We have embarked on one of the most important and yet also
most neglected periods of time for a child's educational development
-- the summer vacation! Most kids, left to their own devices, will
see this as a time for "freedom" -- especially from matters of
education. Research shows that those who receive educational
support at home will perform better in school than those who do not.
Some significant difference in math or reading scores is made in the
summer vacations over the years because parents have the most impact
on their children's learning. The question that most parents grapple
with is, what is their responsibility during this crucial period? We
hope to give a few important suggestions here.
Supporting mathematics learning
Quantitative thinking -- often referred to as mathematics -- is
frequently neglected in home educational support. For one thing,
many adults have no qualms about themselves having not been too
talented in mathematics, and if -- even inadvertently -- that is
passed on to their children, it immediately lowers a child's
perceived expectation in mathematics. So for all grade levels,
parents need to support on a continuous basis the importance of
performing highly in mathematics.
For younger children, skills in mathematics can decline
precipitously over the summer. Parents can effectively promote
numeracy in young children by counting, describing shapes, playing
board games, measuring ingredients for recipes and so on.
Parents should also be familiar with the arithmetic algorithms
used in teaching arithmetic in their children's school. This can be
more challenging for parents coming from other countries, where
arithmetic algorithms are oftentimes different from the ones that
are used in our schools. Yet it is worth the effort to become
familiar with these algorithms and support children while
reinforcing the arithmetic skills.
Even though most parents often claim to remember little from
their high school mathematics classes, they would be wise to
encourage their children to look at the many books available that
enrich our understanding of mathematics at the school level by
presenting topics often considered "off the beaten path," and yet
quite enriching and motivating. A clever technique for parents to
follow here would be to ask their children to read sections of the
book and then explain to their parents what they read. This not only
ensures real understanding of what they read but also genuinely
reinforces it. Typically, a general appreciation for mathematics
follows from such an activity.
Supporting child development and home literacy
More than the nightly storybook, the summer weeks should include
many experiences with reading. Frequent visits to the library and
"story hour" events are two examples of activities that will keep
reading alive during the summer. Remembering that a child would hear
a lot of reading during an average school day, parents should make a
deliberate effort to increase the amount of reading that takes place
at home. Parents can read aloud from a variety of genres, including
narratives and expository texts, and talk about the text and the
illustrations in the book. Many books for all ages include pictures
or charts to help comprehension.
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For children of all ages, vocabulary development is a primary
focus of instruction. Vocabulary knowledge persists as a predictor
of academic achievement in later years. Parents can support
vocabulary development during summer months through frequent
conversation, highlighting new words and through continual narrative
with children's experiences. For example, a trip to the zoo might
include conversation about the color of the animals' fur, their
habitat and homes. Conversation offers children the opportunity to
connect vocabulary to concepts (for example, hearing the word
"tiger" and seeing the actual animal). Summer experiences actually
offer many new avenues to develop vocabulary.
One more thing parents can do is to plan a time and place for
their child to write every day and then talk about, respond to or
read the child's writing aloud, because that will give the child the
authentic purpose of writing.
Writing for young children begins with drawing and scribbling.
Often, art projects provide young children developmentally
appropriate tasks that promote writing skills. Drawing and writing
stories about summer experiences can help maintain the skills
children learned in school while entertaining them in a delightful
art project. Markers, pencils and brushes are essential materials
for the summer months.
Parents should not try to replicate school during the summer. The
ease and leisure of the summer weeks offer many benefits in
themselves. The enriched, unhurried activities that both parents and
children enjoy in the summer are excellent learning opportunities
when they are reinforced with a parent's attention to sustaining
basic learning skills and building vocabulary.
___
By the following from the
Mercy
College School of Education, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.:
-
Alfred S. Posamentier,
dean
-
Zoila Tazi, chair of
the Department of Literacy and Multilingual Studies
-
Mi-Hyun Chung, chair of the Childhood
Department
[Text from file received from
Mercy College]
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