How to avoid summer learning loss

With warmer days comes the chance to rediscover the great outdoors. Why not use this opportunity to explore some new places? You can organize a hike with friends in a nature park, forest, or other habitat. Take pictures of some of the cool things that you see, like animal footprints or scat, or some interesting insect or plant life. You can even look out for any ecological disturbances—disruptions in the environment made naturally or by humans—and try to figure out what happened. 

Summer is also a great opportunity to work on your strength and endurance with outdoor physical activities like biking, swimming, paddleboarding, and jogging. You can monitor your heart rate and keep track of your progress using charts or graphs.

Finally, exploring nature can simply mean growing and maintaining a garden in your own backyard—vegetable, flower, or both! Lots of amazing things happen in a garden that you can also observe: the life cycle of plants and flowers, visiting insects and pollination, and other signs of animal life. You can even classify the living organisms that you discover in your backyard.

Naturally, summer also has its share of rainy days or moments when you want to relax at home. So, what kinds of activities can you do to have fun and keep learning at the same time?

• Games. Board and card games are great activities to pass the time when it’s raining or you’re feeling a little bit lazy. Many games can help you develop collaboration, logic, and reasoning skills, on top of delivering a good dose of friendly competition! Or, host some friendly contests, like a paper airplane contest. Design your own paper airplane or look for award-winning ones online. Decide on a number of tries each person gets, then see whose plane has flown the furthest. Measure and keep track of distances. Finally, if you’re babysitting younger siblings or other children, you can try some of Alloprof’s printable games, such as:
  • The Alloprof Market
  • Outdoor treasure hunt
  • Monster House
  • Think Fast!
• Cook. Cooking is another opportunity to learn while having fun. You can choose a new recipe, purchase the ingredients, and off you go! You could even search for an old-fashioned recipe or try one that’s been passed down in your family. And recipes are full of math—fractions and mixed numbers, doubling or halving quantities, etc.
• Read. Summer is a great time to explore the world of books and choose ones that you want to read. What’s more, you can read anywhere—in the park or in your backyard, on your balcony, by the lake, or in a tent! You can even start or join a book club to keep you motivated. As you read, check your understanding using our handy poster. Finally, Alloprof also has lists of recommended books for everyone’s taste!
• Journal. Journaling doesn’t have to be a chore, and is more than simply logging your day-to-day activities. There are many creative and unique ways to incorporate some journaling into your summer routine.
  • Create blackout poetry: Choose an existing text, like a page from a newspaper or magazine, and create a new story by covering up certain words or phrases with sharpies or paint. Here is an example of a blackout poem:
  • Nature journals. Instead of recycling old school notebooks, why not reuse them for a nature journal? Write down what you observe while visiting a local park on a trip to a cottage or campground.  Examine rocks, bugs, moss, wildflowers, and other forms of plant life. You can also unleash the artist in you by sketching some of your observations! 
  • Write a letter to your future self. Summer can also be a time for reflection. How did your year go? What do you hope to accomplish over the summer? Do you have some new goals for the next school year? Write a letter to yourself and open it at the end of this year’s summer vacation or at the beginning of next year’s!
  • Try your hand at creative writing. During the school year, you may not always get the opportunity to explore different writing genres. Well, now’s your chance! Creative writing can improve your writing skills and push you to use your imagination. Try incorporating interesting vocabulary and stylistic devices, vivid imagery, and dialogue to spice up your text. Need some inspiration? Alloprof has some fun and creative writing how-to’s for you!

Summertime comes with a host of outdoor festivals and concerts, many of which are free. With a quick online search, you’re guaranteed to find something that will pique your interest. Don’t forget, some museums have free days in the summer, too!
 
Another fun activity is geocaching—a kind of treasure hunt. Seekers use clues and navigational devices (GPS) to locate secret items hidden in towns, cities, and other locations. The hiders provide clues and coordinates (link in French), and you have fun exploring the area in which you are hunting for the secret stash. Geocaches can be found all over the world, so you’re bound to find one near you!

Getting a summer job is a great way to earn your own money. It’s also an opportunity to explore the workforce, work full or part-time, and practise some valuable skills, such as collaboration, communication, leadership, autonomy, and organization. A summer job can also get you thinking about and working on managing your personal finances, including budgeting, saving, and credit.

You can also volunteer in your community. If you like animals, maybe volunteer at an animal shelter. If your passion is saving the environment, why not volunteer for an environmental organization? Love math? Help a young er child by offering free tutoring at a youth or community centre. Volunteering is a great opportunity to explore your passions, get some valuable workforce experience, and build your self-esteem.