You can feel the buzz in the community. Summer is here. Students are free to explore, venture, and savor that youthful season we all cherish. It’s the freedom to explore and those lazy summer days that we all miss.
While we love letting kids be kids over the summer, we don’t want too many long summer afternoons to turn into a learning slump. Especially considering all the incredible learning opportunities right in our backyard! Which leads us to ways you can keep your students learning throughout the entire break.
1) Discover History
San Diego is rich with a vibrant history. Even our own charming town shares a captivating past. Why not use the summer to share the chronicle of what made the San Diego region what it is today?
The museums in our area go above and beyond to bring history to life. Our diverse line-up extends far beyond local history, providing an in-depth look at many different topics. Balboa Park alone has over 15 museums covering everything from aviation to art and more.
Sitting in a Jet Flight Simulator, equipped with an authentic (and thankfully disarmed) F-18 ejection seat transports your student to another world. Walking the halls of an aircraft carrier, talking to veterans who lived through our wars paint an entirely new picture of history. Following the path of model trains, watching as small engines propel them around the track, activates the gears in the mind.
Take your student to a museum this summer to transport them throughout the ages.
Don’t forget that Balboa Park offers residents free days throughout the year.
2) Explore Entrepreneurship
Countless famous business men and women got their entrepreneurial start selling lemonade on warm summer days, cutting grass, or walking dogs long before graduating high school. This summer might be the chance to teach your student the ins and outs of running a business. From managing inventory to customer service to creating a product, all of the lessons in small summer side businesses provide tangible lessons for life.
3) Learn About New Places
Summer brings a favorite season for travel. Whether it’s to a new city, over the ocean, or a familiar destination to visit family, any travel presents a great opportunity for students to research or learn new tidbits about a new area.
If grandma has lived her whole life in Arizona, have her share some of the stories from when she was young. The Grand Canyon can be the best geology class your kid ever attended. Headed to New York? Browse some of the more than 12 million stories of immigrants coming to Ellis Island.
Every destination has hidden stories and learning opportunities.
4) Lights, Camera, Action!
Summer is a time to ramp up the creative juices! It’s a blank canvas of possibilities to cultivate the growing artist, aspiring novelist, or outgoing actress. With an entire summer ahead of them, think what your student could accomplish.
Leveraging tools like Blurb or Lulu, your student could have their own published book by the end of the summer. With a camera as simple as the iPhone, they could create and produce their own movie.
For the dedicated creative in your family there’s nothing better than the Coronado Summer Arts Intensive at CoSA. This three-week intensive program offers six different focuses from gaming art to film to dance and more. Your student will benefit from instruction by some of the best instructors in our region. You’ll be amazed at the professionalism of the final product after such a short period.
5) Go on a Safari
While Africa may be a little out of reach for a summer trip, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park is only a short drive away. For a destination so close to home, you will truly feel transported to another world as you ride in a caravan among rhinoceros, gazelles, and hippopotamus.
If you’re really craving adventure, explore the opportunities to the feed giraffes and meet the rhinoceros. Being up close and personal far surpasses any book experience out there.
The zoo provides knowledgeable staff to join you on your journey, sharing in-depth details about these magnificent creatures, their natural environments, and what different factors in the world are impacting their survival.
With all of these great opportunities in our region, it would be a shame not to enjoy all the learning options available! You keep those minds working over the summer. Come this fall, we will pick up right where we left off and continue opening doors for the inquisitive minds.
Have a great summer!
