Summer is full of opportunities to encourage children to write, so don’t to let the “Summer Slide” cause setbacks in your child’s learning. We recommend introducing a light regimen of Summer writing using our fun app and game recommendations and outdoor activities, which provide simple, fun ways to get your kid excited about writing.
Our Summer Writing Guide offers activities, outdoor exercises and a curated batch of digital content sure to your child ready to learn. Follow the steps below to get started.
Fill Your Digital Prescription!
What’s a “Digital Prescription?”
A Digital Prescription is a combination of apps and games that targets specific academic areas and cognitive concerns. Here, we focus on subjects of writing, such as spelling, typing, and written organization.
How Does It Work?
- While our prescription targets specific problem areas, we recommend all parents begin by choosing one broad-based education service to use over the entirety of the Summer. These apps and websites offer content ranging across a variety of math subjects and grade levels, making them a great foundation for fending off the “Summer Slide.”
- Once you’ve chosen your broad-based service, use a combination of apps and games from the remaining sections to build around 6-10 hours of weekly learning time. Look over our Writing page to decide the areas in which your child needs the most help (i.e., spelling, written organization, typing), and then follow each section’s recommended “dosages” for help filling out your schedule. Consider using a calendar service such as iCal or Google Calendar to keep track of your weekly regimen. Remember, variety will keep things interesting, so try switching the focus between apps, games and subjects ever couple weeks or so.
And that’s it! Get started now by browsing the apps and games below!
1.) BROAD-BASED WRITING APPS & SERVICES:
Use one of the broad-based educational services listed below to maintain your child’s writing proficiency over the summer months. Each option offers powerful learning solutions in a fun, interactive manner, many with content in-line with states’ core-curriculum standards. Read over each review to decide which one is the best fit for you and your family.
DOSAGE: After you’ve made your choice, schedule in some time for your child to dedicate to the service. We recommend 2-3 days a week, for 1-2 hours at a time. Remember to keep up to date with your child’s progress using the built-in tools these services provide.
2.) SPELLING
Spelling is the foundation of writing. Letters are the basic building blocks of language,and knowing how to combine them together to make form sounds and create is a must for young learners. The choices belpow include apps meant to strengthen spelling skills, as well as some fun games great for getting reluctant writiers ready to spell.
| Ms. Spell’s Class
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Spelling City
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Draw Something 2
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Whizz Words
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Wordsworth
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DOSAGE: Use a combination of the apps above 3-4 times a week, in sessions lasting 45-60 minutes.
3.) TYPING PROFICIENCY
Being able to type well is an increasingly important skill today’s digital age, with traditional handwriting being used less and less. Use the fun apps and games below to get your child practicing his writing skills and sharpening his proficiency without it feeling like a chore.
| Typing Instructor
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TapTyping
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Burning Fingers
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Drop
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ControlShift
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DOSAGE: Use a combination of the apps above 3-4 times a week, in sessions lasting 45-60 minutes. Begin with material familiar to your child. The goal is to improve processing speed over the Summer, with your child able to complete more complicated challenges provided by the apps and games above.
4.) CREATIVE WRITING
Kids crave creative outlets, so its important to do your best and give them options when it comes to writing. Use the suggestions below to help your child craft a short screenplay, tell a story, keep a diary or simply start a blog.
| A Novel Idea
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Celtx
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Fotopedia Reporter
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Private Journal
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Tumblr
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DOSAGE: Use a combination of the apps above 3-4 times a week, in sessions lasting 45-60 minutes. Encourage your child to experiment with different types of writing (poems, stories, nonfiction, ect.) using a combination of the apps above to formulate and save his work.
5.) WRITTEN ORGANIZATION
For kids, figuring out how to best convey an idea or story through written language can seem overwhelming. Look over the apps below to discover how apps can be used to create organized, well though-out writing.
| Word Dynamo
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Simple Outliner
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Microsoft OneNote
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Evernote
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Open Office
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DOSAGE: Use the apps to review, improve and better organize your child’s writing. Prior to a writing session, try using Simple Outliner to plot out your child’s writing and break down large ideas into organized sections to be tackled one-by-one. After the writing session is over, you can drop your child’s work into Word Dynamo. There, you’ll be presented with an analysis that lays out suggestions for better presentation and organization, so make sure to implement the suggested tips.
Evernote and OneNote offer easy ways to quickly manage and edit small-scale peices of work, while Open Office provides a fuller toolset, with many templates that include layouts for various forms of writing.
6.) DICTATION
Voice-to-text apps offer a great alternative to reluctant writers who struggle with typing. Kids that find it hard to write fast enough to fully capture their thoughts can use these apps to create text simply by speaking out loud. Make sure to read over each review to find out how each works and check the available platforms.
| Dragon Dictation
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Siri
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Vlingo
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DOSAGE: Use these apps if your child finds it hard to fully capture ideas through typing. We recommend that you put them to use during creative writing sessions, using them to brainstorm ideas or as a handy way to quickly capture thought and ideas.
Writing Activities & Exercises for the Summer
Over the course of the summer, we’ll also be updating this guide with new activities and exercises that get kids exercising both their minds and their bodies, with simple recommendations for fun activities that transform tech-time into learning opportunities. Get started by clicking the links below, and bookmark this page more in the coming weeks!
Summer Activities for Writing:
