Connections Academy Blog, Virtual Learning Connections

This summer, make sure your barbecue grill isn’t the only thing that gets fired up—plan now how you will ignite your children’s minds and keep them learning during the break!

The teaching staff of Connections Academy suggests four simple steps for planning educational activities, represented by the acronym FIRE. We hope these easy-to-remember tips kindle your imagination and spark your summer learning fun!

F is for Focus

Decide now on the focus of your summertime learning plans. Set some goals with your children—and on your own. Is there something your student needs to do to prepare for the challenges of the next school year? Are there particular skills you’d like your child to practice? If you start thinking now, you have time to plan activities that will focus on your objectives—and combine both learning and fun! Be sure to consider a reward system for recognizing your student’s efforts.

I is for Interested

Use your child’s personal interests as a motivation for learning. After all, for adults and children alike, it’s more fun to study something that sparks your interest! Think about the things your son or daughter enjoys: hobbies, collections, athletic or cultural activities, favorite books, computer technology … the options are unlimited! Anything that will get your child’s mind in motion—preferably without whining!—could serve as a central theme for a fun summer of active learning.

R is for Resourceful

Think outside the box—or the house! Find ways to incorporate learning that get you and your family ...

It’s time for summer! And that can mean fun activities, including reading.

In the next couple of months, children have more time to explore their interests, enhance their knowledge, and broaden their perspective by catching up on reading. If you need books or ideas to encourage young readers, visiting your local library can help you get started.

Besides offering a vast number of books, magazines, movies, and other resources to explore, libraries often give your child the chance to make a craft, listen to a story, join a book club, attend an event, and more.

But your child isn’t limited to reading library books at home and attending the occasional library event. Consider creating your own fun reading activities that utilize the library. These can empower children with more creative freedom and motivate them to plan reading activities that fit their interests.

Library Summer Reading Activities

Below are 18 ways your child can enrich summer reading at the library on his or her own or with your help.

1. Plan a picnic and peruse a cookbook or food magazine at the library for recipes.
2. Start a Picnic Book Club. Visit the library with friends to pick out some books to read and discuss during an outdoor picnic. Consider poetry or short stories if you want to read anything aloud.
3. Before you check out more books at the library, do some summer cleaning by collecting old books and DVDs and taking them along to donate.
4. Ask your librarian to recommend ...

Admit it, Mom (or Dad)! When warm weather and longer days arrive, it’s easy to let your mind drift away from education. While you may be tempted to “let kids be kids” this summer, this practice can result in significant learning loss. Most students forget two months of math skills, and many slip in their reading achievement as well. Fortunately, if you start planning now, you can prevent this learning loss by integrating learning into your child’s activities!

Here are some simple steps you can take now to get ready to BLAST OFF into a summer of learning and avoid the “summer slump”!

B is for Brainstorming. Ask your kids to put on their thinking caps and brainstorm about what they’d like to learn! Were there any subjects during the school year that captured their interest? Do they want to delve deeper into a topic related to their hobbies?

L is for Learning opportunities. Learning opportunities are everywhere! Can you work an educational side trip into your family vacation? Are there any historical sites, museums, nature preserves, factories, or other interesting places you can tour? Be sure to also look in your immediate area for any cool educational day trip ideas.

A is for Active! Don’t let your kids become summer couch potatoes! Start collecting exercise ideas and ways to combine fitness and learning, and your family will stay healthier for your efforts!

S is for Suggestions. While your virtual school is still in session, ask your ...

Vote for learning this summer and keep education alive to give kids an advantage when school starts! More than providing a leg up, summer learning activities prevent children from sliding backwards academically. You can develop a learning theme—like the upcoming presidential election—to help with planning and lend structure to activities.

Enjoy these Ten Election Education Activities to keep children connected to the “three R's Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic,” over the summer while setting them up to be the “smartest kid in class” come November.

1. Vote for…dinner! Introduce younger students to the voting process by conducting your very own in-house election. “Nominate” two dinner choices and explain that you will hold an election to determine the winner. Crafty kids can make campaign posters, a ballot box, and paper ballots. Math skills get a boost by counting and sorting ballots. Be sure to take time to explain and write new vocabulary words like nominate, election, ballot, and more.
2. Climb the branches of government. A great way to explore the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government is visually with the help of graphs that highlight roles and responsibilities. Work with students to research the branches and then make your own graph to showcase new knowledge. Use reference materials or other online resources to gather facts.
3. Explore a free 2012 Election Activity Pack. Do you think you know how a president gets elected? Pearson is offering a comprehensive and interactive online resource that is chock-full of games and other information about the ...

This summer, make a commitment to have your students read every day! Read with your child, read to your child, and have your child read to you. Whether it’s done first thing in the morning (the way some adults read the newspaper), midday (for a bit of quiet time), or at the end of the day (to wind down before bed), reading is a wonderful way to keep young minds active and engaged in summer learning.

Be sure to visit the library regularly and check out new books so your kids have plenty of fresh reading material to spark their interest. Make an effort to find out if your library has a Book Club for children to join or a Summer Passport experience where children earn prizes and activities for reading books at their grade level and on approved topics. If you find a reading-related program, sign up!

For your convenience, many libraries also offer e-books and audio books available for download to an e-reader, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer from the comfort of home.

And although it may be tempting to, don’t exclude high school kids from the reading requirement! Even if their schedules are filled with summer jobs and other activities, teenagers’ brains can still get sluggish without a daily mental “workout.” Why not suggest a family book club? Have the teens and adults in the family read the same book and set a date for getting together to talk about it over pizza. (Let the kids choose ...

