First graders have learned so much this year! But now, they are almost on their way to second grade! Summer time is a great time for children to enjoy time with family and friends, playtime and all kinds of new experiences. It is also a great time to practice what they learned during the school year! Below are a few fun and easy ideas to help your child continue their learning throughout the summer before second grade.
- Sight Word Hunt – These common words are all around you, and your child learned to recognize many of them this year. For practice, ask your child to call them out when they see them on billboards, at the store, in magazines, and in newspapers. Here’s a list of first grade and second grade sight words. Post them on the refrigerator and challenge your child to hunt for them all summer long.
- Find New Places to Read – Reading is already fun. Reading in a new location is even more fun! Help your child brainstorm fun places to read their favorite books. This could be on a picnic blanket in the backyard, in a tent during a camping trip, at the park, underneath the kitchen table – the possibilities are endless!
- How far can you kick the ball? – First graders love a good challenge. Can your child run all the way across the park without stopping? Kick the ball all the way to the fence? Exercise is as important for the brain as it is for the body. Doing something active every day will help your child’s brain grow the connections she’ll need to become a strong learner.
- Make a Fun Mess – Make play dough with your child (there are easy recipes online). Have your child measure out the ingredients and point out the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon, a half cup and a cup. Incorporate fractions when you can! When the play dough is ready, help your child cut it into basic shapes, and then into 3D shapes. Have your child identify the different shapes (sphere, pyramid, cone, cube and cylinder) and ask questions about what makes them different: How many sides does each have? How do you know that’s a square, not a rectangle? Sort the shapes by circle and square bases. Then let your child squish all the shapes together and make their own creations!
- Find Math in the Real World – There are so many ways to find math in real life. Take the time to let your child count your change when you buy something. Ask her questions like “There are 12 slices of pizza and four of us. How many slices does each person get? What fraction is that?” Sort laundry together and match socks, count by twos, and determine how many individual socks and pairs of socks there are.
