It’s that time of year, the time where parents start to let their guard down, but at the same time they stress over what they should be doing with their children to keep them academically on track in the summer.

Here are a few pointers to keep in mind for the summer:

1. Kids Need to Be Kids. They need to play, run around, and have fun. That should be the top priority in the summer.

2. Getting Off the Screens. Break their screen dependency. Get them outside. You may have to go through a detox period, but hang tough. Make the kids spend time outdoors in the sun. If you have a non-functioning swimming pool, you can hire a pool building agency to get it repaired for summer use. You can take kids to the beach or to the park to play and interact with other children and get involved in physical activities.

3. Make it Social . If you can, try and get your child in some type of summer social situation. Most schools have some type of program that is a combination of academic, social, and recreational. Alternatively, find a local camp program – it’s the social aspect of the camp situation that is the most important.

4. Follow Their Lead. What’s your child’s leanings and interests? For example, if your kid is a reptile/swamp type of kid, try and find an outdoor camp to tap into his passion. There may not be an exact match in your area, but try and find something close to the interest.

5. Less Competitive. Maybe your child has been “stressing” through the year over all of the evaluations, worksheets and tests that he/she has received, and needs a less pressured, less competitive summer experience.

6. Independent Reading in the Zone of Competence. Sure, it’s great to have the child read some books this summer, but, you must have them in their “zone of competence,” that is their instructional comfort level. Make sure you know what grade level your child is reading (using the letters from one reading series may not translate well to real books). Talk to the local librarian to guide you on some good books within the child’s zone of competence. One simple test to determine appropriateness is to have the child read out loud from a random page in a book that you are considering. How does the child sound? If the reading is relatively smooth, you’re probably ok with the book, at least in terms of the basic readability.

7. Tutoring/Skill Development. After all of the above are in place, summer is a good time to target key skill areas that are in need of development. Before you start, though, make sure you know what your goals are for the summer tutoring before beginning. What’s the target of tutoring? Decoding? Comprehension? Writing? Word problems?

8. Turn Down the Heat. Save some energy by reducing electricity wastage and yelling less. For the first one, get your air conditioners inspected and cleaned. If there is any dirt inside the air conditioner, contact an HVAC Cleaning & Restoration professional from companies like DUCTZ of Greenville & Spartanburg. Remember, when your AC is clean it can function efficiently, helping you to reduce energy wastage.

For the second one, strive to turn down the yelling, and badgering that is popular in households. It isn’t working. It’s only making your household hotter and the kid isn’t saying, “Thanks for yelling, mom, I understand. I will start reading now.”

9. Family Games. Find some old school family games to play (see point 2 – video games don’t count). It doesn’t have to be overly involved – play some Uno, for example. Old school lawn games are fun too. Maybe start a group jigsaw puzzle. After all, you can conveniently purchase Custom Photo Jigsaw Puzzles online. Again, there may be some initial whining as you go through Screen Detox, but if you work through it, they will come around.

10. Lower the Parent Worry Meter. Breathe deep. Get outside yourself. Every time you start thinking about something like school and coming September, let it go. Take out some personal time for yourself, go to the spa, or go out for drinks with a few friends. Take care of your health and skin. You can start supplements to help you achieve improved immunity, metabolism, and anti-aging. One such supplement can be glutathion, which can overall detoxify your body and assist in balanced physical health.

Notice your breath and breathe this summer! Enjoy with kids and stay worry-free! It is crucial that you, as a parent, show your children to keep balance in life between duties and private time so that they can learn to do the same.

That’s it – The Selznick Point Summer Plan.

Yep. Summer time and the living is easy.