Middle School Education News

Summer Is a Time When Young Adolescents Learn, Explore New Interests

Prepared by National Middle School Association

While some young adolescents (10- to 15-year-olds) look forward to the summer months as a time to sleep in, it's also a great time to learn.

"Summer is a critical time to maintain skills and pursue areas of interest students don't have time for during the school year," said Sue Swaim, executive director, National Middle School Association. "What they don't need is more of the same. Kids want activities that are fun, exciting, and challenging. While reading is an important summer activity, there are other family-friendly opportunities parents can promote."

One of the best approaches is giving your young adolescent the chance to develop responsibility while learning new information about your community, according to Swaim. When family or friends plan to visit you during the summer, get your young adolescent into the planning of their stay right from the start.

Have your child determine what would interest your guests by writing to them before they leave. This will help teach research skills that are important in many educational and life-long activities.

Then ask your young adolescent to plan activities for the guests. Provide some direction for possible activities ranging from theatre to museums to parks to local historical sites to sporting events. Alert your young adolescent to resources in the community where he or she can discover more opportunities, such as the tourist and convention bureau, the weekend and calendar of events sections of newspapers, or the chamber of commerce.

Once your visitors decide what they would like to do, urge your young adolescent to plan a schedule including the sites people want to see, taking into account time constraints so that things are not over scheduled. Have your young adolescent figure out the best form of transportation to use for each destination.

Helping to plan such activities will not only teach organizational, research, and communication skills, it will make your child feel more valued and part of the family.

Summer can also be a great time to introduce young adolescents to community service.

"Ten- to fifteen-year-olds become bored when they lack opportunities to make meaningful contributions to their town and when they don't have time to socialize with friends and adults," explained Swaim. "So, get them involved in community service or neighborhood projects where they can work with others. Summer is an especially good time to build an interest in service as students aren't faced with the time constraints they may have during the school year."

When introducing community service, it may be wise to start on projects where the family can participate together or on a simple, structured project so that the idea of service is not overwhelming to your young adolescent. There are many public libraries, child care centers, zoos, or recreation centers where young adolescents can work under supervision. Your family can adopt another family that needs help. Such families frequently can be identified through religious organizations. Or, your family can adopt a street to keep litter free or paint an elderly person's house in the neighborhood.

Summer can be a rewarding time when families grow together and young adolescents learn new skills. Start thinking now about how you want your young adolescent to spend this summer.