By now, the entire country has become aware of the importance of reading during summer break. Libraries and schools prioritized preventing the “summer slide,” encouraged by concerned parents, who described summer learning loss as “devastating”. Reading over the summer is absolutely essential! However, if you really want your kids to be prepared for the upcoming school year, their writing skills need to stay sharp! If you’re looking for a little extra motivation to get you started, here are a few additional reasons to keep your kids writing as they will:
1) Enter the next grade level feeling more prepared and confident. Feeling ahead of the curve is always wonderful – but especially so when it comes to such a valuable skill. As kids progress through grade levels, writing will continue to take up more and more of the homework load – so won’t it feel great to begin knowing that they’re on the top of the game? Teachers will absolutely recognize a student that has been maintaining their skills over the summer, and your child will feel ready to tackle whatever report comes his/her way.
2) Save valuable time. The beginning of the school year can make a student feel like being buried in a pile of review information and new assignments. By keeping up grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and creative thinking skills, your child won’t have to spend so many precious hours remembering how to vary language or add sensory detail to a story. Think of how your child could spend those extra hours – with teammates, friends, or writing a memoir!
3) Improve writing skills! Like any other skill – from baseball to baking – writing is a skill where practice makes perfect. Working on writing skills outside of the classroom is valuable any time of the year, especially during the summer when your child can focus on personal areas of weakness and write about things he/she enjoys! Working one-on-one with a tutor, setting up a writing schedule for each week, or writing reports on a favorite summer book can all push writing to its best, and help your child feel prepared to jump into the next school year.
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Please contact us at totalwritingenrichment@gmail.com for help on how to encourage healthy writing this summer for your kids!
Thank you http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/summer/brief01.pdf for information to help write this educational article.