Summer Learning Tips

These ideas came from a workshop organized by the UFT Manhattan Parent Outreach Committee in June 2015.

1. Learning should be fun over the summer. Incorporate learning into everyday activities — The world is our classroom!
   
   The supermarket offers the opportunity to practice math with younger and older students. So do cooking, banking, gardening and laundry. Students can write out a budget, make shopping lists and measure foods at the grocery store. At the bank, they can open a bank account and write deposit or withdrawal slips. When gardening, have them count plant arrays. Doing the laundry, kids can measure detergent and keep track of time.
    
2. Capitalize on your child's interests. If you can't get them off of the computer, have them visit websites with educational games. If you need support for internet accountability, visit covenanteyes.com.
    
3. Take advantage of free days at museums and other cultural institutions. If you sign up to get an NYC ID card before December 2015, you will get one year of free membership to many of these institutions. Call 311 to make an appointment to get a municipal ID card.
    
4. Have students write, even if it's just a paragraph.
    
5. Students can get cheap theater tickets by participating in student rush before the show. Tell them to look on a show's website for student rush policies and to have their student IDs handy. They can also sign up for High5, a program which connects teens with theater, dance, music and visual art shows. Visit its website at teens.artsconnection.org.
   
   • Ask students to compare a show they saw with a movie or book that tackles the same topic. Which did they like better?
   • They can write about their experiences in a journal. Younger students can write and color in a composition book.
   • Students who are glued to the computer can write a Facebook post, update a blog, or send emails to friends and family detailing the show.
   • If your child's thoughts come faster than they can write, have them speak into a tape recorder and then transcribe.
   • Have them create a Google doc or PowerPoint presentation.
   • Tie other activities into the same topic. For example, if your child saw a Dominican dance performance, cook Dominican food together.
   • If the show you're seeing requires travel, have your child do the research and plan the trip, which could include calculating the mileage, researching weather forecasts, comparing routes, etc.
      
6. Other ideas shared by parents and students include:
   
   • Play card games, Connect 4 and other strategy games or games with money, such as Monopoly.
   • Have a theater night. Students can write their own play or dress as a character they are learning about.
   • Write a rap.
   • Go to the new Museum of Mathematics on Madison Ave.
   • Attend free Home Depot how-to workshops.
   • Tutor younger siblings, or volunteer to read at a senior center or day care.
   • Interview people in neighborhood businesses or in your family.