5 Summertime Tips to Support Children’s Development

5 Summertime Tips to Support Children’s Development

5 Summertime Tips to Support Children’s Development

Key Points

  • Summers are for more family time and enjoyment!
  • Studies show parental involvement is key to children’s health and development. 
  • Raising Highly Capable Kids (RHCK) has tools to help parents.

School breaks, warm weather, longer daylight hours—these are a recipe for more relaxation and fun as parents and kids enjoy a few weeks free of school-related commitments. On the other hand, summer can be challenging when kids have time off but parents must continue their regular work schedules and responsibilities. 

Numerous studies have shown that parental involvement is key to children’s health and overall development. But how can parents maintain this involvement and nurture their child’s development in a season where kids might be on break but adults are not? 

Our parenting class, Raising Highly Capable Kids (RHCK), has tools to help parents—and any adult caring for young people—answer this question. RHCK teaches the 40 developmental assets that are essential for raising healthy, responsible, caring kids. Several of these building blocks provide simple, inexpensive, and effective ideas that adults can use throughout the summer to support kids’ development. Plus, all of these ideas have a larger benefit of cultivating overall family well-being and connection.

1. Embrace evenings for family activities

In our Raising Highly Capable Kids parenting class, one of the developmental building blocks we teach is “Time at Home”—where a child spends some time each day interacting with their parents and doing activities at home that don’t involve TV or video or computer games. This type of interaction has been shown to improve young people’s leadership skills, health, and achievement in school. 

One benefit to summertime schedules is that flexible bedtimes and longer daylight hours can free up evenings for quality time as a family. For many families, summer evenings can be good opportunities for connection and fun, especially if parents are working during the day or if a vacation isn’t feasible for your budget. 

Activities to try:

  • Game night with your favorite board or card game
  • Family movie night
  • Visit a local pool or playground 
  • Go for a walk after dinner and talk about favorite moments from the day
  • Plan a picnic for dinner

2. Cultivate responsibility by getting kids involved around the house

Building personal responsibility in kids goes beyond rule-following. It’s about giving kids opportunities to practice caring for themselves and their environment and learning from successes and mistakes in the process. 

When it comes to the developmental asset of responsibility, summer is a great time to get creative. As kids get a break from school assignments, they can practice cultivating responsibility in other areas of life. For example, parents could have their child pick a household chore to be in charge of throughout the summer. Or, they could involve kids in tasks that introduce new skills and experiences—things like gardening, cooking, reading to siblings, or taking care of pets. 

The important thing is to involve your child in selecting responsibilities for the summer. Being able to choose, even if it’s from a limited list of options, encourages young people to feel that they have positive control over their choices and actions

 3. Let your child choose a special hobby for the summer

Participating in creative activities two or more times helps kids develop several important skills: intellectual comprehension, communication, cultural understanding, and overall creativity and problem-solving. 

Summer can be a great time to encourage kids to explore new interests. Plus, parents can use new hobbies as a tool to set much-needed routines in the midst of a less structured season. Have your child pick an activity or two to try this summer, and if it fits within your budget, take them to the store to pick out items they’ll need for their project. 

Activities to try: 

  • Creative writing or journaling
  • Painting or drawing
  • Building (lego sets, puzzles, block sets)
  • Listening to or playing music

“What we’re doing with Raising Highly Capable Kids is helping them develop those core assets so they have a strong foundation to have a successful life and be a positive contributor to our community.” 

“What we’re doing with Raising Highly Capable Kids is helping them develop those core assets so they have a strong foundation to have a successful life and be a positive contributor to our community.” 

4. Encourage reading for pleasure

Reading is strongly connected to developing positive values and learning concepts, facts, and emotions in creative, inspirational ways. Summer is the perfect time to help kids experience the pleasure of reading for fun, not just for school assignments.

