Father Tom Anderson with participants at the annual Sacred Heart School 5k. Photo courtesy of Andrea Siemonsma.
By Casey Bassett
Summer break is here, and for school students, it’s a time to celebrate relief from the structured schedule the school year offered. But that lack of structure can quickly turn into the “summer slide,” a wayward and directionless wandering through the summer months where development slips backward. The summer slide creates a challenge for parents as they try to find ways to keep their child engaged in healthy activities.
Fighting the slide
Sacred Heart School in Yankton has been helping students and parents beat the summer slide for years now.
“This summer will mark 10 years since initiating our Summer Activity Challenge,” said Andrea Siemonsma, a third-grade teacher at Sacred Heart School. “Students are provided a list of activity ideas and assigned a point value for each. Students keep track of their points, and parents vouch for them. If the school meets the goal in the fall when we return, we celebrate by enjoying the determined activity as a whole school.”
For Andrea, who is also a mother of six children, four of whom are school-age, the impact of the program goes deeper than wanting her class to be ready to go in the fall.
“As a parent, I want our students to have a relaxed environment but still be productive,” she said. “Knowing what to do can be hard with more time and less structure, which is why I appreciate the list of ideas. Our family uses it as a tool to help teach our own children how to be responsible and manage their free time: Have you worked your brain? Your body? Your spirit/faith?”
The areas Andrea’s questions point to are precisely the areas of development the program at Sacred Heart targets.
“The activities cover the whole child: intellect, body, spirit/faith and service,” Andrea said. “To be a thriving student and citizen, we need to have a balance in all of these areas. Some activities are for students to complete on their own, but there are also ideas that families could do together. We want to help create an environment where learning can thrive.”
Engaging the mind
When it comes to intellectual development, Andrea stresses the need for variety and simplicity.
“Learning is more than completing workbook pages,” she said. “We try to include learning in disguise with fun activities like graphing the daily temperature or weather or writing a persuasive letter to parents for something you want to do.”
A healthy body
We often associate summer most with the chance to engage in physical activities.
“Our bodies are a gift from God, so it is our responsibility to take care of them,” explained Andrea. “Getting moving promotes a healthy lifestyle.”
Some activities on the summer program list include biking, swimming or attending the annual Sacred Heart School 5K, which is also a chance to catch up with other families.
Deepening a relationship with God
The summer slide can easily mean a loss of structured prayer life or consistent reception of the sacraments, which are hallmarks of the school year.
“It’s a goal that students and families embrace spiritual activities to strengthen their faith and love for God,” Andrea said.
Andrea suggests simple activities like praying the Rosary or reading about a saint, with the invitation to try something new, like a pilgrimage to the House of Mary Shrine or the Cathedral of Saint Joseph.
Serving others
Sometimes it’s tempting to think about service only as partaking in some coordinated effort. But there are small ways families and students can serve others throughout the summer.
“Bake something and share it with a friend or neighbor,” said Andrea. “Choose an area and pick up trash together. Activities are meant for families to be a light of Christ in our community.”
Benefits in the classroom and beyond
At the beginning of the next school year when students turn in their activity sheets, the effects of the program are clear.
“Students are invested and really get excited about learning and sharing their activities,” Andrea said. “Sacred Heart students have a high participation in different activities, and it shows through their academic achievement in the fall.”
Even beyond academic achievement, Sacred Heart’s summer challenge teaches students time management, goal setting and, ultimately, what’s most important in life: serving Christ and others. These lessons are what create solid, well-rounded, devoted adults who spread Christ’s love and strengthen his Church in eastern South Dakota and beyond.
If you’re interested in implementing activities from Sacred Heart’s program into your summer routine, check out the list below. Be sure to check with your school to see if they offer a similar summer program.
Activities from Sacred Heart School’s summer program and consider adopting a few for your family this summer:
Intellect
- Write in a journal each day
- Read a book to a family member
- Visit a zoo
- Play a game
Body
- Ride bike
- Build a fort
- Draw and play hopscotch
- Plant a garden
Spirit/Faith
- Attend Mass/adoration/confession
- Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet
- Attend Lumen Christi parish camps
- Turn a favorite Scripture verse into artwork
Service
- Write a letter to a friend
- Pray for those who are sick or imprisoned
- Walk through a cemetery and pray for the dead
- Write a thank you letter to a public service member (police, firefighter, paramedic, etc.)
