when choosing a summer camp

• Talk with your child on what they want from a summer camp. Including a child in the decision-making process will help them to feel empowered. Use their input to formulate questions designed to see if the camp will provide what your child would like.
• Ask yourself what you want your child to gain from their summer camp experience. Summer camps have many benefits which enable your student to learn new skills, hone old ones, excel at sports, live a healthier life or make new friends. Camps can be a combination of these things too.
• Review your budget and your traveling capabilities to decide which camps you can afford and how far your child can travel.
• Decide whether you want a small camp where children will receive individual attention and get to know the other ‘campers’ and staff members well or opt for a bigger camp where your student will have the opportunity to mix with a large variety of people.
• Examine the camp’s ethos and philosophical approach to ensure that they reflect values that you support and would like to impart to your child.
• Ensure that the counselors are well trained and friendly so that your student gets all the support they need.
• Did you read the references? Read reviews and comments from camp attendees to get a feel for the place. Long lists of impressive activities don’t tell the whole story and hearing good reviews from trusted friends and family members help you to make the right choice.
• Look at the ratio of counselors to children and the return rates of previous campers. Discuss the methodologies councilors employ to resolve conflicts between campers to see if your child will fit in.
• Ensure sure that the camp is accredited and that it has adequate medical facilities to deal with emergencies. Check that counselors are properly trained and are old enough to cope with problems that may arise.
• Are the meals healthy?
• Does the camp have indoor recreation and activities will help to alleviate boredom in the event of inclement weather?

Make a short list of four or five summer camps or activities that tick all of your boxes. Discuss your choices with your student and get them to pick their top three. Use this as a guide when making your final decision. There are a number of websites that list camps according to various criteria. This will make it easier to find camps in your area.

Helpful US websites:
My Summer Camps
American Camp Association
Camp Page

Helpful Canadian Websites:
Our Kids
Summer Camps in Canada
Camp Page

Thanks for reading this and if you have a chance please vote for our school on the WGRZ WEATHER WORD…

If you have a few minutes this evening your vote to help our school get the WGRZ weather machine would be appreciated. Here is how to vote:

1. Go to the Weather Machine Voting page link http://b5.caspio.com/dp.asp?AppKey=bfca20007a0f19933b8145ffa709
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4. Enter the Weather Word: Air
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Grocery Shopping Education

One of the things I learned most quickly while living alone is that solo grocery shopping can be a really depressing experience. In our house, there may be occasional mid-week grocery trips to pick up one or two things, but the big weekly grocery shop occurs on Sunday. While our favorite grocery store is Wegmans, we appreciate the bulk options available at BJ’s, so our trips tend to have two stops. I see a lot of people grocery shopping by themselves, but it always warms my heart to see big family groups out doing the shopping together. While I know that it’s easy to romanticize situations that you aren’t necessarily involved in, and kids aren’t always the most helpful when it comes to running errands, there are definitely lessons that kids can learn from being taken grocery shopping, and considering that it’s summer time and kids can use all the education they can get, why not try bringing your little helper on your next errand run?

Getting kids involved may take a little bit of work, but it’s certainly less work than trying to keep them from slipping Count Chocula cereal into the cart! (Image Credit:http://www.cavstheblog.com/?attachment_id=10834)

 

So how exactly can shopping help educationally?

Making a List

Making a grocery list is not only a life skill that kids need to learn before they have households of their own to feed, but provides an opportunity to practice a lot of other skills. For younger kids, it offers a chance to practice spelling. For kids who are a little bit older, it’s an opportunity to bust out the cursive penmanship. To help keep kids occupied on the ride to the store, why not have them organize the grocery list into categories. When in the store, put your child in charge of crossing off items that have already been found and pointing out which items are still needed.

Planning a Menu

A big part of making a good grocery list is knowing the foods your family plans to eat during the week. Having your child help plan the menu and figure out what ingredients you’ll need to pick up is a great way to get him or her more involved. If he or she gets to help actually make the meal, then the benefits only increase.

Coupons

Digging through weekly adverts provides a lesson in budgeting for older kids, and in reading and cutting for younger kids.

Handling Money

While it may not be a good idea to put your child in charge of the money for the whole shopping trip, when you get to the check out why not have your child pay? If going for the entire total will be too difficult, put your child in charge of either coins or bills to speed up the process but still receive the benefit of handling money.

What are other ways you can make a trip to the grocery store educational for your child?

 

Sunday Morning Shout Out

“Assorted things from a garage sale”

By all typical accounts, the 4^th of July garage sale was a colossal failure. We had two customers, maybe three, if you count the woman who bought something and came back to pick it up, and the last ( third customer) who did not buy anything. Lots of hauling out of boxes and stuff for very few apparent returns. The atypical returns lie elsewhere in this account.

Hats off to the girls and women in the family for ringing in the real returns! There is nothing like the enthusiasm of children. Our eight-year old and five year-old, clip board and money box in hand, played a huge role in organizing the event. Talk about math skills for the older and younger set! Our older daughter tagged the items; while our younger daughter sorted them. Where I sighed over the work involved; they enthusiastically set up and took down.  When we got our customers, they were giddy over their purchases! They showed great politeness and helpfulness to the people who stopped. What if our local big boxes had such customer service?

An older but still useful book you can find at Barnes and Noble (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/you-cant-sell-your-brother-beth-brainard/1000343809?ean=9780440504382) or perhaps at a garage sale!

