Spring break is practically synonymous with long road trips. Whether you are heading to the beach, to camp, or to Grandma’s house, you’ll want an arsenal of tips handy to keep the kids occupied after the crayons are broken, after they’ve listen to their iPODS three time through, and after the batteries wear out on their Nintendo.

Why not try some of these old-fashioned car games? Not only are they fun, but they help develop memory and listening skills too!

The I-Packed-a-Suitcase Game

In the repeat-after-me tradition of games, is the always-popular suitcase game. Not only is it fun, but it is also a great way to develop your child’s memory.

Here are the simple rules:

• The first person begins with the sentence: “I packed a suitcase, and in it I put…” followed by an item of that person’s choice, such as “a toothbrush.”
• The second person also starts with the same statement, “I packed a suitcase, and in it I put…” then repeats what the first person said, and adds his own item, “a toothbrush, and a bathing suit,” and so on, until someone forgets to list one of the items!

You can adjust the level of difficulty and absurdity, according to your mood.

My preferred item to pack in a suitcase is a battering ram… you’ll never know when you’ll need one!

Backwards Listening Game

This is a great game to encourage listening abilities. You say a series of random words—and have your child repeat them to you in the opposite order! For example:

You: shirt, cow.
Child: cow, shirt

Start with 2 words and increase the number as proficiency improves. Or, if you are feeling up to it, create a backwards sentence so that when your child says it back to you, he is decoding your message! Hilarity is sure to ensue!

You: cheese, like, smell, socks, Dad’s
Child! Dad’s socks smell like cheese!

The Alphabet List Game

One of my personal favorites is the Alphabet List Game. It’s a very simple game that can present opportunities for some creative thinking.

• Using the Alphabet as the guide, select a theme to create a list about. Some good themes are: animals, cities, fruits and vegetables, sports teams, pizza toppings, underwater…the possibilities are endless!
• Now select someone to start. They begin with the letter A and, based on the category chosen, give an example of something that begins with the letter A. For animals, it would be Alligator, for cities, Amsterdam.
• Then the next person gets the letter B, the following person the letter C…and so on, until somebody can’t think of an example for that letter. Some letters are more challenging than others, so everybody is allowed one pass.

The Classic Game of ‘I-Spy’

Always popular with younger children, the old “I Spy With My Little Eye” is a great game. Simply select anything in the car or room and say, “I spy with my little eye, something that is [that color].” Then the kids take turns guessing what the item is. Adjust the difficulty to meet the age of the child.

Tip: When kids are stumped, give them a phonetic clue. For instance, “it starts with the sound ‘mmmm’.”

Twenty Questions

Think of something simple…it can be anything at all, though regular play usually limits the choice to something that falls into the categories of animal, vegetable, or mineral.

• When you’ve chosen your item, the game begins. Let the players know that you’ve selected something with the simple statement, “I’ve got it!” Then the kids ask 20 questions to determine what the item is. The trick is that all answers must be a yes or a no, this way, the kids must phrase the questions in a specific way in order to get a yes or no answer.

This game is great practice for children to form questions in a structured way, and even better practice for them to take all the replies and deduce the answer. What a fun way to develop critical thinking skills!

Sand in your bathing suit, in your hair, in your sleeping bag…and in your keyboard?

Camping, to this generation’s children, is not what it used to be. Camping has changed so much over the years that wireless connection is now listed as a basic service at many campgrounds across North America. Electrical hook up, firewood, bathroom facilities, and now, wi-fi.

Call me old-fashioned, but I thought that the purpose of camping was to get away from it all—to reconnect with nature, and to be unavailable; disconnected, and to get back to nature.

The evolution (or de-evolution as the case may be) of summertime childhood activity is a popular subject these days. Kids spend more time than ever inside watching TV, playing video games, surfing the net. There are more than a few articles circulating in the media about what this means to traditional childhood, not to mention what all the plugged-in indoor time means to learning habits and social interaction.

Childhood is an ever-evolving landscape, but unfortunately, the new technologies and changing lifestyles are eroding traditional summer pastimes such as playing hide and seek, stargazing, bike riding, building tree houses, hopscotch…and camping.

The campsite is a place to get back to nature and re-discover how to long hours doing nothing more than using the imagination to keep amused. It’s a place to disconnect, to unplug, and to learn the simple pleasures that a childhood summer can bring.

Link: The Globe and Mail

What are your plans to make this summer an educational one? Summer school? Day camps? Lazy days at the beach? Whatever your plans, these tips make your summer both educational and fun!

