Summer Enrichment Strategies for your Child
Emmaleigh Badeaux, MA, and Tracy Gale, PsyD, HSPP, Easterseals Crossroads
School might not be in session, but your children still have access to their favorite teacher – you! As a parent, you are uniquely qualified to teach your child in ways that he/she will enjoy. You can use your extensive knowledge of your child’s interests to maintain and strengthen academic skills.
Consider incorporating the following strategies into your summer plans to prevent summer learning loss:
- Toward the end of the year, pay attention to the work that is coming home. Ask the teacher about your child’s present level of performance and what content would be helpful for you to review. You will be better able to build upon your child’s current skills if you know what concepts he/she was beginning to learn and those skills that have already been mastered.
- Summer is a time to review the basics and gain confidence in applying them. Be sure to limit the presentation of new material that may be frustrating or overwhelming for your child.
- Seize learning opportunities as they arise. Emphasize the math in daily activities, such as calculating the cost of the items on your grocery list, how long the family road trip will take or how the measured ingredients will change if a recipe is doubled. Math is more than calculation; it relies on counting, sorting, pattern recognition and other elements of spatial reasoning. Try similar activities to practice reading skills.
- Keep it fun! Children spend the entire school year learning in a more structured manner. Use summer to provide opportunities to learn in messy, creative and unusual ways.
After your child has put effort into their learning, be sure to reward him/her with something fun. After all, it is summer!
Maggie is excited to be working at camp this summer! She just graduated from Saint Louis University whose mascot is the Billiken. The Billiken is supposed to be a fierce-looking creature who (she thinks) looks more like a goblin made of marshmallows!
Maggie just graduated from Hamilton Southeastern high school and she will attend Indiana University in the fall to study occupational therapy. Maggie loves spending time with her friends and family. Maggie enjoyed unified track during high school and she was part of the school’s peer tutoring program. Maggie loves meeting new people; she is so excited to be part of CampAbility!
This is Jodi’s fourth year at camp as the behavior specialist and she is so excited to be back! Jodi graduated in 2008 from Indiana University with degrees in psychology and criminal justice.
This is Courtney’s second year with CampAbility. She just graduated from Anderson University where she studied elementary education, special education and nonprofit leadership.
This is Jennifer’s first year working at CampAbility. She is a sophomore at Belmont University in Nashville (TN) where she is studying neuroscience and pre-occupational therapy. Some of her favorite hobbies are hiking, listening to music, reading, baking and exploring outside. She is excited to be working with CampAbility and is thrilled to spend the summer with y’all!
Amanda is a second grade school teacher. When not at school, she is at the gym teaching fitness classes. She also enjoys running races or running just for fun with her fiance or the Speedway Running Club. Amanda is looking forward to making memories with the kids at camp this year!
Jessica is a graduate of Indiana University where she studied violin performance and neuroscience. She is now pursuing a master’s degree in music therapy with undergraduate equivalency at the University of Miami. This is her second summer at CampAbility, and she could not be more excited to return! Jessica is a classroom assistant and will also be leading music activities during the week. She is most looking forward to meeting the campers and having fun with them! In her free time, Jessica enjoys yoga, running, spending time with family and all sorts of food-related adventures (especially baking).
Sarah is a sophomore at Miami University (the Miami in Ohio; unfortunately not the Miami with the beach!). In her free time, she loves to paint, paddleboard and hike with her four dogs. Sarah volunteers and works at both a hippotherapy and ABA therapy center, and she is a peer aide in her high school’s life skills classroom and Best Buddies Club. This is Sarah’s first summer at camp and she cannot wait to meet everyone!
Megan is a senior psychology and Spanish major at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. Her hobbies include drinking copious amounts of coffee and reading. Megan has been involved with CampAbility for the past three years and she can’t wait to be a part of this incredible experience this summer as well!
Alexa is a junior at Ball State University majoring in exercise science with a minor in the psychology of human development and a concentration in occupational therapy. This is her second year at CampAbility and she is so happy to be back. She cannot wait to see returning campers and meeting many more; she is very excited about all of the fun adventures and experiences we will have creating friendships with all of the campers.
Jenn is super excited to work her first year at camp. She loves working with the kids and staff at Parents Night Out and she couldn’t wait to discover another way to be involved with Easterseals Crossroads! During the school year, she is an English as a new language teacher at Spring Mill Elementary in Washington Township, and she has over 10 years classroom teaching experience. Jenn loves being outside, playing volleyball, camping and hiking. She has two dogs and two cats at home, and she loves reading, binging Netflix series and watching live music.
This is Tim’s fourth year at CampAbility. During the school year, Tim is a 4th grade resource teacher. He is so excited to have the opportunity to work with your campers this summer! In his free time, Tim loves to cook and is currently raising a puppy.
This is Hannah’s fourth year at CampAbility and her first year as a lead counselor. She just graduated from the University of Indianapolis with a degree in elementary and special education and will be a resource teacher next school year in MSD Lawrence Township.
This is Tim’s fifth year of camp. He has his bachelor’s degree in social work and his master’s degree in special education and currently works for Washington Township as a special education teacher and at Easterseals Crossroads Parents Night Out program.
Meghan is a six-year middle school resource teacher in Indianapolis. In 2017, she taught in Thailand for the year. In her free time, she likes to coach cheerleading, go to Orange Theory Fitness, read books in her hammock and eat lots of different types of food. She loves her dogs Willow (a pug) and Mowgli (a Rottweiler), her husband Joe, and Purdue University (Boiler Up)! Meghan is SO excited to be at camp where she hopes to bring positivity, friendships, growth and lots of fun!
Katie works at North Central High School doing job training with seniors during the school year, and she can’t wait to have fun with your kids at camp FUEL this summer!
Joe is excited to be a camp counselor for Camp FUEL this summer! He was born and raised in Indianapolis and he attended Little Flower for grade school and later Cathedral High School.
Sydnee is a senior at Taylor University studying elementary and special education. Her hobbies include binge watching Netflix with friends, drinking coffee, being outside and reading a good book.