There were other lessons too.  We learned that sometimes things don’t go as planned. While we did not sell much; we enjoyed each others company and Mimi (grandma) who came to help out. The power of family support should never go unnoticed; nor should it be unappreciated. My mother is an amazing example for me and my girls! What a force of love and support!

We also realized that we had a lot of things we could give away for free or donate to charity. Our free sale began in the early evening. It was very interesting to see what people picked up off our lawn. It felt good to know that someone may have gotten a treasure! It also led to a discussion on how people in need may have gotten something they could really use, and one on reusing and recycling. It was so very good to get rid of so very much.

So the yard sale may have been a bust, but that may have been a blessing…..

(Note: For other nice ideas on the value of garage or yard sales for children try: http://123kindergarten.com/tag/garage-sale-stories-for-kids/; http://livingwellblog.dallasnews.com/2012/04/learn-lessons-m.html/; http://onecentatatime.com/let-children-learn-money-from-garage-sale/ )

Sunday Morning Shout Out

(Source: http://pettispools.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/pool-safety-tips/)

My heart aches every time I hear a news stories about a child who has drowned. Usually preventable, such an accidental death is one of the top summer safety concerns for parents.  According to the National Safe Kids Campaign, 40 percent of all injury related emergency room visits and 42 percent of all injury related deaths, for children 14 and under, occur between May and August. Yet in a recent article it is estimated that 90 percent of these accidents can be prevented by educating ourselves and our children about the key causes.

There are several preventive measure parents can take to prevent drowning and other common summertime accidents. The top ten are cited in the above mentioned article. From swimming safely and hydrating properly to avoiding poison ivy and food poisoning, a pro-active parent and an educated child can go far in being safe, while still having lots of fun in summertime. The staff here hopes you have a fun, safe and educational summer!

Sunday Morning Shout Out

Summer Fun (Image Source: http://www.kidsdiscover.com/blog/parentresources/infographic-10-super-fun-activities-for-summer/ )

While thoughts of summer vacation send most children cheering, it may send some parents cringing. Just as a successful school year takes planning, a successful summertime also benefits from careful consideration. For me, I have always leapt into summer with my kids. My struggle has been finding a balance between planning too many fun things and just enjoying each other in our home. Some of the lessons and badges I have learned in Kelly kid camp (not withstanding some of the scrapes and battle scars that got me them) follow like a Baskins’ Robbins’ ice cream cone, unique to our family’s different personalities, age levels, and interests. Others are more universal.

1)      Go into summer with an idea of what you want to do with your family and learn what they want to do. I like to experience local happenings, such as our community’s summer recreation program, area festivals, community concerts, LOTS of library time, with a smattering of play dates and play parties here, and city time, and  if possible a designated vacation next to a (any) body of water. This can run right in line with what my children like or off to right field. I have learned that on any given day or week we may need to compromise. Sometimes there isn’t an outing and we enjoy being home reading, baking, bike riding, and playing outside here. Last summer, we had a newborn baby in the house and our pace tried to reflect it. That baby is just a year now, so we will also reflect that this summer. Or it does not always need to be a big outing. Sometime, we pick one activity a day- a trip to story time, a grandparent’s house, the pool. Or we do our normal routine most days and pick one big outing, outside of our community, per week. (More on the normal routine to follow).

2)     Switch up your normal routine and get a “new normal” for summertime.  Call it getting your summer on, becoming a little more Jimmy Buffet in your home, getting more chill, whatever, summer is about a looser, more free schedule. When that crunched for time feeling sets in during the summer I know we are trying to do waaaaaaay too much!!! The only crunchy feeling in summer should come from too much time outside.. Make home the new oasis in the summer. Find great spots around your home or in your backyard to read a book, play a game, have the best fort, camp, zoo, etc. This brings me to my next point.

3)     Make summer refreshing and restorative

Pace yourself and keep that summer feeling there. For better or worse, we have the school year for that faster pace. Loosen parts of your normal routine that feel like staccato clock work during the school year, to make way for special events during summer. Keep the parts of your routine that serve your family best. In our home, bedtimes need to stay largely the same. While certain nights, it can’t be helped, the nights it can make the days that follow brighter, calmer, smoother, and more fun. Well rested, we can be more impromptu and not be slowed down by tiredness and grumpiness, all the way around.

Try on some new activities for size. Summer is the perfect times for letting your child try a new sport or hobby they have wanted to do. Our community’s youth soccer league starts the week after school lets out. Many communities have summer sports. From libraries to museums, there are special children’s programs and camps going on that are featuring everything from science to history. Summer offers the perfect chance to experience some of these wonderful offerings for a trial period.

Keep the parental reserve strong. For stay at home parents; parents who are off in the summer with their children; parents who are working extra hours during the summer and are trying to squeeze every or any ounce of summertime fun in with their kids,  and single parents who shoulder so much added responsibilities, such pressure can be daunting and exhausting. Make some deposits into your reserves to keep your energy up, for your own sake, sanity, and preservation of the family.  A date night; a night out with friends; sending the children to grandma’s, another family members, or close friends for a few hours, the night, or a few days; or even an hour or two alone while your child does activities can go far in recharging the batteries. It’s hard to be recreation director and Mom/Dad! Rome and childhood weren’t completed in a day. Taking care of you, means taking better care of them….

Note: For more ideas on low cost/educational summer fun and activities for your children try these resources:

20 Fun & {Mostly} Free Summer Activities for Kids

What To Do With The Kids This Summer — 10 Simple Ideas

Infographic: 10 Super-Fun Ways To Make Summer Last