The Michigan Department of Education website states that summer vacation, while great for the relaxation of students, may actually cause them to forget much of the material they learned in their previous school year. This can be incredibly detrimental to kindergartners, as their education forms the basis of all of their education into their high school years and beyond. A student that has forgotten the basics of reading between kindergarten and first grade will struggle to catch up with students who have retained that information. Keeping your child engaged in his education can help him remember this vital information and can even build on what he has learned.
The focus of a summer activities calendar should be on reinforcing what your child has already learned. Avoid introducing subjects your child may not be ready to learn. The subjects studied in kindergarten are simple enough for parents to teach to their children properly. Focus on basic reading skills, such as pronunciation, spelling simple words, the sounds of each letter of the alphabet as well as the shapes of letters. Math subjects include single digit addition and subtraction and money counting. Another important topic you should focus on includes proper behavior and politeness. Students should learn these subjects at a very young age, and parents should reinforce them as often as possible. Polite students are more likely to receive politeness and respect back from their students.
Avoid making the activities boring, as this will take your child out of her education. Instead, make a game out of each activity. For example, you could help her focus on politeness by having a "thank you" game on one of your days. Every time your child says thank you, you should reward her with a point. Tell her if she earns enough points she will be able to pick dinner for the night. Make the point total about 10 so that she can count that high. You can also have a reading night where everybody reads passages from her favorite books. Reading to her will reinforce word and letter sounds. Have her read to you in order to practice these sounds.
Summer activities calendars should consist of one activity every day of the summer. The Monday of one week could focus on reading activities by having a favorite book reading day. Tuesday can reinforce shape recognition by having him play with shape puzzles. Wednesday can be math day. Give your child a snack, like crackers, and have him count each cracker. Thursday can focus on polite behavior by having a "quiet day" where you can give him points for being quiet for half-hour periods. Reward him by letting him pick a movie to watch for the night. Friday can be another reading night, while Saturday can feature another math activity, such as counting toys. Sunday can be a rest period where he does whatever he wants.