Andrew Brodie is a popular and trusted name amongst teachers and parents. He has been producing best-selling educational books since 1992, is still very much involved in education and has a wealth of experience as a head teacher and in coaching children to pass the national tests.
Parents frequently ask me how they can help their child during the long summer holidays. Here are my ten top tips.
- Enjoy the great outdoors. Talk about what you see: trees, flowers, birds – if you’re not sure what they are look them up together in books or using the internet. Give points for different species: 10 points for a blackbird, 20 points for a swan, a thousand points for a golden eagle! Who can gain most points in a day?
- Plan your days out together. This gives another opportunity for researching information. Where would you like to go? What would you like to do? The National Trust for example has plenty of wide, open spaces to explore, houses packed with history and, quite often, exciting play areas.
- Work out costs. What price is entrance to a park for adults and for children? What is the total cost for your family? How much will be left over out of your budget of £20, £50 or £100?
- Go to places that cost nothing! Beaches, woods, hills are nearly all free!
- Plan your journeys using public transport. Where can you catch a train or bus? Where will the train or bus take you? How far will you have to walk? What will be the total cost of the journey?
- Plan your journeys by car. Look at maps, road atlases or the internet. Which route will you take? Which towns will you pass through or go near? Which counties will you travel through? How long should the journey take?
- Encourage your child to read for a short while every day. This should NEVER be a chore! Enjoy reading stories together or finding out new facts from non-fiction materials.
- Suggest that your child writes something every day. Again, try to avoid this being a chore by only expecting a very small amount: for example, suggest one sentence to summarise the day or one sentence to describe the best bit! Without pressure, your child may decide to write more.
- Prepare meals together, taking the opportunity to measure out ingredients using grams for weights and millilitres for liquids.
- Keep up the multiplication tables practice but keep the activity short. Your child may enjoy the challenge of reciting a particular table in less than one minute, or thirty seconds, or even faster.
Of course, you will have lots of other ideas for activities that
suit your own family life. Above all, make sure that you all enjoy the summer.
Check out the Andrew Brodie book series here
More information on Andrew Brodie’s Apps can be found here
For even more summer holiday ideas see our Pinterest Board