Jun14

What Is Unlearning? How Can We Fight It in Summer?

Remember that the brain is like any other muscle in our body: it needs daily training to stay in shape. If we stop nourishing knowledge, reasoning, and wisdom, the muscles begin to weaken. The effort made throughout the entire school year falls victim to forgetfulness… and the unlearning begins.

Why not take advantage of time in the summer and exercise each of these abilities?

Have them take the lead with their tasks. They have just finished their school year, nine months of intense work, tight schedules, homework stress, exams…their brain needs a break for 15 days! After, invite them to choose how to continue nourishing their brain and warding off unlearning. Stories, hobbies, puzzles, documentaries, 15 minutes of mathematics with Smartick, letters, comics, drawings…are always welcome!
Reserve a small space of time every day, ideally from 30 minutes to an hour. There are 24 hours in a day and there is time for everything. The morning is the best time for them to exercise their brain since it is well rested with the ideal disposition. In order to maintain the habit, and combat unlearning, it is best to always do it at the same time.
Have them leave their corner of the world, unplug electronic devices and take advantage of summer days to do different activities that they can’t during the school year. One option is to enroll your child at a summer camp. There are many benefits to camps: social skills, tolerance, trust, development of maturity and independence, among others.
Cultural excursions as a family are ideal during this time to fight unlearning. Visiting museums and parks, exploring different cities, going to the theater. All these things provide our little ones with a wealth of knowledge and culture. A good idea to make the most of this beautiful experience is to plan it in advance. That way your child can read and research before the activity, which encourages a feeling of curiosity.
Discover different worlds:

The world of arts and crafts. It is an activity that sneaks in when children are school age and summer is when we can start to take advantage of its numerous benefits. Through arts and crafts, they work on psychomotricity, attention, concentration and the creativity to have a bridge between their fantasy and reality. Additionally, when done as a family, we strengthen the bonds of unity and love.
The world of music. It has been proven that practicing an instrument produces positive emotions, elevates mood, improves visual and spatial intelligence, and improves the quality of sleep.
The world of emotions. It is a good option for our children to begin to know each other on a deeper level through a good emotional education. By learning to identify, label, understand and regulate their own emotions it will allow them to have a greater tolerance for frustration, better anger management, feel less anxious and develop a strong sense of responsibility in the future.

Learn More:

Fun is our brain’s favorite way of learning

Diane Ackerman

Smartick is a fun way to learn math

15 fun minutes a day
Adapts to your child’s level
Millions of students since 2009

Author
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Casey Aubin

BS Communicative Disorders & BA Spanish from the University of Rhode Island.
Master’s in International Education from the Universidad de Alcalá– Instituto Franklin.
She has worked as a teacher in three different countries and is now a Translator on the Content Creation Team at Smartick and helps to adapt content for blog posts.
As a native Rhode Islander she loves any activity on the water and when she’s not working you can find her traveling, kickboxing, or trying out a new recipe.