DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 371 907 PS 022 613

AUTHOR Rich, DorothyTITLE Summer Home Learning Recipes for Parents and Children

Grades: K-3, 4-5, 6-8, 9-12.INSTITUTION Department of Education, Washington, DC.REPORT NO ED/OUS-94-27; ED/OUS-94-28; ED/OUS-94-29;

ED/OUS-94-30PUB DATE 94NOTE 25p.; This document consists of four separate

six-panel brochures, each for a separate grade area.The brochures reprint material from the author's book"MegaSkills," with the permission of the NationalEducation Association and the Home and SchoolInstitute.

PUB TYPE Guides Non-Classroom Use (055)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Elementary Secondary Education; Emotional Response;

Health Activities; *Learning Activities; MathematicsInstruction; *Parent Child Relationship; ParentParticipation; Problem Solving; Reading Instruction;Science Instruction; Social Studies; WritingInstruction

IDENTIFIERS Common Sense; *Sumer

ABSTRACT

These brochures provide simple, specific activitiesparents can use during the summer to enhance their children'sacademic and social skills. The brochure for grades K-3 providesactivities in the areas of reading, writing, math, and science. Thebrochure for grades 4-5 provides activities in the areas of reading,writing, math, and social studies; the one for grades 6-8 coversthese areas and includes a health activity. The brochure for grades9-12 focuses on problem solving and getting control of our emotionsas a basis for acquiring common sense. (HTH)

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BEST COPY AVAILABLE

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice of Educational RoSearch and Impmvament

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)

0 This document has been reproduced asreceived from the person or organizationoriginating it.

El Minor changes have been made toimprove reproduction quality.

----_-.---__ ----------Points of view or opinions stated in thisdocument do not necessarily representofficial OERI position or policy.

it*for Parentsand ChildrenGrades K-3

Reading ActivitiesSorting and StackingTeach classificationskills with dinnerware. Ask your child tomatch and stack dishes of similar sizes andshapes. Also have your child sort flatwareforks with forks, spoons with spoons. Thisis like recognizing the shapes of letters andnumbers.

TelephonitisGive your child practice inreading numbers left to right by dialing atelephone. Make a list of telephone numbersyour child can readfor relatives, friends,the weather bureauand have your childmake a call or two.

Let 'Ern Eat ShapesCutbread intodifferent shapesrectangles, triangles,squares, circles. Make at least two of eachshape. Ask your youngster to choose a pairof similar shapes, then to put jam on the firstpiece, and to place the second piece on topto make a sandwich. This is a snack plus agame to match shapes.

Dress MeIncrease your child's vocabu-lary. Teach the name of each item of clothingyour child wearsshirt, blouse, sweater,sock, shoewhen your child is dressing orundressing. Also teach the body partshead, arm, knee, foot. Then print the wordson paper and ask your child to attach thesepapers to the clothes in the closet or draw-ers. Make a pattern of your child lying on alarge sheet of paper. Tack it up. Ask yourchild to attach the words for the body partsto the right locations.

Hidden LettersBuild reading observationskills with this activity. Ask your child tolook for letters of the alphabet onboxes and

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cans of food and household ciipplies. Forexample, find five A's or three C's, or anynumber of letters or combinations on cerealboxes, soup cans, bars of soap. Start witheasy-to-find letters and build up to harder-to-find ones. Then have your children writethe letters on paper or point out the letterson the boxes and cans.

Writing ActivitiesDisappearing LettersPromote creativityand build muscle control with a pail ofwater and a brush. On a warm day, takeyour children outside to the driveway orsidewalk and encourage them to writeanything they wish. Talk about whatthey've written.

Comic Ship WritingUse comic strips tohelp with writing. Cut apart the segmentsof a comic strip and ask your child toarrange them in order. Then ask your childto fill in the words of the characters (orallyor in writing).

And That's the End of the StoryImprovelistening skills and imagination. Read astory aloud to your child and stop before theend. Ask the child how the story will turnout. Then finish the story and discuss theending with the child. Did it tmn out theway you thought?

Math ActivitiesLaundry MathSharpen skills by doing anecessary household job. Ask your young-ster to sort laundrybefore or after wash-ing. How many socks? How many sheets?And you may find a lost sock as well.

