Summer is fast approaching and with it the end of the school year, but that doesn't mean you can't encourage fun learning and involvement all summer long. Hold on, that doesn't mean you will be working over the summer break, it only means that you can extend your relationship with students and their parents, helping continue the learning process even outside of school! So don't worry, here is some simple advice to keep the conversation going, without spending much (or any) of your precious summer time thinking about school.

Before the actual last day of school, explain to your class about the fun activities that will be happening on Bloomz during the summer and ask them to remind their parents. Send a post or two describing some of your activities so parents will know about them and can plan on participating. Adding special activities or reminders to the calendar with reminders can help parents as well.

Some of these activities, you could even schedule before leaving school for the summer!

1. Birthdays: Send a birthday wish to students with birthdays over the summer.
2. Teacher Travel: Stay connected with the students and their families. Share pictures and encourage students to posts questions.
3. Poetry Posts: Students love poetry! Students can write and share a picture of their original poem. They could also record themselves reading their poem.
4. Book Blast: Students can do a book post and share what they loved about a book read on Epic Books, Raz Kids and all books. Then other students might be interested in reading the book. Parents can share their child's Book Blast and photos with the community.
5. Events Calendar: Find out what exhibits, events, and concerts are happening in your area over the summer and add these to your classroom calendar.
6. Family Activity: Take a photo at the public library and share in a shared album in Bloomz.
7. Outdoor Activity: If taking a stroll or a walk in a nearby park, take some photos and add to a shared album.
8. Learning Activities: Share this link with reading tips in 11 languages as a link in a post for parents.
9. Flat Stanley: Read several Flat Stanley books before the last day of school and explain to students how to make a flat Stanley from paper. Students can take their own Flat "Bobby or Katie" different places and take a photo and post with parents' help to a shared photo album in Bloomz.

How will you be using Bloomz over the summer to keep parents engaged? Share in the comments below!

We hope you all have a great summer!