Take Learning On The Road This Summer

Summer can be an exciting time for both parents and students, but can also cause parents to worry about their child forgetting some of what they have learned, or not being prepared enough for the upcoming school year. Sylvan Learning, the leading provider of tutoring to students of all ages, grades and skill levels, believes that by making daily activities fun, and incorporating learning into these activities, the lessons children have learned throughout the school year will be reinforced, making students better prepared for their next school year.

We think that time in the car getting to a field trip destination, or to the location of another summer adventure, creates the perfect opportunity for some fun summer learning. Using simple items that are inexpensive or can be found around the house you can create your own educational car pack! We've suggested some simple ideas to create an activity pack for the car, which is sure to inspire learning and fun on a drive of any length.

Car Pack

The first step is to determine and collect the best items to include in the activity pack. For example, we suggest the following items:

1. Having maps, books, and other reading materials in each car is a must. Maps are great for sneaking in math on trips. Ask children to look at them and determine the distance from home to their destination, how long will it take to get there if you travel the speed limit, or to find the most direct route versus what the most scenic route and have them explain their answers. These activities will also give them practice reading and help them learn geography as they encounter the names of cities and roads on their chosen route.

Books of various kinds (fiction, non-fiction on topics they enjoy, and even comic books) or other reading materials are great ways to keep children occupied on long trips. While they are reading they are not only keeping busy, but also being exposed to new words and how to spell them, new genres, new ideas or facts, and gaining inspiration for any future writing or art of their own.

2. Sylvan Learning also suggests (particularly for those who suffer motion sickness in the car) keeping educational CDs, (or MP3 tracks) handy in the car. Books-on-CD from the library or bookstore, a recording of your child or you reading a book, or educational recordings such as those filled with fun songs teaching math or spelling skills are all great ways to pass the time and reinforce literacy and math concepts. Use a CD to practice math facts and set a goal for the trip (ex. on the way to your destination we’ll practice 4x table and on the way home we’ll work on 6x).

3. Having pens, pencils, drawing utensils, paper, and a small solid surface like a clip-board can be great for turning potential crankiness into creativity. With these items, children can keep track of the cool things they see from the windows, create a vocabulary list of all the new words they have learned on the trip, find writing prompts for later, or write a story during the journey. The possibilities with writing or drawing utensils and paper in a car are endless: children can create tongue-twisters for everyone to attempt, play word games (such as choosing a letter and writing down how many things they see out the window starting with that letter), or write a journal entry describing the things they see, have done so far on the trip, or are excited to do. They can also draw pictures based on these new words, sights, or tongue twisters, not only reinforcing their learning, but also creating great artwork by which to remember the trip later.

4. The last items we suggest adding are any that you feel will help augment these activities, or activities of your own, for your children. For example, binoculars are a fun way to spot distant signs, watches or stopwatches can help them learn to keep track of and calculate time, and any favourite activity booklet of your child’s can help make any road trip a beneficial, educational success for your family.

We also highly recommend a trip to your local discount store to peruse their word puzzle books and activity book section as there are often great gems to be found at reasonable prices. The novelty of having a new book can be enough incentive for even the most reluctant of children to give it a try.

Once you have gathered all these items, the second step for creating the activity pack is to find a fun box or case to put these items in. You and your family can even decorate the case yourselves! Once it is decorated and all the items are put inside, the pack should be placed somewhere in the car where it is easily seen and accessible to both parents and children, allowing its contents to always be an option.

The third and final step for the activity pack is to follow through on using it, and through its use determine what works and what doesn’t for your family, adding or taking away items over time, customizing it to what works best for your family. Finally, the last part of this final step is to enjoy the activity pack!

For more information and tips on how to make learning a part of everyday summer life and to learn more about our summer and school year programs, see Sylvan Learning’s blog, Facebook page or follow us on Twitter.