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Napkin FractionsMake fractions fun.Fold paper towels or napkins into large andsmall fractions. Start with halves and moveto eighths and sixteenths. Use magicMarkers to label the fractions.

Weigh MeTeach estimating skills. Askyour children to guess the weight of severalhousehold objectsa wastebasket, a coat, afull glass of water. Then show children howto use a scale to weigh the objects. Next,have them estimate their own weight, aswell as that of other family members, anduse the scale to check their guesses. Somebrave parents get on the scale, too.

Science ActivitiesIce Is NiceImprove observation andquestioning skills by freezing and meltingice. Add water to an ice cube tray and set itin the freezer. Ask your child how long itwill take to freeze. For variety, use differentlevels of water in different sections of thetray. Set ice cubes on a table. Ask your childhow long they will take to melt. Why dothey melt? Place the ice cubes in differentareas of the room. Do they melt faster insome places than in others? Why?

Float and SinkEncourage hypothesizing(guessing). Use several objectssoap, a drysock, a bottle of shampoo, a wet sponge, anempty bottle. Ask your child which objectswill float when dropped into water in a sinkor bathtub. Then drop the objects in thewater, one by one, to see what happens.

What Does It Take to Grow?Teach cause-and-effect relationships. Use two similar,healthy plants. Ask your child to water oneplant and ignore the other for a week or two,keeping both plants in the same place.

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"Parents and familiesare the first and mostimportant teachers. Iffamilies teach a love oflearning, it can make allthe difference in theworld to our children."

Richard W. RileyU.S. Secretary of Education

Educational research has madeit clear that parents who areactively involved in their children's

learning at home help their children becomemore successful learners in and out ofschool.

Here are some reading, writing, math, andscience Home Learning Recipe activities.These have been developed by the Homeand School Institute. Parents of youngchildren in prekindergarten through thirdgrade find them to be easy and enjoyableways to work with the schoolusingmaterials they have at home to build theirchildren's skills.

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At the end of that time, ask your child towater the drooping plant. Then talk aboutwhat happened and why. Plants usuallyperk up with water just as cliildren perk upwith good words and smiles from parents.

Children are eager learners: they are inter-ested in everything around them. Theseeasy-to-do activities encourage children'sactive learning and those wonderful wordsof growing confidence, "I can do it."

Think of these as starter activities to get yourideas going. There are opportunitieseverywhere for teaching and learning.

Take a little time to do a lot of good!

For more information on other publicationsto help your children learn call:

1-800-USA-LEARNU.S. Department of Education

These home learning "recipes" have been testedand developed by Dr. Dorothy Rich, author ofMega Skills®, for the National EducationAssociation. Reprinted with permission of theNational Education Association and The Homeand School Institute, 1994.

Reproduction of this brochure is permitted.

EDMS94-27

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Reading ActivitiesA Lifetime of ReadingEncouragelifelong reading. Read with your young-sters by taking roles in stories and actingout dramatic poems. Whenever possible,tape record these sessions. Then listen toand enjoy these performances together.

Street SmartsPut reading skills topractkal use. Gather bus and subwayroute maps and schedules to a specialplace in your areathe zoo, a museum, afootball stadium. Let your child plan a tripfor friends or family. Figure out the traveltime required, the cost, and the best time tomake the trip.

TV and the WorldConnect currentevents to TV viewing. Post a world mapnext to the TV set. Watch the TV newswith your children and have them locateworld news spots. Keep reference bookssuch as dictionaries and the world almanacclose by. In this way, children find answersto questions when their curiosity is high.

Writing ActivitiesPicture StoriesDevelop imagination andcreativity. Have your children select fouror five pictures from magazines andnewspapers, and put them together to tella story. Ask your children to number thepictures---1,2,3, etc. First, ask them to tellthe story with the pictures in numericalorder. For vari.ety, have your childrenrearrange the pictures and tell a new storyusing this different arrangement.

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Writing Instead of TalkingExchange" notes instead of words at different times.; during the daywhen getting up in the

morning, at dinner, or at bedtimeor, whenever the noise level becomes too high.

Day-by Day CalendarTurn a largecalendarcommercial or home mideinto a personalized family communicationcenter. Have your children fill in theblanks with morning messages, weatherreports, birthdays, special activities, ornotes to the Lmily.

