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A new study shows that over the summer students can lose up to 60 percent of what they learned in the school year. This “brain drain” in elementary school hurts performance in later school years. To prevent a loss in your child’s learning skills this summer:

• Hone basic math skills. Let your child measure and weigh as you cook. Help her organize a lemonade stand. Help her figure out the cost of ingredients and calculate change.
• Explore the natural world of science. Have a family scavenger hunt for bugs, leaves, rocks, and flowers. Study the stars.
• Keep your child writing. Ask her to write your grocery list and thank-you notes. Give her questions that she can answer in a journal.
• Nurture curiosity. Let her disassemble and reassemble an old appliance (be sure to supervise). Fill glasses with different amounts of water and tap on them to create tunes.

Source: “Prevent Summer Brain Drain: Learn Ways to Retain School Knowledge During Summer Vacation,” July 16, 2007, ABC News, http://abcnews.go.com/print?id= 3379558; “The Learning Season: The Untapped Power of Summer to Advance Student Achievement,” Nellie Mae Education Foundation, www.nmefdn.org/uploads/Learning _Season_ES.pdf.

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During the school year, you probably structure your child’s routine around the time she spends in preschool. But summer’s coming. What will occupy the hours your child will not be in school?

Guard against filling the time gap with television and other screen-based activities. It is important to limit these activities in summer as well as during the school year because:

• Too much TV and computer time rob your child of a great summer gift-nice weather and long days she could spend in active play.
• Extra TV and screen time now creates a bad habit you may struggle to break in the fall. Keep your preschooler’s summer screen time in check with these tips:
• Allow no more than two hours of total screen time per day. Keep track of how much time your child spends in front of the TV or computer with a timer or a chart.
• Give your child a job when you are busy instead of sitting her in front of the TV. Have her sort socks, pick up toys or help you put lightweight groceries away.
• Create an “I’m Bored Box.” With your child, make a list of fun activities that she can do all by herself. Activities can include things such as coloring, sorting items, looking at a book, playing with puppets. Stock all of the items she’ll need for the tasks in the box. The next time your child is bored, pull out the box instead of turning on the television!

Source: The Parent Institute, May 2008, Vol 12, No.9.

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Many families today are caught up in a frenzy of activity and there’s little time left for quality family life. Taking a “silent break” is a way to make the most of the time you spend with your family. Silence makes time slow down and helps you feel less rushed. Silence is also good for kids who are often bombarded by noise- or “noise pollution”-makes children more stressed. It raises their blood pressure. Plus it lowers their ability to focus and learn language.

You can take a silent break at home, in the car, at bedtime or any time you or your child are “wound up.” Here’s how it works:

• Turn off the radio, television and telephone.
• Put your index finger to your mouth and blow out a long “Shhhhh” three times.
• Do this again until you notice that your muscles relax. Check your jaw and teeth for clenching. Release any stress in your shoulders, neck and cheeks. Soften your eyes.
• Teach your child how to do this, too. Do it together.
• Sit, stand, walk or ride in silence for five minutes.

Source: Judy Ford, Wonderful Ways to be a Family, ISBN: 1-57324012405 (Conari Press, 1-800-423-7087, www.conari.com).

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Even if your child is as young as three, she can show she is capable. For example, she can help family members, the most important people in her life. Each time she helps the family, she shows competence and becomes more responsible, Be sure to:

• Teach your child in private. A young child will need many tries to learn a new skill. The first time you ask her to put the spoons on the table, she may place the forks. Give her time and keep practicing.
• Let your child shine in public. When you are sure your child has mastered a skill, such as putting a snack in a bowl, have her do it for others. Now she gets a double reward for competency. She shows others her capabilities. And she gets their thanks.
• Ask a very young child to do one thing at a time. When this becomes easy (depending on age and development), hold up two fingers. Tell her you will now ask her to do two things.

Source: Jean Illsley Clarke, How Much Is Enough? Everything You Need to Know to Steer Clear of Overindulgence and Raise Likeable, Responsible, and Respectful Children, ISBN: 1-56924-437-5 (Marlowe & Company, 1-800-788-3223, www.marlowepub.com).

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Students who don’t read over the summer months lose an average of two to three months in reading skills. Those who keep reading experience gains. The more your child reads, the easier it’ll be for him. And the more he’’ wants to read. So see that your child reads 30 minutes every day. Try these activities to keep reading fun:

• Read the newspaper together. Give your child the comics to read. Ask him which one’s the funniest. Discuss sports, the weather, letters to the editor, travel destinations, etc.
• Read aloud together. You read a line or page of a book. Then your child does. Or you read the narrative. Let your child read the dialogue-what characters say.
• Dramatize what you read. Select a simple scene from one of your child’s books. Assign character roles. Discuss what happens first, second, next. Then act it out, adding lots of dialogue.
• Promote practical reading. Help your child read a recipe to bake cookies. Involve your child in reading instructions to build or repair something.
• Create reading –related jobs. Ask your child to recopy damaged recipes. Your child could also organize the family bookshelf or video collection in alphabetical order.

