Some great information on why it’s important to keep your kids learning over the summer break

The summer holidays can be anything from 5 weeks to 2 months long, and while it is time away from school, it doesn’t have to be time away from learning. Not regimented, boring homework style learning, but it can be incorporated in many ways through fun, play, and activities. The best part? They won’t even realise that they are learning.

How can you do this? We’ll explain all in this post!

Vacation care

Unlike school, vacation care is more centred around fun and activities, after all, the kids are on school holidays. If you have to work through the summer holiday period, either full time or partially, vacation care is a great option for children to maintain current friends, meet new friends, learn and have fun all at the same time. Every day they schedule a different activity. Here are some of the more common things children will get up to while at vacation care:

Day trips – This can include visits to a museum, national park, theme park, cinemas etc.

Art and craft – Often, vacation cares will set up art and craft for centre activities.

Cooking – It’s common for cooking to be a part of the curriculum in vacation care. Most kids enjoy this, and learning to cook is a valuable skill.

Sporting activities – Most vacation cares are equipped with ample sporting items to keep the kids occupied for hours on end and many will organise sporting activities for some fun games and events.

As well as taking part in the above activities, children can socialise with their peers which is crucial to their overall wellbeing.

Vacation care combines fun, learning and socialisation all in one and rather than stopping the learning over summer and picking it back up when school returns, they can continue learning and maintaining friendships right through. This can allow them to transition and settle into the new year much easier.

Why continuing to learn over the summer break is so important

Here are some reasons why continuing to learn over the summer is vital:

It keeps them stimulated and occupied

Once in holiday mode, it can be hard to get back into a normal routine. This includes having to be at school on time, engaging in class, and referring back to the information they have already learnt last year. Not keeping the mind stimulated over the summer, can see your child lose a lot of information they have learnt over the previous year. Settling back into school can take weeks when they haven’t partaken in any learning or routine over the summer break.

Boost their confidence

If your child has struggled with a subject over the year and hasn’t had the opportunity to spend some extra time going over it, the summer holidays are the perfect time to run over any areas of uncertainty, ensuring they put their best foot forward on the first day back at school. This can have a huge impact on their confidence. Instead of hanging back during lessons because they don’t understand the content, your child will be more confident in their knowledge and are more likely to participate in class. This is one of many reasons why a childcare centre is the place for your child to develop important life skills.

They can learn in a more relaxed environment

Children that are unsure of themselves or who don’t have an understanding of the information being shared with them will hold back as mentioned. Home is our safe place, and where we feel most relaxed, kids included. Working on areas that they may be struggling with at home, can give them the confidence to explore this work without the fear of getting the answer wrong and judgement from their peers. This can help to promote enthusiasm and more positive learning.

Ensures your child doesn’t fall further behind if they are struggling

If your child isn’t meeting year expectations, working on this during the school holidays can ensure that they don’t fall further behind. Have a chat with your child’s teacher and ask them for examples of work that you and your child can work on together over the summer break to help familiarise them with key concepts.

Help your child excel in their learning

If your child is on par or ahead of their peers and they are eager to learn, why not work on some more advanced learning? This can help your child to excel in the year ahead and build on their knowledge that they have learnt over the summer break. Another way you could go about it is by focusing on areas of interest for your child. Whether it’s sports, music, arts or something in between.

Maintains routine

As we touched on above, one of the hardest things about returning to school is getting back into routine. If your child is like most, they tend to stay up later and wake up later too when they aren’t attending school or vacation care. Adding a bit of learning or extra circular activities into their day can help to create a routine during the day, making the transition back to school that much easier.

We hope this post has given you a little insight into why learning during the summer break is so important. If you have any questions on this, feel free to reach out to us here at Little Saints. We are a daycare centre located on the beautiful Gold Coast and would love to be of assistance if we can.