A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

FOR RELEASE                                      Contact:  David Thomas June 21, 1996                                            (202) 401-1576

NEW POSTER OFFERS TIPS ON SUMMER ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN

How to keep your child learning through the summer? The U.S. Department of Education has a few suggestions.

As part of U.S. Education Secretary Richard W. Riley's initiative to "keep the learning going" over the summer, the department's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) has prepared a Summertime Funtime Activities poster to assist parents in helping their children learn.

The colorful poster includes a calendar of activities and eight "every day" suggestions of activities parents can do with their children over the summer months. The activities are simple, commonsense ideas to help parents make summer interesting and fun. They engage children in stimulating thought on a variety of issues, including the environment, safety, math, science, reading and writing. Most are home based and without cost. The every day tips are:

• Count with your child.
• Read and write with your child for at least 30 minutes.
• Praise your child.
• Talk with your child.
• Hug your child and say "I love you."
• Make a dictionary of new words and add to it every day.
• Share news with your child.
• Listen to music with your child.

Some of the suggested activities include:

• Hide a treasure with your child and draw a map to find it.
• Tell a story. Ask your child to tell it back to you.
• Compare history as presented on TV and in reference books with your child.
• Look up events on the day your child was born.

A display copy of the poster is being sent to each of the 15,000 public libraries and branches throughout the country. In addition, single posters are available free, on a first come, first served basis, from the department's National Library of Education (NLE) at 1 (800)424 1616.

All of the ideas in the poster are derived from OERI's series of fact sheets for parents and teachers entitled Learning Partners. The fact sheets are also available free from NLE at the number above.