Event Spotlight – Local Summer Activities

July 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

With the kids home all day for the summer break, parents often ask us at Academic Learning Labs for local events they can have their children participate in. The Orange County Public Library in Rancho Santa Margarita and the City of RSM offers a wide range of activities for children of all ages. Below is a list of some of the great summer activities they offer.




Craft Days

Mondays 2-4 pm open to children of all ages

Wacky Wednesday Craft Day 3 pm, 2nd-6th grade

Reading Programs

Summer Reading Program for Teens, Daily

Spanish Storytime, Tuesdays 1-1:30 pm for ages 3-5

Summer Storytime, Tuesdays 10:30 am for children of all ages

Lunch Bunch, Thursdays 12-1pm for 3rd-6th grade

Miscellaneous Programs

Writing and Publishing Your Book, Wednesday Jul 11, 11am-1pm, July 12, 2-4 pm, July 13, 1-3 pm

Jamie Ludovise Comic Camp, Wednesday July 25, 11 am-1 pm for children ages 12-18

Boys and Girls Club Summer Program, July 2nd – August 31st

Summer Concerts, Sundays July 15th – August 12th from 6-8 pm in Central Park

With so many activities one is sure to spark your child’s interest. We would love to hear about your child’s participation in one of these activities or other local activities they have enjoyed. For more information on these activities please visit the sites below with additional details.

Filed Under: Friendships, reading, Summer, Uncategorized

5 Tips to Encourage Summer Reading

July 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Summer is reminiscent of beach days, sprinklers, and lazy days, but it’s also a great opportunity to read a book. At Academic Learning Labs, parents often ask us how they can encourage their children to stay active mentally during the summer months. No one is a fan of required summer reading, but there are many fun ways to encourage summer reading.

Below are five tips on how parents can encourage summer reading.

1. Make sure your kids have plenty of books. Give your kids an opportunity to get new books by taking them to the library or the bookstore and letting them pick out new books that interest them. You can go to the library weekly to find new books or organize a book swap in your neighborhood. Find new ways to keep a fresh supply of books around your kids.

2. Always take books whenever you go somewhere, for you and your kids. Make sure your kids see you reading books and give them opportunities to read wherever you go. Whether you are at the beach, waiting in the doctors office, or waiting for a dance class to begin, use this downtime to these get in even a couple of minutes of reading in. You can also read the same books your kids are reading and then you can discuss the book.

3. Encourage social reading. If your child comes home from a friend’s house wanting to read a book because they are reading it, this is a great opportunity to encourage them to read socially. This really reinforces the idea that reading is cool and allows your child the chance to talk about the book with others. You can encourage social reading by buying two copies of a book for your child and their friend, so that they can both read it. You can also start a book club or take your children to see a movie that is based on a book they have read. Find opportunities to make reading cool and a social experience.

4. Try not to get hung up on whether or not your child “could” be reading more advanced books. As much as you want reading to be educational for your child, it is important to understand that reading provides a solace for your child. You can always suggest a book that is more advanced, but don’t push too hard. If your child finds reading enjoyable they will want to continue reading, which will allow them to push themselves. The most important thing is just to give them time to spend reading.

5. Try to keep some time available for reading. This is often the hardest tip to follow. Summers get busy and schedules start to fill up quickly. Finding some quiet time to relax and read is a great way to unwind and find respite from the busy days. We suggest you schedule some reading time each day for your child and make this a part of their summer adventure.

We hope that these tips have been helpful. We would love to hear other things you have done to encourage summer reading with your children.

Filed Under: learning, Lifelong Learning, Parent Involvement, reading, Summer, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Fun Ways to Keep your Child Learning this Summer

May 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Can you believe summer is just around the corner? Every year about this time, parents often come to us wanting to find fun ways to keep their children entertained during the summer, and to find out what they can do to help make summer an educational time. Summer vacation can be a fun time, but it can also be a time for learning. With so much free time, it can be tempting for children to spend countless hours watching television or playing video games. With a little creativity and planning, you can easily transform this coming summer into an opportunity to explore new hobbies, learn about responsibility and build upon skills already learned during

Keep the Learning Going

It is estimated that students lose an estimated one to two months of reading and math skills during summer months, and do not score as high on standardized tests as students who continue learning during the summer. Summer is a great time for children to discover that learning is fun and can really happen anywhere, especially in their own backyard.

Create a Family Scrapbook

Family vacations, or other adventures are great opportunities to create a scrapbook that can be a lasting souvenir. Collect menus from restaurants, tickets from places visited, and other such items. Encourage your child to write descriptions about the places you visit and tell a story about the adventure. This is a creative way to get children to polish their writing skills.

Teach Responsibility

You can teach your child how to be responsible by having the help set the table, care for a pet, clean out a closet, or paint a fence. You can also have your child participate in community service to help your child learn to be punctual, follow directions, and learn to serve others.

Let Your Child Plan an Adventure

Let your child help you in the planning of an upcoming trip. Whether it is a day trip to the zoo or a family vacation, you can let them help you research where to go, what to eat, and other such things. They can also help estimate the distance between the zoo and where you will eat lunch after, or if you are driving, let them help you figure out how many gallons of gas it would take to get there and estimate the cost. If you are flying somewhere, have them help you check travel schedules and costs. If you are traveling to a different state or city, you can look up information about the area such as the state flower, state bird and other interesting attractions. You can then have your child write to the state bureau to ask for additional information before traveling.

Turn a Museum Trip into a Treasure Hunt

Often kids aren’t as excited about attending a museum but you can get them excited about it by having them explore the museum’s website and taking a virtual tour. When you get to the museum, plan for their short attention span, and make it less intimidating by starting at the gift shop and letting them pick out postcards of a painting or object on display. You can then turn your trip into a treasure hunt by trying to find the painting or objects that were in the postcards. You can also look for interactive exhibits and for periods of history that your child has already studied in school.

We hope these tips have been helpful to planning your child’s upcoming summer vacation and keeping it educational. We would love to hear about creative ways you have come up with to keep your child’s summer fun and educational.

Filed Under: learning, Lifelong Learning, Summer Tagged With: , , , , , ,