• Read, read, read! Read a book, a magazine, or a comic book. Talk about what you have just read. Make connections, and look up unknown words. Make a chart to track the plot—the key is to think actively about the reading.
• Keep a journal or a scrapbook. Record the day’s activities, or start a short story and add a bit to it everyday.
• Play games. Games like Soduko, Crossword puzzles, or word games like Boggle, Scrabble, and Upwords are great to challenge the mind and keep it sharp over the summer.
• Play nature games. Gather materials from around you: a rock, a shell, a flower, an acorn, a penny, etc. Then arrange all the items and study them. Next, cover the items with a towel and ask players to remember as many items as they can. The one who remembers the most wins! Take turns gathering items.
• Write and perform a backyard play. Tape it, and then watch it together.
• Check out the great summer programs at your local Oxford Learning.

What are your summer learning plans? Let us know by leaving a comment!

Your child’s arms will have fun this summer: fishing, flying kites, holding a baseball bat, and tossing beach balls.

So will his legs: running through grass, walking on sand, kicking a soccer ball, or swimming in the pool.

But what about his brain? How will your child’s brain stay active this summer? And why is this even important?

Keeping brains active over the summer is important because research proves that kids can lose their learning momentum during time-off from school. This means that it takes more time to get back up to speed when school starts. Kids have to spend more time playing the catch-up game then they do actually paying attention to the lesson. In fact, education experts estimate that brains that just “veg-out” over the summer lose an average of 40 per cent of their learning momentum, and it can take up to two months to get back on track.

Without some measure of academic exercise during the summer, brains get lazy. They forget how to learn. That’s why it’s so important to enroll your child’s brain in a summer camp so that it can get the exercise that it so badly needs. Check out the following ideas on keeping minds as active bodies during the summer.

Read, already

Reading a minimum of 30 minutes a day not only helps brains stay alert, it helps develops vocabulary. Ask questions about what your child is reading – this helps minds think actively and fosters a greater understanding of what they’ve read.

Scrapbook

Keep a scrapbook of things you did over the summer: places you’ve visited, books you’ve read, and movies you’ve watched. Have your child draw pictures, add photos, collect postcards, or add souvenirs. This is a good way to help your child remember her vacation for her inevitable “What I Did This Summer Essay.”

Take a hike

Visit a local environmentally-protected area and discuss why the environment is important. Help your child discover evidence of wildlife, point out varieties of trees and other plants, discuss the significance of wetlands.

Visit the library together and pick out a book on animal footprints, tree varieties, and local plant life.

Research

Pick a destination and have your child research how to get there. Or have your child research information for a new family purchase. Let him make a presentation of what they have discovered.

Puzzles

Solving the logistics of a puzzle is a great way to keep brains sharp. Alternatively, do timed crosswords. Set the timer, and see who can get the most words in the allotted time. Have your child verbalize her problem-solving techniques – this creates active thinking, and is a great method to keep brains sharp.

Follow these tips this summer to make sure that your child goes back to school with happy arms, legs AND brain.

Oxford Learning Brain Camps:

Many Oxford Learning locations offer Summer Brain Camps that keep kid’s brains active over the summer. The programs are fun AND academic. For a brain that doesn’t go flabby this summer, contact an Oxford Learning near you.

Although the school year is winding down, there are some things parents need to think about now, that are important to their child’s education next year and beyond. Oxford Learning presents this handy list:

Request a teacher

Schools are presently matching students and teachers for the next school year. To request a specific teacher, speak with your child’s current classroom teacher now, then put your preferences in writing in a letter to the principal. Some schools (but not all) will do their best to grant these requests, when possible.

Separating kids

If you feel strongly about separating your child from another student, you should share this concern now with your child’s current teacher. You might request that your child be in a different class, away from a friend she’s talks with too much in class. Or if your child and another child really don’t get along at all well, you may wish them separated.

Curing “Spring Fever”

Although school is finishing, this time of year can be quite busy with music recitals, sports banquets and more! Try to keep your child focused on giving their best effort at school to the very last day. Stick with your child’s regular after-school routine, including expecting that homework is being completed and school project deadlines are being met. If your child is showing signs of stress (not eating, not sleeping or irritability), speak with your child about ways to deal with the pressure.

Handling your child’s final report card

When your child presents his final report card, look carefully at each grade and compare final marks to previous grades. Read teacher comments for additional information about your child’s progress and behaviour. If you don’t understand something, contact the school immediately because teachers remain at school for a few days after classes end.

Praise your child for a great report card, but don’t get visibly upset over a less-than-perfect report card. Instead, talk about the progress that’s been made during the year and make goals and plans to do better for the next grade.

Make Time Over the Summer for Learning

There are lots of methods for kids to improve learning skills during the long summer holiday so they can return to school with added confidence. In addition to swimming lessons, soccer camps, etc., look for learning camps and programs that are run by libraries, colleges or universities, or by tutors such as Oxford Learning (please click here for more information on our summer programs). Just a few hours of learning each week over the summer will keep your child’s mind and learning skills sharp, ready to learn from day one when classes begin again.

