All of the work your children put in during the school year can be lost over the summer holidays. Reading, math, other information, and skills must be used to be retained. It is easier for children to get back in the groove of learning when autumn rolls around, if during the summer break they are given a chance to exercise what they have learned. Your children will be more motivated to exercise their skills if the practice sessions are fun. With that in mind, here are some ideas of activities to include in your child's summer plans to help sustain their reading and math skills.

Visit a state or local park which offers programs for children. Parks are wonderful places to learn about nature or history. Many parks offer docent-led tours and have special events or activities for children. There are signposts explaining park details which children can read aloud. In addition to these learning opportunities, parks offer great ways to exercise and enjoy the outdoors.

Iron Chef HOUSE. Cooking is an important life skill since eating is essential to continued survival. Have your child cook a meal for the family once a week. Skills your child will practice include reading, following instructions, understanding fractions, and learning about good nutrition.

Trip Planner. Are you planning to take a trip this summer? No matter how far you plan to travel, your child can benefit by helping you plan the trip. Get maps or connect to the internet. Have your child calculate how far you have to travel, what route you will take, how much it will cost, and where you might stop along the way. If the first trip agenda turns out to be too expensive, figure out where costs could be trimmed (stay closer to home, spend less time at your destination, include fewer side trips, eat at less expensive restaurants, get sandwich fixings at the grocery store for lunches, and so on). Have your child do as much of the planning as possible. Factoring how long it takes to drive to Yellowstone or budgeting for five days of meals for your trip are very real uses for math skills.

Summer Reading Program at the library. Local libraries usually run Summer Reading Programs. Help your child participate by visiting the library weekly and signing up for the program. These programs usually encourage children to read a wide selection of books. Once your child has read a certain number of books they are recognized for their achievements.

Summer Journal. Buy your child a blank journal or notebook and encourage them to keep a daily journal of happenings. It does not matter if there are no big events planned for the summer. The weather conditions, names of plants as they flower in the garden, thoughts your child may have, their daily activities, the activities of their little brother or sister, and anything else that is of interest to them can be jotted down in their journal. Recording their day gives them a chance to recall enjoyable happenings and is a great source for the "What did you do this summer?" essay they will write in September.

Independent Reading. Encourage any reading your child does of their own accord. If your son wants read about baseball, let him. A book or article he finds personally interesting will not only reinforce valuable reading skills, but will also spark his curiosity about the meanings of new words.

The summer break from school can be fun and an opportunity to reinforce key skills. Try including at least one of these suggestions to help your child practice knowledge they have acquired while in school. It will make returning to school a little easier.

Celia Webb, President of Pilinut Press, Inc., publishers of advanced readers for children and ESL students. Check out http://www.pilinutpress.com for more free articles on developing reading-related skills, word games and puzzles, and activity sheets for the company's entertaining and educational books.