Activities to try: 

  • Put reading material—chapter books, picture books, comic books, etc.—in easy-to-reach places around the house.
  • Set a family reading time once a week to read aloud to younger kids or hang out with older kids while reading different books. 
  • Take advantage of summer reading programs through local libraries or bookstores. These programs often set up reading challenges or adventures to get kids excited about completing a goal. 
  • Join forces with families in your neighborhood to create a summer book club for older kids or story time for younger children

5. Pick one way to serve others

One way to have a memorable, satisfying summer is to dedicate time to making a difference in the world around you. Research shows that young people who serve others are more likely to develop respect, kindness, patience, and helpfulness. Get together with your kids and brainstorm some ways that you could help out in your community. It could be as simple as weeding the yard for an elderly neighbor, or perhaps you could plan a volunteer activity or a home project for the whole family to help out with. 

Get your kids involved in picking summer goals for the family 

For many families, the key to a rejuvenating summer is to set a few goals that will be meaningful and enjoyable. Not sure what to prioritize? Consider having a conversation with your family to brainstorm what you want your summer to include. 

Here are a few questions to use as starting points:

    • How do you want your summer to feel? 
    • What are some local attractions or activities that you could enjoy as a family? 
    • What is a hobby or project that your child would enjoy spending time on? 
    • What are some books you would like to read or movies you would like to watch? 
    • How could you invest in your family’s physical health? How much time should your kids be outside playing or staying inside and relaxing?
    • How much screen time will be allowed? 
    • What seasonal meals or snacks would the family enjoy? 
    • How do you want to build friendships during the season?  

Finalize your list by choosing a handful of things that appeal to your family or by allowing each person to choose one thing that appeals to them. Then, go and enjoy your summer! 

Georgia uses $83.5 million in COVID relief money for public safety grants

Georgia uses $83.5 million in COVID relief money for public safety grants

Georgia news, in the news, current events, Georgia happenings, GA happenings

Georgia uses $83.5 million in COVID relief money for public safety grants

Georgia is giving out more than $83.5 million in federal COVID-19 relief money as grants to fund 118 public safety projects across the Peach State.

 

Departments can use the funds to augment law enforcement staffing and support violent crime reduction initiatives or intervention programs. They can also use the money to invest in technology and equipment to address the uptick in violence and personnel shortages stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

“We commend Gov. Kemp and the legislature for continuing their commitment to public safety, especially in an environment where we continue to see high crime rates in cities across the state,” Josh Crawford, director of criminal justice initiatives for the Georgia Center for Opportunity, said in a statement. “Ensuring safe communities requires involvement from all of us, including partnerships between state and local officials.”

Gov. Brian Kemp announced efforts to enhance public safety

Gov. Brian Kemp announced efforts to enhance public safety

Media statement, in the news, Georgia news, ga news

Gov. Brian Kemp announced efforts to enhance public safety

Today, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced preliminary grant awards totaling more than $83.5 million for 118 community safety projects, including for addressing staffing shortages for law enforcement.

The Georgia Center for Opportunity’s (GCO) take: “We commend Gov. Kemp and the legislature for continuing their commitment to public safety, especially in an environment where we continue to see high crime rates in cities across the state,” said Josh Crawford, director of criminal justice initiatives for GCO. “Ensuring safe communities requires involvement from all of us, including partnerships between state and local officials.”

Crawford recently wrote an op-ed for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on a path forward in reducing Atlanta’s juvenile crime rate. Read it here.

Georgia uses $83.5 million in COVID relief money for public safety grants

Opinion: A path that could reduce Atlanta’s juvenile crime

Georgia news, in the news, current events, Georgia happenings, GA happenings

Opinion: A path that could reduce Atlanta’s juvenile crime

In January, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens launched the “Year of the Youth” plan to combat juvenile crime rates in the city. The issue is a pressing one. Consider that in 2022, 19 of the 170 homicide victims in Atlanta were children. Deshon DuBose, a 13-year-old, is among the juvenile homicide victims already in 2023. He was gunned down while leaving Cascade Family Skating in January.

Meanwhile, Georgia Juvenile Justice Commissioner Tyrone Oliver says that around 50% of youth incarcerated in the state self-identify as gang members. Jayden Myrick, who was found guilty of murder in a 2018 robbery and fatal shooting at an Atlanta wedding, admitted under oath that he was recruited into gang life when he was just 9 or 10 years old.

