Your child doesn’t need to be bored and you don’t need to be stressed this summer.

The Summer I Was Bored Out Of My Tree

I remember when I was young, the beginning of the summer holidays was so exciting. I had so many ideas about what I was going to do and because I was “free”! So the first few weeks went well, but afterwards I ran out of things to do. I was tired of reading the encyclopedias and I ran out of things to do that were original. I was tired of catching tadpoles and making mud pies. I was living in Saskatchewan and I was bored out of my tree. I was frustrated and grumpy. When mom would suggest I do things, they weren’t very motivating. That’s because they weren’t creative. I could only go for bike rides and colour for so long. I was already missing school before the first month had ended. There was no library and I read Arty The Smarty so many times that I began to think he wasn’t so smart!

Let The Learning Begin

When I was grumbly, nobody was happy. My parents decided to make a big move into Alberta when I was about 9 years old. I was in a happier and more engaging environment and there were activities I could do at the recreation centre and in the city. My interests picked up and I was very interested in going to the library. Then my mom started to come up with some activities that kept me engaged. I was making friends and my life was more pleasant, because I had a hunger for reading and finally I had more options. Finally I was learning and happy. Plus, my parents weren’t as stressed knowing I was being challenged and happier.

English as a Second Language Parent

Mom had come up with a more upbeat and inspiring atmosphere for reading and spelling. She began reading novels which was great because her first language was Ukrainian and she really wanted to learn more English. She tried hard to learn and she wanted the same opportunities for us. So she tried her best to make sure we had a good education. She was at a loss as to how to help us with the basics of English.

Reading Comes First

When I grew up and had kids of my own, we went through the same scenarios of the kids being bored. However, I had a great imagination, the energy, time and resources to be creative and come up with ideas. Education was important and we always said that school came first. I learned a few tips along the way of how I engaged my children during the summer with reading and spelling.

My Story About How I Got My Kids On The Path To Reading

I had 4 kids, they were all at different levels and needed individualized attention. I had to work at each of their level in order to help them.

I started by reading to them. Each night before bed, I read to the two younger ones. My daughter who was older and too cool to join us, was usually found sitting on the floor around the corner listening. Eventually she joined us. I read poetry for children to them. They loved it. It was funny and was a good selection for all of them. Then they got older and they had different needs.

I bought series of books appropriate for each age group. My younger son in grade 4 was reading Harry Potter books which were way above his grade level. My other son liked the Louis L’Amour book series. My older daughter liked the Berenstain Bears Books in grade 1. She moved on to like science fiction and fantasy books in her teens. After that I don’t know what she was reading because they were in different languages. She loved the challenge of reading and today she is a book worm and an English nerd. If I get stuck on some vocabulary, punctuation or grammar, I just call her.

I couldn’t start the boys off with books that were over their heads. The same went for books too juvenile for them. Otherwise they lost interest and were bored again. The boys were concerned with being left behind in school, because they already needed a teacher’s aid in order to keep up. The kids made fun of them because they needed assistance in school. I soon learned the reason they weren’t paying attention in school was because they were bored! They weren’t being challenged in a classroom of one-size-fits-all reading. Everyone read the same chapter books and were expected to keep up with the pace of the others. The classrooms were too big for the teachers to be giving everyone individualized attention. So I enrolled the kids in summer reading and comprehension classes. The teachers there were able to find the basics that needed strengthening, and then they filled those gaps in phonics, grammar and their vocabulary.

They taught my kids with small, attainable goals. They also took their time to teach each concept before moving on to the next. So they set my children up for success.

They taught me about positive behavioural reinforcement. Thereafter, I gave them positive attention when they did things positive, rather than harping on them when I was upset with their behaviour.

I remember when my oldest daughter was in grade one and within 3 days the teacher could get her to do anything, and not begrudgingly. I had to know how the teacher did this. She taught me to create opportunities for frequent success so she was motivated to reach for the next success. With successes, her confidence expanded. I had to keep up with her reading so I ordered books that would come in the mail regularly.

My older daughter learned to read before she attended school. So half way through grade one, we took an extended trip to Mexico and stayed there for awhile. The teacher in Canada had my daughter keep a journal where she drew pictures and wrote stories about them. That worked very well and after a bit of time in Mexico, her journal morphed into a Spanish and English journal. The teacher didn’t know what to do about that! Lol. My daughter was so enthused about learning another language that she took Spanish in school and ended up in Spain on a summer exchange. She went on to university and became multi-lingual.

My second daughter was in a baccalaureate program in school from grade 1 to 12. She didn’t struggle with school because she was taught hands on in a visual and performing arts school. Today she is in her third year of university studying psychology. She is on the dean’s list. She also loves reading.

So that’s part of my story, all in a nutshell. I hope some of my story gives you some ideas and I would love to hear from you and get some feedback. I’d love for you to tell me some of the things you do to help your children from getting bored in the summer and encouraging them to read!

I have a distance learning reading summer camp beginning July 2021 to encourage children and adults to read and expand their knowledge of the English language. I also provide activities for your children to do over the summer between lessons, to keep them from being bored and give them ideas to follow their curiosities. If you are interested, I can be reached at info@eslwithamee.com. Have a great summer everyone! Check out my website at eslwithamee.com