Summer is about having fun and relaxing, right? The six-week holiday is when kids can let off steam, put their feet up and put the books down, but how can we best support their return to school for the term?

School work during the summer holidays is vital for keeping your children’s brains working academically, and there are more ways to do this than you may think!

Finding a good balance is still important, as children deserve to have their summer fun, but it’s just as essential to support their return to the classroom.

AE Publications’ range of workbooks, textbooks and subject ranges encourages at-home education and maintains and builds skills. Explore our online shop and order books and bundles to support your key stage two child reach their full potential.

Introducing School Work During the Summer Holidays

Whether your kids have been given a project to focus on this summer or not, keeping them active so that they don’t lose their skills is vital. It’s important to maintain a healthy balance so that when they go back to school, they don’t feel unprepared and like they’ve forgotten everything they’ve learned.

Here are some ideas for keeping their brains active, their habits healthy and encouraging their learning.

Learning in Disguise: Using everyday methods for teaching and getting your children to solve problems is one of the easiest ways to get their brains thinking.

Visiting a shop to buy some snacks? Encourage your children to use their maths skills to count the money to pay, or work on percentages with them if there’s a sale on! Having them read restaurant menus aloud, or spell out the names of the people or places you’re visiting, is a great trick for learning in disguise.

Reading Challenges: Set reading goals for your kids and join them for a book club throughout the summer holidays!

Take them to libraries, book fairs or create reading charts to keep them actively reading during this time off school. Have them talk about what they’ve read and what they liked about the book or characters. Engaging in discussion around topics like reading is beneficial for their learning and social engagement.

Travel Books: if you’re travelling this summer, then you may be spending a lot of time in the car or on public transport.

Rather than resorting to screens and devices, why not invest in some educational books, some puzzles, or reading to make better use of this time and keep children ‘switched on’. Time will fly by when they spend the journey using their brains or engaging in activities.

Setting Healthy Boundaries

Restricting Screen Time– something all parents would gladly introduce! Limiting use of iPads, PlayStations, phones and TV during certain times of the day or week will help find a healthy balance for children and encourage them to find new focuses, get creative or pick up a book instead of a screen.

Indoor & Outdoor activities- Who said homework had to be done indoors? Spending time in the sunny garden doing some maths problems, reading books, or being creative allows children to experience work in a different kind of environment. If they feel restricted to a dining room table or a bedroom desk, they can be uninspired, but academic activities or creative puzzles can be made more fun when moving to the outdoors.

AE Publications’ Summer Holiday Activity Books

AE Publications’ academic books for children have been supporting key stage two children and their parents to build skills and confidence at home, outside of the classroom, so that they can achieve their best. Our books cover a wide range of topics, styles of learning and questions that make children focus and improve.

Join other parents and tutors who have found AE books to be engaging and easier to support learning from home!