If you’re a Learning Coach for an online student or a homeschooler, you may already be a wiz at mixing learning into your child’s daily activities—but even the savviest parent may run out of ideas over the long summer break!
In our post yesterday, we showcased some ways to avoid what educators call the infamous “summer slide.”

Listed below, you’ll find even more exciting tips for summer learning activities that will engage young minds. Remember to keep your projects lighthearted and varied! Try to choose activities that relate to your children’s interests, talents, and hobbies, and you’ll be well on your way to helping them maintain the academic progress you worked all year to gain. We hope these fun ideas will keep your kids’ synapses firing like Fourth of July fireworks:

1. Is learning about your state on next year’s schedule? Show your pride and enthusiasm for your state and learn together. Get your child’s attention and interest by exploring some of the key features of your home state in person. Or get started by asking some questions that require a bit of research, such as “What is our state motto? I wonder if any U.S. presidents were born here? Which lake [river, mountain, etc.] is the biggest in our state? Have any famous athletes grown up here?” Depending on your child’s age, you could include your state’s history, government, natural resources, and culture in your explorations.
2. Do your children like to help out in the kitchen? Let them take ...

After a busy year of school, study, and homework, kids are buzzing with excitement to have the summer months off for relaxation and play. If you’re a Learning Coach for an online student or a homeschooler, I’m sure you’re looking forward to the time off yourself! But did you know that if you ignore academics entirely over the summer, your child could lose up to two months of hard-earned learning?

According to the National Summer Learning Association, kids who don’t participate in learning activities over the summer are at a disadvantage compared to students who do. In particular, researchers noted that math computation and spelling skills can be lost.

You can help your child avoid academic loss by incorporating reading, math, and other school subjects into the activities you do over the summer. Keep the activities fun and varied, and consider your child’s interests, talents, and hobbies. With a bit of creativity on your part, your child may not even notice he or she is learning! Here are some ideas to get you started.

1. Do your children love movies? Select a movie to watch together that’s based on a children’s book, then encourage them to read the book. You might have fun talking about, drawing, and/or writing a sequel to the movie—which is a wonderful way for children to develop their comprehension and creativity skills.
2. Are you taking a family trip this summer? Have your child learn to read maps, research the places you will visit, and ...

As we wrap up the school year, the amazing team at our Pennsylvania cyber school Commonwealth Connections Academy has planned another fantastic field trip—and it’s open to the public! The school’s Mobile Classroom will be planted at the Galeton Public Library on Saturday, May 26, from noon to 2:00 p.m. for “TREES, TREES, TREES!” an exciting science and environmental program for kids.

Rangers from the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will be teaching us about the life cycle of trees, and the important role trees play in ecology and economy. Students will also receive a free sapling to plant at home! Families in Pennsylvania that wish to attend can register for the event online or check the cyber school’s Mobile Classroom schedule for upcoming events across the state of Pennsylvania.

If you live in another area of the country, why not host your own special tree party? Select a well-wooded area, maybe a state park, and invite a few other families to join you. (Be sure to pack bug spray and plenty of bottled water!) Plan a hike that’s not too difficult for the youngest members of your group, and equip kids with bags for collecting various types of leaves along the way. To avoid poison ivy, parents may want to supervise closely.

After your hike, head home for a picnic lunch, then use the leaves (and websites or library books) to help kids identify what kind of trees grow in your area. To ...

The summer is here, and as you think about the lazy days over the summer break, it's important to plan for activities to keep your student thinking and learning. Did you know that many students experience learning loss over the summer if they are not engaged in educational activities? And teachers typically spend between four and six weeks re-teaching material that students have forgotten over the summer.

Instead of looking at summer as “time off” from learning, approach summer as a time for fun hands-on, experiential activities and projects that may not be possible during the school year.

One way to ensure a fun summer filled with rich learning activities is to work as a family to create a list of summer projects. Post the list in a common area in your home. At the end of each week, go through the list with your family, discuss and check off activities that were completed, and add any new activities that came up.

Here are a few ideas to get you started.

• Art contests with neighborhood friends: Use chalk, clay, crayon, paint, etc.


• Community service activities: Help a neighbor mow the lawn, wash the car, clean the garage, cook dinner...


• Camping trip: The camping experience can take place in the backyard. Have your child help plan an agenda and a list of things needed.


• Household improvement projects: Have your child look around the house to find projects that he or she would like to work on, and/or offer projects that ...

Whether a student is enrolled in a virtual or brick-and-mortar school, he or she will have to develop scheduling skills that help with prioritizing schoolwork. With so many activities competing for a student's attention during the school year, summer is a perfect time to plan a fun project that will help your student hone his or her organizing skills. Students, especially those in middle and high school, are eager to gain independence and demonstrate their reliability. There's no better way to do this than by giving them a project to manage on their own. Ideally, your student's project should be a multi-day process that he or she can complete alone or with minimal assistance. As with any developmental exercise, giving your student as many choices as possible is vital to his or her success. Self-motivated students will always be more inclined to learn from and engage with an activity if they have a stake in what they are doing!

• Identify a Goal
  No project should be started without knowing where it should end. Make sure your student's goal is challenging but achievable, and be willing to step in if he or she needs help. Consider attaching a reward to success!


• Make a Schedule
  Your student should identify the steps needed to complete the project. By writing out detailed directions, he or she will be more likely to achieve the goal. Next, your student should estimate the order, amount of time, and deadline for each step that is to ...