After the non-stop stimulation of summer camp, the days at home may seem slow to your child. Yet the rigorous academics of the school year loom ahead. Here’s how to make the transition from camp to home to school.

by Christina DiMartino

Your children may return home from summer camp charged up from the experience. They may have a difficult time winding down and switching their mindset to the start of school approaching.

As a parent, you can use the time between the end of camp and the start of school to help your children unwind and be better prepared to spend their days in a classroom.

Susan Stainsby, a site manager for Microsoft Office Online, went to Catlyn Caldart, one of her children’s teachers, to ask what the most important things are that parents should focus on to get kids to start the school year off right.

“When I asked Catlyn what the most important things are that a parent can do to prepare their child for a successful school year, she eagerly responded,” says Stainsby. “After all, this makes her job easier.”

Catlyn, who teaches in the Lake Washington district near Seattle, shared these tips:

• Read. Reading is one of the best ways to keep a child’s mind sharp when he is not in school. Spend an afternoon at your local library or bookstore.

• Make sure kids get enough sleep. The National Sleep Foundation states that kids need their rest to perform well at school. Follow their practical tips for setting your kids’ back-to-school sleep clocks at least two weeks before the school year begins.

• Don’t wear them out. Kids who go to summer camp, who are tutored, or who have piano, sports or other lessons sometime don’t get the break that comes with summer. Give them downtime. Let them play. Let them sit around and say, “I'm bored,” every once in a while.

• Practice handwriting and spelling. Kids who don’t write during the summer often have to relearn when school starts. Ask your child to write two sentences each day. Correct the spelling and ask for neat handwriting.

Wind down from camp with camp

Day camps help to keep kids physically and mentally active, and some can help them wind down from a sleepover camp experience and gear up for school. Many have programs that extend right up until the start of school.

For instance, Park Camps in Brooklandville, Maryland, offers Project Boost, a series of one-week camps that extend into mid-August. The program prepares students for transition into the upcoming school year by incorporating skills training to help them develop confidence and a love for learning. Kids finish the week with improved skills and a plan for success for the upcoming school year.

Check with your own local resources such as your city’s recreation department, area YMCAs, and nearby day camps to learn what’s available in your area.

Explore art galleries, zoos, and museums

Museums, art galleries, and zoos give parents an opportunity to reconnect with their kids following summer camp. These multi-faceted institutions also give kids an opportunity to practice their “inside voices,” and to engage in activities that are interesting and educational. Here are some examples:

• The Art Gallery of Hamilton in Hamilton, Ontario, offers a Summer Wind Down Family Workshop, which extends through early September. Here parents and their kids learn art activities together.

• The Toronto Zoo offers Serengeti Bush Camp, where parents and their kids can explore the “African Savanna,” meet the animals who inhabit it, and camp under the Serengeti stars. The experience is a great way for parents and their kids to enjoy an educational experience together. The program runs through early September.

• Spend a day with your child at a museum, and don’t be afraid to try one that you wouldn’t typically consider. For instance, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City has put together an amazing array of resources to make visiting the museum with your kids a pleasant and rewarding experience, including activities, audio tours, and a family program schedule.  

Share valuable time

The days between your child’s return home from camp and the start of school will go quickly, especially given the list of things you probably have to do to get your child ready for school. But these days can also present a great opportunity when parenting children for you and your kids to share great times together:

• Go to a matinee movie.
• Have a lunch date.
• Go roller skating or bowling.
• Spend a couple of hours in the park playing your child’s favorite board game.
• Take a walk after dinner.
• Have your child help you make her favorite recipe.

In her article “Classroom Countdown: 10 Things to Do Before School Starts” for MSN Lifestyle, mom Michele Bianchi offers up her list of things that parents should consider doing in preparation for their kids to start school. Her last tip drives home the point to relish the last days of summer:

“Enough with the planning! Enjoy the last days of summer with your child:  the flexible schedule, impromptu barbeques and days filled with, ‘I don't know what to do.’ Maybe you can even squeeze in a Labor Day getaway. By living in the moment now, you can teach your child how to enjoy all the moments that make up those first days of school—one of the many lessons your kids, most likely, will only learn from you.”

 

Christina DiMartino has been a freelance and assignment writer since 1985. She is a researcher, interviewer, writer, editor, and manuscript collaborator with a repertoire of clients from around the world.

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