Five Ideas for Building Literacy Skills in the Summer Holidays
The summer holidays are now in full swing and most parents will be thinking about how to keep their children fully occupied during the long summer break. What you may not consider, if you are one of those parents, is that one of the negative aspects of such a long break from learning is that children may regress and forget important skills and knowledge. It is important that children relax during the holidays but nevertheless learning can still be incorporated into your holiday activities with a little bit of extra planning.
Here is a list of five ways you can develop literacy skills during the holidays:
1. If you are out in a restaurant or café give your child the task of reading the menu to you aloud. You can even ask them what ingredients might be included in the dishes and ask them to spell certain words.
2. Get the children to help draw up the weekly shopping list - let your child write the list and then go with you to the shops. Help them to read the labels on the items and then to find the corresponding item on the list and then to tick them off.
3. While at the breakfast table encourage your child to read the ingredients list on the cereal packet, marmalade jar etc. You could even get them to compare the ingredients in various types of cereals, jams, spreads and so on and draw up a comparison chart.
4. Collect 3-5 random objects and encourage you child to think of a story that would include all of the objects. Talk about the objects, what they are used for, made of, where they are found etc. Make a list of these words and challenge your child to spell them back to you. Then ask your child to write down the story they have invented and then to illustrate it and label the picture or pictures they have drawn.
5. If your child prefers technology over a paper book and you have access to an e-book app or an e-reader then download a classic book or set of short stories you think they will enjoy, along with the audio version. Choose a comfortable place to snuggle up together - maybe even with some nice drinks and snacks and together read the e-book while listening to the audio. Have your child point to each word as they hear it being spoken. When you have finished spend time talking to your child about the story, the characters and setting. This will give you valuable insight into how much they recall. As a follow-up activity get them to write a story about what happens next or what happened before the story started. Alternatively, have them write a different ending or they could choose a favourite character and write an original story based on them. For free e-books and audio books for children go to: Loyal Books and select the genre for children or teen/young adults from the side bar.
Here is a list of five ways you can develop literacy skills during the holidays:
1. If you are out in a restaurant or café give your child the task of reading the menu to you aloud. You can even ask them what ingredients might be included in the dishes and ask them to spell certain words.
2. Get the children to help draw up the weekly shopping list - let your child write the list and then go with you to the shops. Help them to read the labels on the items and then to find the corresponding item on the list and then to tick them off.
3. While at the breakfast table encourage your child to read the ingredients list on the cereal packet, marmalade jar etc. You could even get them to compare the ingredients in various types of cereals, jams, spreads and so on and draw up a comparison chart.
4. Collect 3-5 random objects and encourage you child to think of a story that would include all of the objects. Talk about the objects, what they are used for, made of, where they are found etc. Make a list of these words and challenge your child to spell them back to you. Then ask your child to write down the story they have invented and then to illustrate it and label the picture or pictures they have drawn.
5. If your child prefers technology over a paper book and you have access to an e-book app or an e-reader then download a classic book or set of short stories you think they will enjoy, along with the audio version. Choose a comfortable place to snuggle up together - maybe even with some nice drinks and snacks and together read the e-book while listening to the audio. Have your child point to each word as they hear it being spoken. When you have finished spend time talking to your child about the story, the characters and setting. This will give you valuable insight into how much they recall. As a follow-up activity get them to write a story about what happens next or what happened before the story started. Alternatively, have them write a different ending or they could choose a favourite character and write an original story based on them. For free e-books and audio books for children go to: Loyal Books and select the genre for children or teen/young adults from the side bar.
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