Are you counting the days until the holidays?

I suspect your children are – and if I’m honest we are beginning the countdown too. Holidays are great. time to recharge, to spend time together and to do all the things that we are too busy for during the rest of the year.

We are all taking a break during the early part of the holidays but we’ll be back at our desks, raring to go, toward the end of August as many of our students get ready for the Kent Test, in their first week back at school. Some parents like to keep sessions ticking over, some like intensive sessions and some like to give their children a summer free of study. Whatever your choice, there are things that you can do to stop your child developing ‘holiday brain’, and here are a few ideas:

1. Lego – this really helps with 3D awareness, which is a crucial skill for the new spatial component of the test
2. In the same vein, Minecraft -yes really. Let your child teach you how to play. Studies show that teaching a skill reinforces your own learning. Let your child be teacher.
3. Hit the button – a great little website for x tables and number bonds, where the children compete against the clock to reach their PB.
4. I spy books. My kids loved these and they come in a range of titles for different locations. They make children observe their environment closely, and observation is key to the non-verbal test.
5. Reading. Please, please read with your child throughout the holidays. Even if they are fantastic readers a chapter from good family book is a fab way to end the day and it allows an opportunity for the children to access language that stretches their understanding – great for the verbal reasoning test.
6. Plan stories. Even if your child never writes them talking about stories really helps develop their planning ability. there will be a short writing task -much shorter than they are used to in class and making up stories together helps them develop an ability to generate ideas.
7. Take photos when you go out for the day. Ask your child how many things they can remember about a place or event, then compare with the photos. Good for stretching the memory and a lovely memento of your time together.
8. Board games help so many areas: time management, developing strategy and tactics, numeracy and concentration – and they are fun.
9. Get out doors, play, visit the beach. Have a great time.

We’ll be back with more ideas soon.