Every year the cycle gets repeated

After a summer spent chasing butterflies, swimming, working or just plain lazing about, hundreds of thousands of students file back into their schools after Labour Day — ready for a new school year. Or are they?

“We have to allow at least a month for everyone to get settled and back in a learning mood,” a teacher friend recently told me. That puts us into October and, according to other teachers, many students are still not refocused and ready to learn by then or even into November.

This would mean that from July 1, through at least October 15, and probably November 10, many students are not focused or at their best. “For at least three-and-one-half months, learning can be haphazard to say the least,” says Robert Primrose, a Grade 10 teacher.

In fact, it may even be worse than that. Think about your child’s learning experiences in June each year. Tests, exams, field trips and other events consume most of that month’s schedule, adding another 30 days to the let down period.

Considering that the average school year includes only 195 days of instruction and that almost half of those days are spent in less than ideal conditions, we soon see why many schools struggle to meet the educational expectations of parents and society.

What can you do to help?

Easy. Help your kids stay sharp over the summer holiday and there will be no let down — no big gap in the fall. Kids who are focused and ready in September will learn, integrate and understand new material right away. This will allow them to make the most of each school day instead of only half of them.

There are many ways to help kids remain on top of their school skills. Make sure that your children read during the summer. Even if they have a busy social life and a part- or full-time job, make sure that they take time each day to read. Set up brief study periods at least every other day. Times when your child can review the worst or hardest subjects, read ahead into next year’s material and organize for next year.

Possibly the best way to help students stay sharp is through a good summer program such as those at Oxford Learning Centres to help keep thinking, reading, writing, math and study skills sharp and ready for September.

It’s not so much the memorized material that students forget over the summer, it’s learning how to learn that gets forgotten each summer. That’s because it is seldom taught independent of school subjects. Students who develop good learning and thinking skills will be ready for success in September. Attending a study session over the summer can overcome the summer let-down.

Holidays are similar. While it is important for parents to allow students a chance to breathe, to relax and to unwind, holidays often fall just prior to the time of year where tests, final exams and report cards loom large and many students are beginning to accumulate a certain level of anxiety.

Make sure that your student has fun over the holidays. Having fun means activity. Lying in front of the TV or staying at the video game or computer terminal for days at a time does not qualify. Make sure that life is balanced. Go for family walks to look at the holiday lights. Go skating. Sing carols in your neighbourhood. Play in the snow. Ski. Toboggan. In other words, get active!

The very worst thing we can do is to allow our kids to just drop down on a couch and vegetate for two weeks. By December, our children should be in full mental gear. They will have recovered from the summer holidays and will be alert and mentally active. The holiday should give them a breather but not cause them to become mentally passive again.

You can prevent this by planning fun activities. The challenge is to keep our students mentally active and focused. We can do this in a number of ways.

High School Students

Exams are looming. High school students should plan two hours of study per day over the holiday. Each subject should be analyzed and divided into units. Let us assume that the math exam is scheduled for Jan 20. That means that there are approximately 30 days (or units) left before the exam. Divide math into 30 units and study one each day. Make sure students use a Day Planner so that they can do a little every day. When they get back to school, they must keep their current work up to date.

Grades 1 to 3

Read, Write, Play. Read and play games that require concentration and memory. Make a family journal for the holiday and write in it every day. Talk about stories, books and TV shows. Don’t just let them be passively absorbed. Discuss what happened. Why? What else might have happened?

Grades 4 to 6

Work on planning. It is often hard for kids to master the Day Planner while they are at school. Use it every day to plan family activities such as feeding the cat, walking the dog, putting up the Christmas tree, buying a present for Aunt Millie, going skating and so on. Make it part of your life and make it fun.

Writing is often a problem for this age group. The family journal is often a hit here too. Write in it every day. Describe the holiday fun and activity. Encourage reading by purchasing magazines. Choose specific activity magazines that match the interests of your child – skiing, history, cats and so on.

No pressure but lots of attention and encouragement.

Grades 7 to 8

If exams or tests are planned for January, then use the same strategy as for high school students. Again, focus on Day Planners. Make sure that they are written in every day. Use them to prioritize activities and plan events.

Plan TV viewing. Try to get as many history and nature specials as you can, then discuss them — go to the library or use the Internet to do more research on these subjects. If you just watch these programs and then do something else, your kids will see that remaining passive is okay.

Play strategy board games, such as chess, Clue, Risk and so on. Games that are competitive and yet require thinking are the best.

Don’t forget to plan activities and have fun!