Amy Curletto reiterates the importance of social skills development in the summer. In her blog, 7 Strategies To Help Students Develop Social Skills Over Summer Break, she says,
"Practice, Practice, Practice! Real Life Application: The best way to develop your child’s
social skills is just like every other skill. Practice! You’ll need to make sure they have kids
to play with to practice those skills. If you live in a neighborhood with a lot of kids, you
are lucky! Neighborhood kids are a great place to start, but if you don’t have a lot of
options around you head for the park, the pool, invite friends from school over or take
them with you on some family activities. Siblings, while they tend to fight the very most,
are another excellent source of social skill building."
Whether you stay close to home or decide to take a trip, here are some ideas from Move This World for practicing social emotional learning while on vacation:
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Go on a mindful walk. Ask your child to take account of what they sense as you walk around your town. Taking the time to determine what you see, smell, feel and hear will help ground you in the moment. Have students focus on using one of their senses at a time in order to help them narrow their focus.
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Garden. Plant some flowers, vegetables, fruit or herbs and have them take ownership for taking care of it. Teach them to care for the plant and let them take the reigns. This will help them build a sense of motivation and confidence as they solve the problems that may come along with gardening.