Disclosure: I received the Highlights The Big Fun First Grade Activity Book and the Highlights Write-On Wipe-Off Let’s Write Words books in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.
Keep Your Kids Learning This Summer with Highlights Activity Books (+ Printable!)
School may be out in a lot of the U.S. (it is for us!), but that doesn’t mean my kiddos are off the hook from learning.
Are yours??
Ever since my oldest son was in Kindergarten, he has had a little “homework” during the summer, and I don’t feel bad about it one bit. On the last day of school in Kindergarten, his teacher sent home a packet of worksheets that he could do and bring back in the Fall for a prize. My youngest son got the same packet this year! We didn’t get a packet in First Grade, but my Second Grader brought home a packet from his teacher this year (yay!). 
These packets are great because it’s all put together in one place, but I especially loved (and kind of cringed at) the note on the inside of my oldest son’s packet. It said the following:
Children can LOSE up to two months of reading progress and 2.6 months of math progress over the summer. That means that their academic skills are going BACKWARDS during the summer, not just staying the same.
I don’t know about you, but that is super scary to me! The reason I loved this note is that my oldest son can read this and understand what it means, too. This is a great reminder that it’s not just mom “making” him do homework in the summer. Unfortunately, my youngest son doesn’t totally get it yet, but I know we’ll get there. Thankfully, his worksheets are right at his level, and he will work through them as long as brother is working, too.
I was given the opportunity to check out the Highlights Write On – Wipe Off Let’s Write Words and The Big Fun First Grade Activity Book!
The Highlights Write-On Wipe-Off activity book has been PERFECT for my stubborn six year old who doesn’t really want to do continue learning. But, anytime he gets to use a marker, he is up for it! I love that it not only has him practicing his writing, but there are also puzzles and other activities throughout the book that make learning fun!
The Highlights Write-On Wipe-Off Activity Workbooks come in Letters, Words and a Let’s Trace book for younger kids.
Once he finishes up the packet from his Kindergarten teacher, we’ll be moving right along with the First Grade Activity Book! These books are available for Preschool, Kindergarten, First Grade, Second Grade currently.
Here’s more info about the First Grade book:
With a fresh approach to practicing essential skills for school readiness and success, The Big Fun First Grade Activity Book contains more than 250 pages of imaginative puzzling, humor, and whimsical illustrations. This book contains a wealth of Fun with a Purpose(TM) puzzle-based activities, and will engage children and get them excited about learning! First graders can practice a variety of skills such as practicing their letters, numbers, colors, shapes, and more, while doing age-appropriate Hidden Pictures® puzzles, mazes, matching puzzles, scavenger hunts, and find-the-difference puzzles. All activities will help kids feel confident in school while supplementing their classroom activities. In addition, each book includes an introduction that is full of simple tips to help parents talk to their first graders about the activities in these workbooks.
Keep your young kiddos learning with the Highlights Activity Books this Summer! And, if you need help with harder subjects like social studies tuition, there are options for that, too.
One of the ways I try to encourage my boys to use the activity books is to reward them with screen time.
Do your kids constantly ask for screen time? Mine do! But, while we allow them to watch shows and play video games on the tv, computer or iPad, we also have parameters around them. During the school year, they are pretty much restricted to weekends, but during summer break, we have a list of things they have to do before they can even ask.
I have discovered that me constantly reminding my boys what needs to be done doesn’t usually go well for us. Not only do I get very frustrated which makes my patience level drop really quickly, but it also starts our day off on a terrible note and the boys don’t respond well. I’m not sure why it takes me two weeks and a transition to figure this out (I did the same thing at the beginning of school last year.). So, I just created the following chart that I have printed and am putting on the back of the door to our garage. This allows me to direct them to the door instead of telling them what they need to do before they can even think about asking me for screen time. You can print a copy, too!
See that note at the bottom about asking Mom or Dad? The boys have certain responsibilities (taking out recycling, picking up toys, helping with their laundry, etc), but I want they to learn to have some initiative and remember that they are responsible for taking care of things around the house, too.
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