Tutoring Centers: Summer Break Doesn’t Have To Mean A Break In Learning

Yes, summertime is for fun-playing outside, picnics with the family and going to the beach. But, just because school is out and your children are having fun doesn't mean their education has to stop. While tutoring centers are available year round, you may not want to enroll your kid for summer sessions so you they offer up these tips to ensure that your child has a fun and enriching summer vacation:

1. Get ideas from teachers. Talk to your child's teachers about what his strengths are and weaknesses. Find out what his interests are and get ideas on how to foster these interests. Find out what to expect in the up-coming year and get ideas on how to make sure your kid is ahead of the game at the start of the new school year.

2. Encourage and challenge. If your kid loves to read, encourage him to branch out into different genres and challenge him with some of the classics that read at a higher grade level. Read these books along with him so you can talk about it. If your child is not a reader, make a trip to the bookstore with him. Give him the opportunity to choose books that interest him. Even if it is mostly a picture book, there are still learning opportunities here.

3. Form groups. Grown-ups have book clubs, why not the kids? Being able to discuss books with his peers makes the reading process more enriching. It only takes one day a week out of all the other summertime fun.

4. Support individuality and creativity. Pay attention to your child and you will see where his interests lie. Is he interested in dinosaurs, stars, magic tricks or drawing? Whatever it is, take this interest and subtly turn it into an opportunity. Buy books, documentary DVDs, take him to the local museum-fun and learning go hand in hand.

5. Let the Internet work for you. There are so many Web sites that offer learning opportunities for children. Run a search for some kind project you can do together or even in his book club group. Science experiments, math games and writing contests can be found on-line. The summer months gives your child the room to branch out of the box and pursue what he wants without the constraints of school guidelines. Keeping safety in mind, support this.

6. Incorporate learning into the family vacation. Wherever you go, there will be some tid-bit of history that will enthrall your kid. Do some homework ahead of time, buy guidebooks and plan one excursion that involves this history. You don't want to bore him with a grand time-line of events, so let him pick what interests him the most. The rest of the time can be spent playing.

Tutoring centers know that learning can occur all year as long as you have a plan for your child. Let him see that fun and learning go hand-in-hand.