Source: Kathy Zahler, 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Raise a Child Who Loves to Read, ISBN: 0-02-861765-7 (Macmillan, 1-888-330-8477, http://us.macmillan.com).

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As the parents of a middle schooler, you should be aware that too much TV may harm your preteen. Researchers agree that preteens watch no more than two hours of television a day. And with summer right around the corner, now is a great time to set limits on screen time.

Here are specifics from a recent study, published in a medical journal about child and teen health. The doctors who published the study researched a group of teens for many years. The study began when the teens were 14 and ended when they were adults in their mid-30s. The doctors found that:

• Teens who watched TV for three hours or more each day were more likely to develop learning and attention problems.
• Teen problems included not doing homework, not liking school, being bored in school and getting poor grades.
• Video games have a similar effect as TV.
• Some teens dropped out of high school. Others finished but did not go on to other education. This was not true of every teen in the study.
• It didn’t matter whether the teens grew up in rich, poor or middle class families. Watching a lot of TV put teens from all of these types of families at risk for learning and attention problems.

Source: Jeffery G. Johnson, Ph.D. and others, “Extensive Television Viewing and the Development of Attention and Learning Difficulties During Adolescence,” Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/161/5/480.

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Working with money is more than just a way for your child to get the latest video game. It’s an important skill for practicing math and responsibility. You can help your child reinforce money skills this summer if you:

• Try an allowance. If it’s possible, give your child an allowance to cover his expenses. Tell him he won’t get more until the next allowance time. This teaches budgeting skills.
• Shop for the family. Give your child a list and money. He will have to stay in budget and bring you back the change.
• Figuring amounts. If you eat at a restaurant, have your child figure out the tip.
• Working. If your child baby-sits or mows lawns, require him to stick to a plan for how he will use the money.

Source: Marguerite C. Radencich and Jeanne Shay Schumm, How to Help Your Child with Homework, ISBN: 1-57542-006-6 (Free Spirit Publishing, 1-800-735-7323, www.freespirit.com).

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She dyed her hair Crayola red. His room looks like a waste dump. There’s no question that teens do things that drive parents crazy. But not all problems are created equal. Many things that create friction between parents and teens fall into the category of “MBAs” – Minor, But Aggravating. They are not signs of character flaws. Usually they are things teens will outgrow.

Mostly, issues related to hair and dress are MBAs. Rather than continuing to argue, you might offer this solution-your teen can wear anything the school says is appropriate. Some issues related to hair and dress are MBAs. These are things you need to focus on and deal with immediately:

• Alcohol or drug abuse.
• Eating disorders
• Depression. All teens are gloomy sometimes, but if your teen is always depressed, it’s time to get help.

In other words, things that affect your teen’s health, safety or long-term well-being are things that must be addressed. If the problem isn’t one of those, it’s probably an MBA. The less you focus on it, the less time you’ll spend fighting over a minor issue that will probably work itself out in time.

Source: Thomas W Phelan, Surviving Your Adolescents: How to Manage and Let Go of Your 13-18 Year Olds, ISBN: 1-889-14008-2 (Parent Magic, Inc., 1-800-442-4453, www.parentmagic.com).

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Summer is a time when teens want to have fun with their friends. But too often, that leads to drinking-and even more dangerous, to drinking and driving. You need to be especially careful as your teen heads into summer party season. Here are some facts:

• Teens do drink, and they often drink to excess. A national survey found that 49 percent of those who visited the emergency room with an alcohol-related problem were under the age of 21.
• Teen drivers are more likely to engage in risky behavior-and less likely to see it as dangerous. In one study, teen drivers did not think they were “driving too fast” if they were driving less than 97 mph!

So what can you do? Talk with your teen about this issue. Establish very serious consequences for drinking and driving-or for riding with a driver who has been drinking. If your teen shows poor judgment, you can ask the state to suspend his license until he is 18. It is harsh-but it will give your teen an easy “out” when his friends say, “Nothing will happen. Just get in the car and drive!”

Source: Abigail Norfleet James, Teaching the Male Brain, ISBN: 978-1-4129-3663-7 (Corwin Press, a Sage Publications Company, 1-800-2330-9936, www.corwinpress.com).

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For any questions or comments, please call Carol Robbins, (865) 579-2507.