5 Ways to Prepare for the New School Year

You’re home from summer vacation, and the break from school is almost over. Now that your child has had the chance to relax and recuperate, they’re beginning to anticipate the new school year. What activities will they do, and what new friends will they make? There’s so much to consider as summer break draws to a close. You and your child may feel unprepared. Here are a few ways you and your child can get in the right headspace heading into the school year: 

Organize Study Areas

Over the summer, your child’s study nooks have likely been neglected or repurposed. Before school starts, take time to clean and declutter the area. Stock up on school supplies, especially ones they go through quickly. Make sure any study or homework spaces are well equipped, well lit and ready to go when your child comes home from school. 

Set Goals

Establish realistic, achievable goals for the upcoming school year. Sit down and think about potential goals. Is there a subject where your child can improve? Does your child have a social goal, like making new friends, or an extracurricular goal, like auditioning for the lead role in the play? Write the goals down, and make a note to refer to them again at the end of the school year.  

Create a Schedule

Develop a daily or weekly schedule to balance schoolwork, extracurricular activities and free time. This schedule may change once the school year begins, but it’s good to start off with a framework. Once the school schedule becomes more apparent, especially in terms of extracurricular activities, consider posting a calendar on the refrigerator so everyone in the family can keep track. This will make it easier to plan out breaks between activities. 

Reach Out to Friends

Encourage your child to reconnect with classmates or friends from school. Every new school year brings new challenges with it, and it’s always easier when you have support. Coordinate study groups, and brainstorm ways to stay connected during the school year. Once you get started on schoolwork and extracurricular activities, you may get so busy that you forget about the importance of these connections. 

Practice Self Care

Going from a relatively relaxed summer to a faster-paced school year can be stressful. Help your child establish self-care routines, like journaling and engaging in their hobbies, before everything ramps up. Remind them during the school year that it’s important to take breaks for the things they enjoy, and that includes breaks from staring at screens. 

Starting a new school year can be as intimidating as it is exciting. Preparing for school at the end of summer break can help set the stage for a great school year. Students at our Tampa private school thrive creatively, academically and spiritually in a project-based learning environment. Faculty and families work together to inspire leadership through Christian innovation. Contact us today to learn more.

How to Keep Teens Motivated to Learn Over the Summer

Your teen is on summer vacation, and they couldn’t be more excited. It’s finally time to go have fun between school semesters. However, you’re concerned about the summer slide, where students lose some of what they’ve learned during the school year. Students can keep learning over the summer break without feeling like they’re going to class every day. Here are some tips for finding that balance and motivating your teen to keep learning: 

Create a Schedule

While you don’t want to make your teen feel like they’re back in school, making a schedule for learning activities can help keep them engaged in learning over the summer. See if you can carve out a couple of days a week to do an educational activity like visiting a museum or blocking out time for summer reading. Things can always come up, so keep the schedule flexible. 

Set Goals and Rewards

When setting summer learning goals for your teen, get together with them to discuss what they want to brush up on or accomplish during the break. If there’s something you feel is missing, try to nudge them in that direction. By setting goals, your teen will have something specific to aspire to or focus on. Goals can be as vague as “read faster by the end of summer” or as specific as “read every book on the summer reading list.” 

Encourage Independence and Creativity

What your teen needs the most as they work toward accomplishing their learning goals is a sense of independence. Allow them to explore their interests, and support them in the process. If they’re stuck on a problem, offer guidance for finding a way around or through it. As a teenager, your child will soon be out on their own, and they’ll need to be able to think independently and creatively to thrive. 

Incorporate Real-World Learning Opportunities

Summer is the perfect time for your teen to explore their interests in the real world. Take that trip to the museum, the zoo, the library, or wherever you can engage with your teen’s interests. If they’re especially service-minded or focused on social justice, consider signing up for volunteer opportunities together.

Stay Positive and Flexible

You want to make summer learning a priority without making it a chore. The more it feels like work, the less engaged your teen will be. Use this break as an opportunity to help them explore what they’re interested in or to bridge learning gaps to set them up for success in the new school year. Make it a positive experience, even if they continue to struggle. Be flexible. If something they want to do lands on a scheduled learning day, you can always reschedule the learning day. Keep your teen engaged by working around their schedule. 
Education doesn’t need to be the sole focus of summer break, but learning shouldn’t stop as soon as school’s out for the year. Students at our Tampa private school thrive creatively, academically and spiritually in a project-based learning environment. Faculty and families work together to inspire leadership through Christian innovation. Contact us today to learn more.

3 Fun Science Projects to Keep Your Child Curious Over Summer Break

During the school year, children find themselves fully immersed in academic activities. Then, over the summer, that abruptly stops. For some children, this leads to summer learning loss, where they fail to retain knowledge they gained when school was in session. Fortunately, there are plenty of educational activities you can do in the comfort of your home, from reading challenges to science projects. Here are a few science experiments that can be fun for the whole family:

Project 1: DIY Baking Soda and Vinegar Volcano

This classic science experiment never gets old. People of all ages enjoy watching the results of this chemical reaction between common household products. When you do this experiment together, you can experiment with different amounts of baking soda and vinegar to create different eruption heights and effects.

Materials needed for this experiment include: 

• A plastic bottle

• Baking soda

• Vinegar

• Food coloring

• A container to contain the volcano eruption

Here’s how the experiment works:

1. Build the base by placing the plastic bottle in the center of the container. Add materials like paper mache or clay to create a more realistic volcano shape.

2. Mix a few drops of food coloring into the baking soda.

3. Fill the plastic bottle about halfway with vinegar.

4. Carefully pour the baking soda into the vinegar-filled bottle, and step back quickly to watch the volcanic eruption!

5. Clean up messes after completing the experiment.

Project 2: Homemade Slime

What could be more fun than playing with a gooey material that can easily wash off your hands with soap and water? Making homemade slime is a great way to spend a summer afternoon. Your child may even forget that they’re learning when you perform this science experiment together. 

These are the materials you will need for this experiment: 

• White school glue

• Liquid starch

• Water

• Food coloring

Here are the steps:

1. Mix 1/2 cup of white school glue with 1/2 cup of water in a mixing bowl. Stir until well blended.

2. Add a few drops of food coloring to the glue mixture. Stir until you have evenly distributed the color.

3. Slowly add 1/4 cup of liquid starch to the glue mixture, stirring constantly.

4. Continue stirring and kneading the slime until it reaches the desired consistency. Add more liquid starch if the slime comes out too sticky. Add a little water if it's stiff.

5. Once the slime has the right texture, customize it with different colors! Divide the slime into separate portions, and mix in different food coloring to create a variety of colors.

6. Store your homemade slime in an airtight container when not in use to keep it from drying out. Enjoy playing with your colorful, customized slime!

Project 3: Solar Oven S'mores

S’mores and summer fun go together like chocolate, graham crackers and marshmallows. Campers traditionally make these snacks over a campfire, but you can also make them in a solar oven. And when you make them in an oven, you’re doing science! This experiment is educational and delicious. 

To make solar oven s'mores, you will need the following ingredients and materials:

Ingredients:

• Graham crackers

• Marshmallows

• Chocolate bars

Materials:

• Cardboard pizza box with a lid

• Aluminum foil

• Plastic wrap

• Black construction paper

• Tape

• Scissors

Here are the steps for making solar oven s’mores: 

1. Line the inside of the pizza box with aluminum foil, shiny side up, to create a reflective surface that will help trap and reflect the sunlight.

2. Cut a piece of black construction paper to fit the bottom of the pizza box, and tape it in place. The black paper will absorb the sunlight and help create heat inside the solar oven.

3. Arrange the ingredients for the s'mores on the graham crackers - place a piece of chocolate on one graham cracker and a marshmallow on the other.

4. Place the s'mores on a small plate, and carefully place them inside the pizza box.

5. Close the pizza box lid, and securely tape it shut to seal in the heat.

6. Place the solar oven in direct sunlight, with the reflective side facing the sun. Adjust the position of the solar oven throughout the process to ensure maximum sunlight exposure.

7. Allow the s'mores to cook in the solar oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the marshmallow melts and the chocolate becomes soft.

8. Carefully remove the plate from the solar oven, and assemble the s'mores by placing the marshmallow and chocolate between the two graham crackers.

9. Enjoy delicious solar oven s'mores!

We encourage you to make science fun with these easy-to-do at-home science experiments this summer. Students at our Tampa private school thrive creatively, academically and spiritually in a project-based learning environment. Faculty and families work together to inspire leadership through Christian innovation. Contact us today to learn more.

Why Students Should Be at the Center of Their Learning

The purpose of education is to help each student be successful in life, learning things they need to know about the world around them. However, not every student develops in the same way while going to school. Some students need more than what’s contained in the walls of a conventional classroom. This is where student-centered learning becomes optimal.  

A New Way for Students to Learn

Traditionally, classroom learning has been centered around teachers. Students learn what the teachers are told to teach. Student-centered learning differs in that it allows students to be involved in their own educational experiences. Teachers and students work together to create the learning paths, leading to a more collaborative environment and more meaningful learning for the students. 

Why Student Centered Learning Works

Putting students at the center of their learning has many benefits for everyone involved. Children who feel involved in the learning process become more engaged in what they’re learning and motivated to succeed. They take more ownership of their work and responsibility for their learning. Through this increased focus, critical thinking and problem-solving skills naturally improve. Learning becomes an adventure, one that students continue to enjoy beyond their time in school. 

Collaboration in the Classroom 

One of the main benefits of student-centered learning is the room it leaves for collaboration between peers. Students have more opportunities to put their heads together, whether it’s for everyday assignments or projects that take them beyond the classroom. Through this collaboration, they learn how to work with others to achieve common goals. They learn soft skills such as communication and listening that are more important than ever in today’s interconnected world. 

Developing Skills for the Modern World

In today’s world, some of the most important skills you can have come from collaborating with others. Knowing how to communicate effectively, resolve conflicts and adapt to change matters more now than ever before. The more children learn to work with others at a young age, the better prepared they will be for life after school. 

At North Tampa Christian Academy, we know all about the power of putting students at the center of their learning. Students at our Tampa private school thrive creatively, academically and spiritually in a project-based learning environment. Faculty and families work together to inspire leadership through Christian innovation. Contact us today to learn more.

Building a Supportive Environment for Your Gifted Child

When you find out you have a gifted child, it’s often more of a confirmation of something you knew all along. Your child is special, and they are likely to outperform their peers. However, being a gifted child is rarely that straightforward. Gifted children tend to feel the need to prove themselves, and they struggle to ask for help when they need it. Here are some ways you can be a supportive parent to a gifted child. 

Avoid Comparison to Others

Most of the pressure gifted children face is from comparing themselves to others. These could be peers who they perceive as being smarter or more socially adept than they are. Help your child by avoiding the trap of comparing them to other people. Telling your child they are smarter than someone else can make them feel uneasy. Comparing them to someone who is outperforming them can make them feel less than. Focus on your child as an individual, rather than finding others to compare them to.

Applaud Effort and Accomplishments

Gifted children sometimes need to be reminded that effort matters. They tend to be more focused on the end goal and accomplishing the next big thing. However, the small accomplishments along the way are what help them get there. These children also need to be reminded that, even if something is not a resounding success, the effort made to reach the goal was worthwhile. 

Encourage Relationship Building

Your gifted child may appear to live in their own world. Children with diverse interests sometimes struggle to understand the importance of other people. Encourage your child to focus on building relationships with others, and not just their teachers. Talk to them about the friends they’ve made at school and their relationships with other family members. Guide them in focusing on friendships and relationships just as much as they focus on the very interesting thing they learned about in science class. 

Provide Enrichment Opportunities

Your gifted child is likely to have a lot of different interests, but some will persist over time. Whatever they’re interested in, provide opportunities for deeper exploration. If they won’t stop talking about sharks, spend a day at the aquarium together. Go to the library, and see if you can find some nonfiction books that will allow them to learn even more about their favorite things. Help them find answers to their seemingly endless list of questions. 

At North Tampa Christian Academy, we create opportunities for every child to explore their genius. Students at our Tampa private school thrive creatively, academically and spiritually in a project-based learning environment. Faculty and families work together to inspire leadership through Christian innovation. Contact us today to learn more.