Mrs Wood’s Blog - Continuing the learning journey

We all want our children to have a brilliant holiday but keeping them entertained can feel like a tall order. With the summer holidays fast approaching, parents are busily planning activities and trips. Throughout the year at Gateway, your child has been on a learning journey which has been developing both their skills and knowledge across a broad and varied curriculum. When planning holiday activities, it would be incredible if opportunities to continue on this learning journey are included. Whether it is raining or you want to spend the day outside, there are plenty of ways to incorporate learning throughout the holidays. There really are a whole host of things to do to keep children learning, growing, busy and happy throughout the summer holidays.

Here are a few ideas…

A summer reading challenge

Reading is a fantastic pastime which will engage the imagination while continuing to develop literacy skills. Your local library will be hosting a Summer Reading Challenge. This takes place every year during the summer holidays. Your child signs up and then reads six books of their choice to complete the challenge. There are rewards to collect along the way. Libraries are one of our best free resources so we really should take advantage of them!

Utilise educational apps

There are inevitably going to be times during the holidays when your child may use technology more than usual. There are so many engaging educational apps out there which encourage learning without your child even realising it. If you would like some advice on any apps to support your child, please ask their class teacher who can offer some advice.

Encourage free writing

Encouraging your child to ‘free’ write regularly will ensure they are constantly using and developing their skills throughout the summer holiday. Whether it is writing a fictional story, a comic strip, a journal or sending their teacher a postcard, it is important to remind them writing freely can be lots of fun and has a purpose.

Playing games

There are so many games at the movement that help teach skills and develop knowledge. Many games require critical thinking and high concentration levels. Card and board games such as Rummikub and Uno support number and counting skills, whereas games like Scrabble, Articulate and Boogle really put spelling and language to the test. Trivial Pursuit is a fantastic way to develop general knowledge skills.

Naturally learning

The summer holidays hold many magical opportunities; from trips to museums and animal sanctuaries, to chalk drawings on the pavement and pressing wildflowers, from visiting the seaside and making shell art. The summer holiday provides a space for children to play for hours and to keep on learning in new and varied ways.

The children have worked so hard this year and deserve to have a wonderful holiday filled with adventure and many of them can be given an educational twist. From all of us at Gateway, we hope you are planning a super summer holiday.