Summertime Skills
Now that summer is in full swing and school schedules are in the past, you’ve likely noticed a lack of routine and consistency throughout you or your child's day. As great as summer is, the lack of routine can sometimes create anxiety or a set back in skills worked on throughout the rest of the year. To support a smooth transition back to school and continuous growth in skills, consider building these activities into your summer routine.
Schedule & Planning
To continue growing skills, aim to implement activities that require planning and time management. One way this can be practiced is by using a calendar or planner as a visual. Have a prepared list of appointments, tasks, responsibilities, or plans for the week and ask your child to add these to the calendar. Start with pre-scheduled items such as appointments and provide guidance to schedule the other items. This is good practice for planning ahead, time management, and awareness of how long activities can take.
Cooking Skills
Whether your child has basic cooking skills or are advanced, this can be a fun way to practice planning, budgeting, and following instructions. At the beginning of the week, have your child pick a breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipe and make a list of ingredients needed. Assign days that they will cook ahead of time so that they can be prepared. If your child has more advanced cooking skills, they may tackle more meals throughout the week. Encourage your child to incorporate different aspects of the Canadian Food Guide with each meal. For example a fruit/vegetable, protein, dairy, and carbohydrate. This is something that can be added onto the family's calendar or weekly planner.
Social Skills
Opportunities to practice or build social skills often decrease over the summer. To help your child maintain skills and feel more prepared for school in September consider registering for a social club or summer program where they have an opportunity to interact with peers. Aspire Services offers several programs with this in mind. Another option is to practice with your child at home through role playing or scenario based discussions.
Daily Routine
Without school, a lack of structure throughout the day can create anxiety and regression of skills. Work together to agree on a routine that incorporates daily tasks such as brushing teeth, shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, load dishwasher, walk dog, etc. For gaps of time in the schedule, create a visual (i.e list, picture cards) of preferred options for spare time. Keeping a daily routine can help with making the transition back to school smoother.
Incorporating these skills over the summer can help build routine, flexibility, independence, and set your child up for a smoother transition back to school. These skills can be practiced in a fun way, such as planning for a beach day, a trip to wonderland, or a sleepover with friends. Aspire Services can support these goals through 1:1 coaching and group programs. Feel free to reach out to connect@aspireservices.ca for more information or inquiries about our services.