Juvenile violence skyrocketed across the country in 2020, reversing decades of decline. But even before the increases, juvenile crime was reported in 2018 as 15 times higher in Fulton County than the national average.

Juvenile offending, like adult criminality, concentrates among a very small number of offenders. These juveniles are typically either associated with or being recruited into street gangs and often pressured by adults to commit serious violent offenses.

Thankfully, there are well-documented ways to reduce that kind of offending. Look to Louisville, Kentucky for a recent example of solutions.

In recent years, Louisville has experienced substantial increases in juvenile violence, with arrest rates for juvenile homicide suspects 50% higher than the national average and a majority of carjacking arrestees being under 18 in 2020 and 2021. This prompted Republican State Representative Kevin Bratcher to begin working on what would become House Bill 3, a comprehensive violent juvenile offender accountability and treatment bill. While some of House Bill 3 dealt with issues specific to Louisville, many of its provisions offer policies and best practices worth adopting in Georgia.

Most importantly, the bill required that any juvenile charged with a serious violent offense such as murder, rape, robbery, burglary in the first degree and so on, be immediately detained for a period not to exceed 48 hours. This mandatory detention serves two purposes. It not onlyprotects the public and the juvenile by disrupting the cycle of violence but it also ensures meaningful time for mental health and drug abuse evaluations and comprehensive evaluations of the risks posed by the juvenile before a judge ultimately determines long-term release conditions or pretrial detention.

They also funded a new detention center in Louisville and a myriad of treatment programs intended to get juveniles with one foot in the streets and one foot in civil society back on the right track. This includes funding cognitive behavioral therapy which is being used toeffectively get serious juvenile offenders back on a positive life course. Why fund programs in facilities and not just in the community? Treatment programs for high-risk juveniles are most effective after 200 hours of treatment.

Finally, the new law creates early intervention points for young people who showed no improvement in their diversion programs. It does so by allowing an interdisciplinary team to alter the treatment methods earlier. If parents are unwilling or refuse to comply with a child’s diversion plan, a judge has the authority to hold the parents accountable. Chronic, unexcused absences from schools are strong predictors of future juvenile delinquency.

Unresolved truancy is strongly predictive of future juvenile delinquency and even adult criminality. So, getting it right with those kids today can help a child escape being preyed on by adult gang members and prevent serious violence in the future.

We didn’t get here overnight, and the reasons for the spike in juvenile crime in Atlanta are multifaceted. But the bottom line is that policy solutions similar to those enacted this year in Kentucky can help the city move forward and create a safer community and a more just and fair system.

Josh Crawford is the director of criminal justice initiatives at the Georgia Center for Opportunity.

Read the full article here

This opinion editorial was originally published by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on June 6, 2023. 

Gov. Brian Kemp announced efforts to enhance public safety

State’s occupational license requirement for lactation consultants violates the state constitution

Media statement, in the news, Georgia news, ga news

State’s occupational license requirement for lactation consultants violates the state constitution

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled late last week that the state’s occupational license requirement for lactation consultants violates the state constitution. As the Institute for Justice reports, “The licensure law would have required even experienced lactation care providers to become International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLC), involving two years of college courses, 300+ hours of clinical work, and an expensive exam. This would have made state licensure unattainable for many.”

The Georgia Center for Opportunity’s (GCO) take: “Bottom line, the Georgia Supreme Court made the right call here,” said Eric Cochling, chief program officer and general counsel for GCO. “Occupational licensing is needed in some industries and job categories due to public health and safety concerns, but the laws on the books today in many cases are an unnecessary roadblock to employment for workers. When you add the cost of becoming certified as a lactation consultant to the fact that there is virtually no discernable benefit to public safety or health from imposing the new restrictions, the Supreme Court’s decision is clearly the right one in this case. As our state and nation continue to face a shortage of skilled and qualified workers in a variety of occupations, it’s important that government not throw up unnecessary roadblocks. Unfortunately, occupational licenses are frequently one of them.”