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If earlier children were sent to their grandmother’s dacha for the summer, now most parents try to spend the holidays with them, even if they are in the city. What can a child do during this period for the benefit of his education? And what is the best way to do it?
Many parents will be indignant: “Well, what kind of study in the summer? Have you seen how much they are being asked now?” But research shows that learning should be an ongoing process.
Sociologist Carl Alexander followed the lives of 25 Baltimore children for 790 years, starting in their first grade. It turned out that at the very beginning, children from wealthy and poor families coped almost equally with the reading task, but by the fourth grade, children from rich families scored almost one and a half times more points. Maybe other children simply do not have the necessary abilities or are not trained at all? Of course not.
Everything is much more complicated: comparing reading tests at the end of the school year and at the beginning of it, Alexander found out that children from wealthy families study in the summer – their scores are steadily growing from May to September. While children from poor families generally do not have such an opportunity: by September, they not only do not receive new knowledge, but also forget what they have already learned.
How to practice in the summer so as not to spoil the rest
Remember how hard it is for you to return to work after the long New Year holidays, and they are six times shorter than the summer holidays. Not surprisingly, in September, many children complain about learning difficulties.
To prevent this from happening, it is worth keeping children interested in learning in the summer. Do not bombard them with a million equations and a ton of essays, but encourage the desire to learn new things. Edutainment (from the English education – education and entertainment – entertainment) is an approach to learning that turns the process of obtaining new knowledge into a game.
What can it include? Trips to museums and science centers, reading books not only according to the school curriculum, a trip to a language camp, educational games on a smartphone, online courses, creative workshops…
The main principles of such education are non-violence, involvement and motivation through entertainment. Edutainment is rarely practiced at school – on the one hand, teachers believe that it’s time for business, and it’s time for fun, and learning cannot be entertainment. On the other hand, the rigid framework of the program does not leave room for creativity. And finally, the school teacher is so overworked that he simply does not have time to come up with game approaches.
Versatile education will help to nurture in your child a love of learning and independent research.
But the goal of modern extra-curricular education is not to shove as much knowledge into the child as possible per lesson, but to give him the opportunity to learn with pleasure, to encourage his natural curiosity.
Don’t try to focus only on school knowledge: Skysmart online school research shows that 70% of children will enjoy learning financial literacy, more than half of high school students would like to learn writing, and 57% of children from 10 to 14 years old will enjoy vlogging.
According to the survey, children are also interested in programming, English, animation and computer graphics, marketing, legal literacy, yoga, dancing … In recent years, experimentariums, children’s cities of professions and museums of entertaining sciences have been increasingly opened in cities. Devote such a cultural trip all day – the child will conduct an experiment with soda and vinegar in the kitchen for another week and film it on TikTok.
Do not forget about soft skills, or “soft skills” – they are not associated with a specific profession, but they allow you to succeed in any field. The ability to speak in public, plan your time, work in a team, search for information – this is exactly what they are. Such versatile training will help to cultivate in the child a love of learning and independent research.
How to organize the education of a child at home?
Even if you are limited in finances or time, you can still provide your child with interesting, educational activities. And both offline and online.
The first is a one-day trip out of town. Build a route together, make a trip plan and a list of necessary things. Give your child the opportunity to choose where and what you will eat, which sights you will visit and which side of the pond you will set up camp for a rest. You can download applications for recognizing plants and birds in advance and, while running with your child through the forest, learn something new with him.
Preschoolers in the summer can be introduced to the educational process and prepare them for the first grade. Invite a family that has a second or third grade student to visit: let him share his experience, teach him to read in syllables or write his name, and also tell him what he likes at school.
If you are dealing with a teenager, then one of the suitable options is a literary circle. Take the works that you liked at his age (most importantly, not from the school curriculum) and arrange family discussion evenings once a week. Just let the teenager also have the opportunity to offer a book and express their opinion.
Knowledge does not end on the pages of textbooks – they are all around us
Online classes are convenient for those who cannot take their child to clubs or work with them on their own. For example, an online school for children and teenagers organizes for the first time a summer school for children from 4 to 18 years old. Programs range from pre-school to career guidance for teenagers.
Among other things, students will have access to courses in English, chess, programming, design, video blogging, writing and financial literacy. These classes will allow preschoolers to prepare for the first grade and smoothly move from play to study, older children not to lose interest in knowledge, and teenagers to develop the qualities that will be required at the university.
Even if you think that studying is not about your child, you can still fix it. All people are naturally curious. If you carefully observe your son or daughter, you will find out what they are still interested in. Do you sit on your computer or phone all day long? Do not scold, but ask about what they like to do on the Internet, why they most often play this particular toy.
School can feel boring and difficult because of the demands of the teachers, the nature of the program, or even relationships with classmates. Show your child that knowledge does not end on the pages of textbooks – they are all around us.
About the Developer
Mikhail Mitin — Director of the Skysmart online school, ex-director of a comprehensive school, author of courses for teachers, in the field of education.