Four creative ways to keep children learning over the summer holidays

A It’s time for students to kick off their school shoes and pack up their textbooks because school’s out for summer. But the arrival of the holidays doesn’t mean learning has to stop – in fact, it can provide many opportunities to broaden young minds. From family trips to museums, new literature or fun experiments in the kitchen.

B The Guardian Teacher Network has scoured the web to find the best resources for summer learning, which can be used by parents and tutors. A family holiday abroad is a great opportunity to learn a language or practise existing skills. There’s no better way for older students to absorb a language than spending the summer immersed in it. If you want something a bit closer to home, you could get your children to write to other students around the world with Pen Pal Schools, an online learning community where people of can connect and practice their language skills.

C Encourage children to move from the sofa with a trip to your local park or recreation ground. Engage younger children getting them to look for insects and bugs and then draw an annotated picture of them. Did you know there are 24 different kinds of bumblebees in the UK? Feed young minds by finding a sunny spot for a picnic where you can explore healthy eating. You could bring fresh produce, such as lettuce or herbs, and ask children to identify them. What do children think makes a balanced meal? Get them to sort the foods in the picnic by how healthy they are.

D Teenagers can explore the great outdoors by geocaching, where you use a mobile device to find hidden items, which is a great way for them to keep fit and brush up on navigation skills. Once you’ve found the geocache, sign the visitor book and register your find. Another way to combat the problem of vegetating teenagers is through sport. The Football Association is running free football coaching days for boys and girls throughout England. Or get experimental – science doesn’t have to be boring. There are some easy and fun chemistry activities you can do in your own back garden. One is ominously entitled “the exploding lunch bag”. For this you’ll need a small sandwich bag, baking soda, warm water, vinegar, a measuring cup and a tissue. The baking soda and vinegar mix creates a reaction, and eventually things go pop. For children of all ages, you can also make your own lava lamp. To do this you’ll need a soda bottle, water, vegetable oil, food colouring and fizzing tablets. This works because oil rises above water as it’s lighter.

E For children who have ambitions of becoming writers, encourage them to enter the Guardian’s young critics competition, open to students of all ages. The summer is the perfect time for kids to write their entry, which needs to be a maximum 500-word review of the one of the books longlisted for the Guardian children’s fiction prize 2015.

Adjusted to (1)

scour – prohledat, pročesat

brush up on – oprášit, oživit

vegetate – poflakovat, povalovat se

ominously – zlověstně, hrozivě

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Learn languages

2 Become a writer

3 Holiday doesn’t mean stop learning

4 Go for a trip and learn about nature

5 Do sports or practise science

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 What is the Guardian Teacher Network? What have they started?

2 What sport activities are recommended?

3 What science activities could be done in summer?

4 Why could be geocaching interesting for children?

5 How does Guardian’s young critics competition support children’s summer learning activity?

3) Explain the following words and phrases.

1 practise existing skills

2 move from the sofa

3 draw an annotated picture

4 balanced meal

5 explore the great outdoors

4) Answer the following questions.

What is summer holiday? Why is holiday important for children? How can holiday be spent? What other activities might be done? How can children learn in summer?

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Source:

(1)

MARSH, Sarah and SPILLER. Four creative ways to keep children learning over the summer holidays. The Guardian [online]. 2015 [cit. 2015-09-20]. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/jul/27/four-creative-ways-children-learning-summer-holidays