Summer vacation is all about long days in the sun, family getaways and taking a break from the daily grind of the regular school year. For many students, however, this is a peak time for learning loss. Unless previously learned information is reviewed or new information is introduced your child can forget a great deal of what they’ve learned the year before. In order to keep their young minds learning-ready it’s a good idea to introduce some summer in-home tutoring or activities that inspire them to continue learning.

Make it a Game

While learning is important there’s also something to be said for enjoying their summer break. Not to mention the fact that trying to make a child actively participate in tutoring and learning during the summer can be an absolute battle to the death. The trick is to make the learning activities fun for them. In particularly for younger children you’ll be hard pressed to hold their attention with classroom-style activities when the backyard beckons. A quick online search will yield a number of fun activities that you and your children can take part in that will not only keep them engaged and motivated but will also keep their minds sharp. Enrolling them in in-home or online tutoring is also a great way to get them involved without a fight. Professional tutors are experienced in dealing with youngsters who would rather be outside and many have their own techniques to keep the learning experience fun.

Get Them Involved

You might have noticed a time or two that trying to force your child into a plan that in no way requires or requests their input can be somewhat difficult. If you allow them to become involved from the very planning stages, however, you might find your child to be more agreeable to the idea of summer learning. If you’d like for them to engage in more reading allow them to choose the material (within suitable reason of course). If numeracy is what you’d prefer to review go through the various available study tools with them and allow them to decide which tools they might like to use. Allowing them choices might make them feel more involved rather than forced into learning which often yields a better result.

Engaging your children in summer online or in-home tutoring, learning activities and other learning tools will not only help them to retain what they learned the year before, it will also prepare their minds to get back into the flow of the regular school year.