Each week we scour the internet to find skimmable articles for moms. Enjoy this week’s Smart Reads and post a comment if something moves you!
🎗 Awareness 🏡 Home 🗂 Productivity 🥗 Wellness 🧗 Growth 👨👩👧👧 Family
🗂 Help your kids buy into their own success to get the most out of their summer
“Feel free to give them suggestions or some ideas, but push them to want to be productive or to get the most out of their summer and not have it pass by without doing the things that they wanted to do.”
Read Summer Learning Loss: How to Prevent the Summer Slide by Bonnie Terry, M.Ed., BCET
🥗 Work vs. Play: The summer dilemma
“There are many ways you can help prevent ‘summer brain drain.’ Here are some thoughts on how to put together a summer learning schedule that looks and feels very different from going to school.”
Read Should my child work on school skills over the summer or take a break? by Mark J. Griffin, PhD
🧗🏽♀️ The art of executive function
“According to the urban dictionary, “mommy brain” is “the phenomenon known to mothers where their brains become useless piles of goo after being around their children for too long.” In my world, the useless pile of goo is what remains of my once perfect ability to plan and prioritize, manage my time, sustain attention, and regulate my emotions. In short, my children have devoured my Executive Functions!”
Read Mommy Brain: From Good Executive Functioning To Goo by Melissa Doody
🏡 Make learning fun this summer!
“Whether you’re trying to avoid the dreaded “summer slide” or are just looking for a kid-sized mental tune-up, you need ideas to keep those little scholars’ brains active. These learning activities for kids are so entertaining, they may not even realize how educational they are.”
Read 20 Fun Learning Activities for Kids to Enjoy at Home by Marisa LaScala
🎗 The summer slide is steeper for some
“But even over summer break, students still need educational opportunities so they can return to school strong and ready to learn more. Unfortunately, not all students have the same academic opportunities available to them during the summer.”
Read How to Prevent the Summer Slide and Help Reduce Educational Inequality by waterford.org
👨👩👧👦 Use the summer to brush up on executive function skills
“Working on executive functioning doesn’t need to involve boring projects, long checklists, or tedious tasks that make the kids run. These executive functioning activities can help to improve the skills that translate to better planning, prioritization, and staying on task during day-to-day functional tasks and when back in the classroom.”
Read Improve Executive Functioning Skills this Summer by Colleen Beck
Independence: Every Mom’s Conundrum