| The summer is a great opportunity to incorporate | | | | starting point to expand learning experiences. |
| authentic learning experiences. Families frequently | | | | Vocabulary alone will not always fully provide children |
| spend more time together and deviate from their | | | | the meaning they need to understand unfamiliar or |
| typical daily routines. There are not specific activities or | | | | new concepts. Some ideas for community |
| tasks that parents must do with their children, but giving | | | | experiences may include visiting museums, parks, |
| mindful attention to communication, vocabulary | | | | businesses, or utilizing varied modes of transportation. |
| development, community experiences, and preparing | | | | Also, traveling to rural, urban, and suburban |
| for the upcoming school year may support continued | | | | communities with diverse cultural opportunities may |
| academic and social development. | | | | bring life to the vocabulary that a child has acquired. |
| Communication | | | | Preparing for the upcoming school year |
| Engaging communication provides continuous | | | | As children relax and enjoy their summer, encourage |
| opportunities to converse with children and allows | | | | and support them to journal their events. Keeping a |
| them to express their ideas and concerns. This | | | | chronological timeline is a great way to teach |
| dialogue is a great opportunity to learn about your | | | | sequencing. The memories of the summer can also be |
| children's thoughts and reasoning skills. People make | | | | organized and collected to summarize a specific event |
| decisions based on their thoughts and perspective, and | | | | or period of time in their lives. Making both structured |
| sometimes parents are surprised by the behaviors and | | | | and unstructured ways of pulling the summer |
| decisions of their children. This may occur because | | | | memories together help children learn to take the skills |
| parents are not familiar enough with their child's ideas, | | | | acquired in school and use them in their daily lives. |
| beliefs, and interpretation of their world. Having open | | | | These activities tie into both reading and language arts |
| lines of communication fosters the development of a | | | | tasks that children are given throughout the school |
| loving parent and child relationship. | | | | year. As long as learning takes place, children are |
| Vocabulary development | | | | always preparing for school. Actually, school is the |
| Increasing vocabulary can be done through reading | | | | preparation place for life. The more children engage in |
| fiction, nonfiction, and by discussing current events. | | | | both school and out of school learning opportunities, the |
| Begin in the area of your child's interest. Conversations | | | | stronger their abilities to function and make decisions in |
| also promote vocabulary development by aiding | | | | life will be. |
| children to make meaning of words in context. | | | | For children with Asperger's Syndrome and other mild |
| Research has shown that children score higher on | | | | forms of autism, the idea of blending socially with the |
| standardized tests with increased vocabulary. Ruby | | | | rest of the world can be extremely challenging. During |
| Payne's research about the language acquisition of | | | | the summer time it is no different. Like most children, |
| children from ages 1-3 varies by economic households. | | | | autistic kids want to get out and enjoy summer |
| Her work found that children in poverty with stable | | | | weather and fun too, and they should. Typically children |
| households possess as little as 10 million words while | | | | with AU do not play well with other children. They |
| their working class and professional class peers have | | | | parallel play with little social engagement. |
| 20 million and 30 million words respectively. Vocabulary | | | | Studies show that activities that build social skills and |
| should not be taught in isolation with a spelling list to be | | | | offer sensory integration can be more exciting for |
| tested at the end of the week, but should be taught in | | | | children with these forms of special needs. Sensory |
| context of experiences. Vocabulary development is a | | | | integration is always needed. Here are a few |
| link to increased comprehension and making meaning | | | | suggestions and reasons for parents who are looking |
| during reading. | | | | for ways to engage their autistic child in the summer |
| Community experiences | | | | fun. |
| Planning adventures in your local community can be a | | | | |