Math ActivitiesA Trip to the SupermarketPlan aheadwith the 3 R's. Ask your child to choose adish to prepare for a meala pudding, asalad, a sandwich. Have your ch 'd checkto see what supplies are on hand and thenmake a shopping list. At the supermarket,let your child select the food on the list.First, your child decides which items arethe best buys and makes selections. Alsohave your child write the price of eachitem on the list and if possible figure thetotal, checking the prices against the salesreceipt.

On the MoveSharpen math skills ontrips. Use even short trips around town.For example, at the gas station, ask yourchild how much gas you needed and thecost per gallon. On the highway, ask yourchildren to read the signs and check thedifferent speed limits. Then ask them towatch the speedometer readings and noticehow fast or slow the car is going. Haveyour children estimate distances betweencities and check the estimates on a roadmap.

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Newspaper MathUse the Weather41, section to check temperatures across the

'nation and the world. This is good geogra-,;, 'phy practice, too. Discuss baseball and

football scores and averages on the sportspages. Who are the high scores? What arethe percentages?

Social StudiesActivitiesA Closer LookHelp your childrenbecome aware of family responsibilities.Make a chart of family chores, includingthe name of the person responsible, thedays and time required, etc. Discuss waysto change or improve these job assign-ments.

History Time Line--Record history athome. Stretch a roll of shelf paper alongthe floor. Use a ruler to make a line aboutthree feet long. (Use a separate sheet foreach child.) Ask your children to fill in theimportant dates in their own lives, startingwith their birth. Those familiar with U.S.history can fill in major dates since thefounding of our country. Display thesefinished time lines in a special place for allto see.

The Foreign TouchTravel abroad athome. Visit ethnic shops, food stores, andrestaurants in your community. Before thetrip, have your children find on a mapdifferent countries you will "visit." Afterthe trip, encourage your children to talkabout what they have seen.

These activities may sound too easy to doany good. Make no mistake. They work.

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

"Parents and familiesare the first and mostimportant teachers. iffamilies teach a love oflearning, it can make allthe difference in theworld to our children."

Richard W. RileyU.S. Secretary of Education

Educational research has madeit clear that parents who areactively involved in their children's

learning at home help their children becomemore successful learners in and out ofschool.

Here are some reading, writing, math, andsocial studies Home Learning Recipeactivities. These have been developed bythe Home and School Institute. Parents offourth and fifth graders find them to be easyand enjoyable ways to work with theschoolusing materials they have at hometo build their children's skills. Many of theactivities focus on talksharing ideas andfeelings, providing information, and re-sponding to the needs of youngsters to growas separate and responsible individuals.

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They build children's interest in leaand this translates into achievement bin school and beyond.

Think of these as starter activities to getyour ideas going. Th e opportunitieseverywhere for teac' earning.

Take a little time to

Moo

For more info-into help your chil call:

1-800-USA1LEARNU.S. Department of Education

ublications

These home learning "recipes" have been tesand developed by Dr. Dorothy Rich, authorMega Skills®, for the National EducationAssociation. Reprinted with permission of theNational Education Association and The Homeand School Institute, 1994.

Reproduction of this brochure is permitted.

ED/011594-28

13

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Reading ActivitiesRead All About ItIntroduce your childto the many kinds of information in thedaily newspaper. Ask your child to findthe pages containing news about govern-ment leaders, editor's opinions, weatherreports, car sales, house and apartmentrentals, and want ads. Discuss how to usethis information.

Follow the NewsAs a family, choose animportant news event to follow for a dayor two. Ask each person to find as muchinformation on the topic as possiblereadnewspapers, listen to the radio, watch TVnews. Then talk about what everyonelearned.

Writing ActivitiesNice WordsMake someone happy. Writeeach family member's name on separatesheets of paper. Add a note or a drawingfor example, "I like the way you makebreakfast," or "You make me happy whenyou do the dishes." Fold the paper andput them in a bag. Ask each person tochoose a paper from the bag. Place thenotes where they can be found by familymembers. And watch for the smiles!

Looking at AdvertisementsTake a closerlook. Help your children improve theirthinking and writing skills by lookingcarefully at newspaper, magazine, and TVadvertisements. What is the main point ofthe ad? What details does it use to com-municate its message? For example, astrong, handsome man holding a soft drink

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m an expensive car with a beautifulwoman at his side is telling us somethingabout the soft drink.

, Pro and Con: What Lo You Think?Make a family game of discussing a specialissuefor example, "Teenagers should beallowed to vote," or "There should neverbe any homework." Ask your youngstersto think of all the reasons they can tosupport their views. Then, ask them tothink of reasons against their views.Which views are most convincing? Forvariety, assign family members to teamsand have teams prepare their argumentspro and con.

Math ActivitiesHow Much Does It Cost?Put math skillsto work. Help your children understandliving costs by discussing householdexpenses with them. For example, make alist of monthly billsheat, electricity,telephone, mortgage or rent. Fold thepaper to hide the costs and ask youryoungsters to guess the cost of each item.Unfold the paper. How do the estimatescompare with the actual costs? Were theyclose?

Math MarksAre they really necessary?Ask your children to look through thenewspaper to find and list as many per-centages and decimal numbers as pos-siblesale prices, sports scores, bank rates.Ask what would happen without thosemarks.

Living Within Our MeansTeach chil-dren who have allowances or regularspending money how to budget. Ask themto make a two-column list of expenses and

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mOrne. Under expenses, they list whatthey expect to spend for movies, bus°kens, lunches, etc. Then, have youroungsters add all the expenses and

4ubtract the total from the income. Askthem to think of ways to reduce theirspending. If their income is more thantheir expenses, talk about a savings plan.

Social StudiesActivitiesExpanding HorizonsHelp your childlearn about people from different coun-tries. Suggest talking to neighbors fromfore:an countries, reading library booksabout other cultmes, reading newspapers,and watching TV specials.

Let Your Voice Be HeardPromote goodcitizenship. Help your child write a letterto the editor of the local newspaper aboutan issue affecting children. For example,suggest that a bike path be built near theschool or that a city event be planned foryoungsters. Children are citizens and theirideas are worth hearing.

Health ActivityStretch, Run, BikeAsk your child to doat least one kind of exercise every day. Forexarnple, run or walk briskly for 10 min-

Walk, when possible, instead ofding, for any distance less than a mile.

Have your youngster make a week-longpxer,cise plan. Try to think of a modestrewhrd for sticking to the plan and exerciseright along with your child.

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"Parents and familiesare the first and mostimportant teachers. Iffamilies teach a love oflearning, it can make allthe difference in theworld to our children."

Richard W. RileyU.S. Secretary of Education

Educational iesearch has madeit clear that parents who areactively involved in their children's

learning at home help their children becomemore successful learners in and out ofschool. During the early adolescent years,adult guidance is especially important.

Here are some reading, writing, math, socialstudies and health Home Learning Recipeactivities. These have been developed bythe Home and School Institute. Parents ofsixth to eighth graders find them to be easyand enjoyable ways to work with theschoolusing materials they have at hometo build their children's skills. Theseactivities will also help preteens and parentstalk together about matters both care about,which improve family communication atthis crucial time.

is

Rememberkeep the talk flowing.stuff high test scores are made of andthe basis for parent/ child closeness.

Think of these as starter activities to getyour ideas going. Th e opportunitieseverywhere for tea learning.

Take a little time to d!

For more inform publicationsto help your chil call:

1-800-USA-LEARNU.S. Department of Education

These home learning "recipes" have been tesand developed by Dr. Dorothy Rich, authorMegaSkills®, for the National EducationAssociation. Reprinted with permission of theNational Education Association and The Homeand School Institute, 1994.

Reproduc-a;z1 of this brochure is permitted.

ED/0US94-29

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ParChiles 9-

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to learn how to get along at work and tog. manage households.

These are problem-solving activitiesdesigned by the Home and School Insti-tute. They are designed to help parentsbuild their teenagers' problem-solvingskills. To learn these skills, st, -lents needpracticepractice they can get at home.

The Problem-SolvingHabitTeenagers can get used to sizing up aproblem and coming up with common-sense ways to solve it. Here's a six-stepmethod that works and can be done easilyat home by parent and child.

STEP 1: WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

This is a first, often overlooked, step inproblem solving. You have to be able tostate the problem and, if there's a conflict,the opposing views. For example: For ateen, it might be whether to go to a certainparty; for a parent, whether to ask La- araise.

