Battling Summer Brain Drain
Keep school skills active at home!
Have kids? How familiar are you with brain drain? No, we’re not referring to you! Instead it’s about your children! Brain drain is the term coined to explain the amount of information lost by most students over traditional summer vacation – typically between 2-3 months worth! While a break from traditional learning has its benefits, there are a few things you can do to help keep minds sharp for the incoming school year. It’s never too late to start!
- First, keep skills active! Schools have this in mind when they send home a summer reading list. Yes, it keeps children busy, but it also helps preserve reading and comprehension abilities. If left to their own devices, children may try to approach their list during the last 2 weeks of summer. Instead, encourage them to scan the list and think about setting a goal to tick a few off each week.
- Next encourage children of all ages to take a larger role in household chores. It could be grocery shopping, budgeting, even cooking! They will be honing math skills while calculating half or double favorite family recipes.
- Summer nutrition also plays a critical part of a child’s ability to learn. Recommendations continue to focus on a diet rich in a variety of minimally processed foods as the best path to support brain development and academic performance. Under consuming foods such as fruits and vegetables is associated with lower grades. Processed, fried and sweet foods should be incorporated sparingly as they have been tied to underperformance.
We’ve put together a list of kid friendly dishes that incorporate a powerhouse of produce to give growing youngsters the nutrients they need. Aim for a variety of color with a daily focus on at least one orange and green vegetable.
Dark Green Veggies: broccoli, collards, spinach, romaine
Salmon Nuggets with Spinach Cashew Dip
Red and Orange Veggies: carrots, pumpkin, sweet potato, red peppers
Starchy Veggies: corn, peas, potatoes
Blue Corn Moon Plantain Fritters
Other: celery, cabbage, cucumbers, green peppers, mushrooms
Sweet Kale Chicken - Avocado Salad
Published September 1, 2021
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