Flash These Cards to Launch Summer Learning

I received a sample from TestingMom to review for this sponsored post. The opinions are completely my own based on my experiences.

When my twins were finishing their final weeks of kindergarten and my toddler napped, I launched into “special learning time” with my four-year-old to prevent the summer slide, ease her transition from preschool to full-day pre-K, and prepare her to take the NYC Gifted &Talented test six months from now.

This is my second time around the block. When my twins were four, we enjoyed playing “space baby games” on TestingMom.com and answered a few sets of G&T practice questions. But what clicked most for our family were “offline” activities that deepened my kids’ understanding of core concepts they would see on the G&T exam and in school. We created patterns in Tic-tac-toe frames, set the stopwatch for puzzle competitions, played card and board games, set out on measuring tape scavenger hunts, devoured dozens of books, and talked all the time. I was determined to engage my kids in fun, natural ways that I wouldn’t later consider a waste of time if they didn’t score a G&T placement.

And it worked! We were fortunate to find two seats in a G&T kindergarten class on our block. So, my approach has been similar this time around. But now I have an excellent new tool up my sleeve: a whole line of TestingMom flashcards.

My kids love these bright and colorful cards. They have the same fun space baby imagery from the online interactive practice questions. But now we aren’t tied to the computer. I keep the cards in my bedroom closet, so we can flip through 10-15 while my toddler naps.

When the Verbal Concept flash cards arrived in the mail, I explained to my then three-year-old that these were her “special learning cards” so we shouldn’t let her little sister chew on or bend them. As the third child, she was used to hand-me-downs and sharing everything with her siblings. But this package was hers and hers alone.

We have precious few minutes without sibling distraction, so study time has a special, conspiratorial urgency to it. My daughter ceremoniously selects one card at a time to work on before slapping it down into a “We did it!” pile.

After practicing with the Verbal Concepts cards for a few months, my four-year-old can now comprehend what she hears and describe what she sees regarding time (before, second), space (above, far), quantity (few, more), and quality (curvy, gigantic).

We are now excited to try the Spatial Concepts cards. The package arrived at night. When I woke up the next day, the kids had already dug in. I entered the kitchen to find a handful of cards on the breakfast table along with cereal remnants. Thankfully they wipe off easily!

“I’m the teacher,” came my oldest daughter’s voice from around the corner. She had set out piles of cards in her top bunk and called for her siblings to join. She read the questions aloud to her “class,” teaching the basic cards (“This shape got bigger, so let’s make this shape bigger too!”) and stretching her mind with questions targeted toward 2^nd-graders. Soon she was hooked and set a goal to tackle the whole deck in one day.

I didn’t expect my soon-to-be 1^st-graders to love the cards as much as they do. Whereas they sailed through the Verbal Concepts stack, the puzzles, patterns, and analogies in the Spatial Concepts questions worked their brains in a new way.

Once we realized that the colors and numbers on the cards corresponded to types of questions and difficulty level, my order-loving son got to work sorting the jumbled cards by color and number.

“I’m looking for all the brown cards!” he announced as he ran to the other room and recreated the paper folding questions in real life.

The card appeal reached down in age too. Today as I explored a deck with my four-year-old, my toddler pleaded to join us on the bed. She just turned two, but I still think of her as a baby. So I told her that if she bent any cards, she would have to leave the bedroom. When my four-year-old took a bathroom break, her little sister stared longingly at the unoccupied cards. 

“Alright. Would you like to try one?” Her face lit up. “Where is the circle?” I asked.

Bam. She immediately pointed to the circle shape on the card.

“You found the circle! Now, where’s the heart?” 

Bam—right again. 

“Do you see a square?” 

That time she pointed to a triangle. So, we still have some work to do. But I’m so glad I gave her a chance. I need to wake up to the fact that kids of all ages—including my little two-year-old sponge—love to learn. With the right tweaking, each of the cards can be simplified or amplified to meet kids where they are on their learning journey and take them to the next academic level.

Now when my four-year-old sees her older and younger siblings playing with the cards, she doesn’t want to miss out. It stretches her attention span and opens the door for more learning.

Think Outside the Flashcard Box

·       After answering a question, use the card as a launching point for discussions and activities involving the concepts. For instance, when learning about over and under, duck under the bedsheet to make a tent.

·       Add your own questions, switching up a word here or there to make the cards new each time.

·       Act out the concepts in real life. For instance, when my daughter struggled with the mirror image questions, we traced the pictures on an empty sandwich bag and flipped it over to see what the mirror image would actually look like.

·       Don’t overdo it. Work through a handful each session, maybe adding a card each time to stretch attention span and patience.

·       Keep a few cards in your purse to peruse on a park bench or while waiting in line. Some of the pattern cards are tricky enough to require parent learning too!

·       When my daughter says, “I’m too tired of this,” we finish one more card and then switch gears, moving to a puzzle, movement game, snuggle time, or super snacks (where we use food to make patterns, sort in categories, and act out math stories).

With a little thought, almost every activity of the day can turn into intentional learning time—some involving active parent engagement, and others that you can set up and let your children explore independently. I’m so thankful to have these great cards on hand to inspire that learning process.