Capture summer fun with daily journal writing and other activities. Help your child sharpen these skills: comprehension, writing, reading, vocabulary, sensory detail, memory, fine motor skills, gain confidence and more. Summer is full of “people to see and places to go,” which can be an enriching experience.
Do’s to sharpen skills during the summer
- 1. Daily writing in a journal (capture thoughts, events, and questions that come to mind everyday)
- 2. Read magazines, books, and other reading sources of interest (together and independently)
- 3. Have your child draw and or write a brief summary about a reading (have the child explain the drawing and or writing; discuss the journal entries if )
- 4. Play board games that include reading
- 5. Read ingredients to a recipe and locate the items in a grocery store.
- 6. Create an account with kid friendly blog or email such as kidblog.com
- 7. Play online educational games and read sites of interest. Here are some websites to view:
- www.arcademics.com
- www.timeforkids.com
- www.scholastic.com
- http://onlinebooksforchildren.com
- www.abcya.com
- www.funbrain.com
- kids.nationalgeographic.com
- http://coolmath.com
- http://starfall.com
- http://typing.com
- http://abcmouse.com
- http://discoveryeducation.com
- http://readingeggs.com
- http://icivics.org
- https://www.websiteplanet.com/blog/learn-english-free-books/
Don’t lose skills over the summer. Make it a point to incorporate reading and writing into your summer activities.
Recommended books for students in grades K-2
- Amelia Bedelia (Series),
- The Story of Ruby Bridges
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar
- Skippyjon Jones
- Henry and Mudge: The First Book (Series)
- Magic Tree House: Dinosaurs Before Dark (Series)
- Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus (Series)
- Charlotte’s Web
- The Magic School Bus: Inside the Human Body (Series),
- Poetry Speaks, edited by Elise Paschen and Dominique Raccah
Recommended books for students in grades 3-5
- Maniac Magee, by Jerry Spinelli
- Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, by Judy Blume
- Dear Mr. Henshaw, by Beverly Clearly
- Because of Winn Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo
- The Witches, by Roald Dahl
- Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen
- Bridge to Terabithia, by Katheine Paterson
- Holes, by Louis Sachar
- Wayside School is Falling Down (Series) by Louis Sachar
- Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective (Series), by Donald J. Sobol
- The Boxcar Children (Series), by Gertrude Chandler Warner
- The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (Series)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney
- Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein
- Ben and Me, by Robert Lawson
- The Magic School Bus: Inside the Human Body (Series)
- Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
- The Story of My Life, by Helen Keller
Recommended books for students in grades 6-8
- The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
- Goosebumps: Welcome to Dead House (Series)
- The Hunger Games (Series)
- The Giver, by Lois Lowry
- A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle
- The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963, by Christopher Paul Curtis
- Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson
- Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan
- Soldier’s Heart, by Gary Paulsen
- Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, by James L. Swanson
- An American Plague, by Jim Murphy
- Poetry Speaks: Who I am, edited by Elise Paschen
- Middle School, the Worst Years of My Life (Series), by James Pattersonn and Chris Tebbetts
- To Kill A Mockingbird, by Walter Dean Myers
- A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry