March 9, 2023

Ways to Continue Learning During Spring Break

Little KIPPsters will be on Spring Break from Friday, March 10 to Friday, March 17 and will return to school on Monday, March 20. A week off from school is the perfect time for students to have fun, explore new interests and be creative. Check out these ideas that will keep our KIPPsters actively learning and ready for a smooth transition back to the classroom.

Take a family trip.

Are you planning to travel during the break? Family trips can serve as wonderful bonding experiences and provide unique learning opportunities. As your family explores a new place, you can read about the history of the city as well as visit landmarks. While traveling, one way to make the time pass is to get your KIPPster engaged in a fun activity. Play trivia games while on the road or visit your favorite book store for a variety of academic workbooks and other printable resources that you can bring along for your trip.

Plan a field trip.

While on break you can find time to visit new places and make learning a priority while on fun family trips! Consider taking a tour of your local art museum and noting which artists capture your KIPPster’s attention. Catering to your child’s interest in STEM is possible by visiting a museum of science. You can also visit the zoo or an aquarium. Take your family field trip to the next level by visiting the library after to research and check out books that reflect the art or topics that interested your child most during your visit.

Here are a few suggestions:

Austin: Thinkery

Dallas: Perot Museum of Natural Science

Houston: Children’s Museum Houston

San Antonio: San Antonio DoSeum

Read every day.

One of your field trips during the break can be to the local library or your favorite bookstore where you can spend a few hours exploring different genres of books. Once your KIPPster selects a book, read with them and ask questions about the characters and plot to help them dive deeper into the story.

Book Recommendations from KIPP Texas’ Recommended Reading Lists:

Elementary

K-2

A Place inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart by Zetta Elliot
Lift by Ming Lê
Sharuko by Monica Brown

3-5

Aquicorn Cove by Katie O’Neill
The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Granted by John David Anderson

Middle School

Dove Arising by Karen Bao
Ghost by Jason Reynolds
Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson

High School

A Soldier’s Play by Charles Fuller
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Play fun games together.

Many popular board games provide an opportunity for exciting mental stimulation and learning to take place. Scrabble is an excellent game for teaching spelling and new vocabulary words. It also involves math in counting up words in all different directions. Games like Monopoly can teach KIPPsters how to manage their money and learn about assets. Classic games like chess and checkers encourage strategic thinking and planning. You can also use technology to your advantage. You can download educational games for your family to play on a tablet or cell phone. You can find a number of free game apps through Amazon, Google Play, and Apple’s app store.

Learn a new skill.

Take some time to explore new hobbies or interests during the break. Figure out what interests you and your KIPPster then do that. Don’t be afraid to get creative! Whether it’s writing poems, drawing, painting or putting on a play in your living room, making art can not only be fun but it can help boost self-esteem and offer kids an outlet for self-expression.

Another fun and creative thing you can do with your KIPPster is cook together! Cooking is packed with learning opportunities in math and reading. Afterall, those recipes have to be read and understood to make a yummy meal! The learning doesn’t have to stop and start with the actual meal preparation. When your KIPPster picks a recipe to prepare, take the time to plan the meal and make the grocery list together. During the trip to the grocery store, they can use their math skills to add up the total cost of the ingredients.

Opportunities for learning are everywhere and during spring break, taking advantage of them can help make the transition back to school after break easier for students.

We hope you have a great spring break, feel free to check out our list of community resources for this month that you may want to access while your KIPPsters are out of school.