STEP 2: WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUTIT?

This is when you come up with a varietyof solutions. Brainstorm as many solu-tions as possible without judging whichones are better than others. Just keep theideas coming.

STEP 3: WHAT ARE THE GOOD ANDBAD POINTS OF THESE SOLUTIONS?

This is when you judge the diffe t

solutions. What are the pros and cons ofeich one? You're making judgments,assessing the possible solutions in light ofyour experience and the way the world

'orks. And in this process you may wellcome up with a new and better solutionthan any you originally thought of.

STEP 4: MAKING THE DECISION

This is the moment you choose a solutionto try. Pick one or perhaps two based onthe decisions made in Step 3. Talk aboutwhy you selected these solutions.

STEP 5: PUTTING THE DECISIONINTO ACTION

Now you put your decision to the test. Inadvance, talk about what will happen andwhat might be expected. What obstaclescan you anticipate? What helps can you

". expect? How can traps be avoided bybuilding on the helps?

STEP 6: HOW DID IT GO?

This is the followup, the evaluation ofyour solution. How did it work? Whatchanges must be made in it so that it willwort: better? What would you try nexttime? It's possible that a decision thatsounded good will not work as well in reallife. Overall, thete is a greater chance forsuccess when decisions and solutions areselected in this way.

After going through the process with oneprob:2m, ask your teenager to try another.Review the six steps so that everyone willbe able to keep on using them afterward.The goal is to help teens get into the habitof this kind of problem solving.

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The Prob lern "Bank"in case you don't have enough prob-

'ems of your own to solve, here are a fewyou can use to practice the problem-solving method:

Who gets to use the car?Why is it bad to smoke?When does the garbage get taken out?What happens when I go for a fewdays with little sleep?How much TV are we going to watch?How much money do I need this week?Can I buy that new pair of jeans?Whose turn is it to go grocery shopping?Who has to babysit the younger kids?When is a good time to visit grandma?What happens when I take a testwithout studying for it?Why can't I go to that after-school party?

Feeings AreIrnportant:Getting Control ofOi EmotionsHere's a KNOW YOURSELF activity:Think together, for example, about what.,,,akes people angry. Everyone gets angry

t0.4 different reasons. Some people get'''Oririgry when others take something from

i 'them. others get angry when people don't

Ask yourselves: What do we do when weset angry? Some people try to cool offbefore they speak. Others start fights.SZinie people scream. Some people don'tsay anything. What do you do?

"Parents and familiesare the first and mostimportant teachers. Iffamilies teach a love oflearning, it can make allthe difference in theworld to our children."

Richard W. RileyU.S. Secretary of Education

Sometimes it's easy to forvt aboutthe important role that familiesplay in children's education

especially as children become teenagers.Parent involvement in student schoolingusually declines dramatically as childrenreach the teen years. Adolescerts arebafflingbecause they are simultaneouslygrownup and not grownup.

What continues to be clear is that adoles-cents need adult guidance. Teens need toknow that their parents care about them.The activities that follow help parents andteens talk together to solve problems theyboth care about.

The future is never a "sure thing." What issure is that there will always be problems,and students need the ability to tackle_them. Teenagers need to learn how tomake adult decisionsto decide abouttdareers, to make personal value judgments,

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Caring about others is another areacan often use help with. Talk togetheabout the problems of being a parent, tproblems of being a student. Think aboa time when you disagreed with eachother. Exchange plac e parent is theyoungster, the youAfterward, talk astand each other bet

Cornmon nNot Go Common

arent.under-

The basic]. ommonexperiencinto the stoused when e me is rig ommonsense is not a sense we are born with.These a vities help give teenagerspractice in problem-solving experiencethat are the basis of common sense

Think of these as starter ayour ideas going. Th nitieseverywhere for t ning.

Take a little tim d lot of good.

For more information on other publicatioto help your children learn call:

1-800-USA-LEARNU.S. Department of Education

These home learning "recipes" have been testedand developed by Dr. Dorothy Rich, author ofMega Skills®, for the National EducationAssociation. Reprinted with permission of theNational Education Association and The Homeand School Institute, 1994.

Reproduction of this brochure is permitted.

ED/0US0430

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