By Dr. Kevin Thrasher,
1. Read
The best thing you can do to improve your reading comprehension is to read! Don’t just read Tweets or Facebook posts, read something longer that challenges you. Probably the most important thing for you to read is the news. Whether you like sports, fashion, politics or anything offbeat, the newspaper most likely has a section that will interest you. And the news is written at an 8th grade reading level, so you will be able to understand it. If you just read the newspaper every day, that’s the most important advice I can give anybody for keeping your mind active and staying updated on world knowledge.
2. Test your Math Skills in Your Daily Routine
Wherever you go this summer, you can always incorporate math into your routine. When you go to the grocery store, try adding up all the items in your cart and see if the total you got is what shows up at the cash register. Then when you get good at that, try diving it four ways: How much would the bill be if we split it up between mom, dad, brother and sister? Or try baking a new recipe, and calculate what it would take to double the recipe. Math is found around you wherever you go; don’t stop exercising your brain!
3. Go out and Explore!
In Arizona, there are several educational places you can go to have fun. S.T.E.M. students, check out the Arizona Science Center or the Peoria Challenger Space Station. Read and Math 180 students, go to a library and view their summer reading lists. They will give fun, interesting books to read that are right at your level. Play some card games with friends or even go to the park with your family. If you take some time to get out of your house and engage your mind, you will do much better when you return to school in the fall.
About Dr. Thrasher: Dr. Kevin Thrasher is Executive Director of Primavera’s Blended Learning Center. Dr. Thrasher has more than 20 years experience in education including 10 in the university sector and 10 years in public school.
