With enticing distractions like the beach, pool parties and barbecues, the last thing on your child’s mind is learning. But she needn’t suffer from academic regression over the summer. Instead, you can help her boost language skills in such simple yet engaging ways; she won’t even know her brain is at work. “Over the summer it’s important to maintain the skills children have been learning and studying in school,” says Laurie Syvertsen, a sixth-grade reading/language arts and social studies elementary school teacher and Future Teacher’s Club advisor for the Commack Middle School in Commack, NY. “You can take what your child finds interesting, get her thinking about the topic more deeply and then explore it further. Building upon what fascinates children will motivate them.” 

Syvertsen suggests discussing and asking questions about everyday occurrences. “If ice cream drops on ground, talk about how it melts,” she says. “Real experiences that relate to children’s interests will help them make connections to what they’ve learned in school. Even kids who say they hate to read will spend hours poring through comic books, deciphering directions for assembling a new toy or researching online something that intrigues them.” 

In this second of part of our summer learning series, Syvertsen shares 15 ideas for banishing summer brain drain through language. 

Turn interests into projects. If your child adores ladybugs, for example, visit the library and read fiction (where the main character is a ladybug) and nonfiction books about the subject. Go home and create ladybugs (see “Just for Fun” from the June/July 2009 issue of Working Mother for ideas). Explore the backyard and see if you can find some. Discover which plants attract ladybugs and plant them in your garden. 

Hook up with a pen pal. Practice writing skills with a pen pal—a cousin, an overseas soldier. “Emailing is okay as long as children use proper letter-writing etiquette,” says Syvertsen. “Make sure your child is using a capital I in writing to reinforce proper language usage.”

Try blogging. Encourage communication skills and self-expression by having your child write in safe, child-friendly blogs. 

Exchange notes. Leave good-night or good-morning letters for each other when you’re working late or leaving early. You and your child can correspond throughout the day, and your notes might even chronicle the summer. 

Reinforce writing and handwriting abilities. Have your child write with icing on wax paper. Whenever he writes correctly, he can lick the icing off his finger. Try different textures such as finger writing in sand or with a stick in mud (skip the finger licking with these). 

Refine cursive-writing skills. Have your child practice in a pile of shaving cream. Syvertsen remembers feeling like a grownup when she learned to write in script. Now she says it’s a lost art, with maybe one in 150 of her sixth-grade students writing in cursive. 

Get descriptive. Play a 20-questions game using a digital camera. Your child can take a picture of something and describe specific details about the object he’s photographed until you guess what it is. Or play digital hide and seek. Your child can email a photo to you along with 20 specific clues. You have to guess where your child is. 

Let her be the expert. Capitalize on your child’s passions by having her create a quiz for you about something she enjoys. She’ll feel empowered by showing off her knowledge. 

Make a summer scrapbook. Use photos, illustrations and little souvenirs of places you’ve visited. He can collect business cards or a little bag of sand from the beach. Have him write captions to his best ability.

Learn with lists. Have your child write lists of books she loves or wants to read, activities she wants to do over the summer, places she dreams of visiting someday, gifts she wants for her birthday or even food from the grocery store. Review the spelling with her.

Play word games. While in the car or waiting on line, take turns naming animals, rhyming words or starting the next word with the last letter of the previous word. The final person to come up with a word wins. Encourage character development. To motivate your child, create your own characters to share with him. When Syvertsen was young, her mother, who was also an elementary school teacher, created “Jake the Junkman,” who would drop off a little gift if she went to bed on time. Develop the power of persuasion. If your child requests a new toy or privilege, allow her to influence the decision by convincing you. She should argue her case, explaining why she should get her way with suitable reasons and substantiation. She can create a persuasive brochure, make signs or write an advertisement stating why it’s a good idea.

abcteach.com Find thousands of free printable worksheets and activities.

primarygames.com This site was originally created by a teacher for her own students.

school.familyeducation.com/reading/family-learning/38301.html the National PTA offers10 fifteen-minute reading activities.

readingrockets.org/article/392 The U.S. Department of Education lists 25 activities for reading and writing fun.