Rising Stars Summer Success Guide (K-12)

Build Independence and Organization

• Practice daily routines.
• Practice using a planner or calendar. Families can let students track their own activities or appointments.
• Give students small responsibilities like packing their own bag for outings.

Strengthen Reading and Vocabulary

• Encourage twenty minutes of daily reading. Graphic novels, magazines, and audiobooks all count.
• Encourage journaling while reading.
• Visit the public library weekly and choose high-interest books.

Practice Real World Math and Problem Solving

• Have kids estimate totals while shopping and compare them to the receipt.
• Cook together and follow a recipe. Cooking reinforces measurement, fractions, sequencing, & perseverance.
• Let them manage a small budget for a treat or outing.
• Play strategy games like Uno, Yahtzee, or checkers.
• Math Activities for Families

Strengthen Digital Skills

• Have students practice typing, organizing digital folders, and writing short emails to family.
• Review online safety expectations together.
• Let them complete a small independent project like creating a slideshow about a personal interest.

Encourage Curiosity and Exploration

• Watch a short educational video together and discuss one thing learned.
• Take nature walks and use a notebook to record observations like weather, plants, or animals.
• Visit a local museum, park program, or community event.
• Read about science topics and discuss what you read.

Prepare for Middle School Routines

• Buy a planner and begin recording daily events
• Talk through what multiple teachers and class transitions will look like.
• Organize a study space at home and let the student help design it.

Explore Civic and Community Engagement

• Read about Florida's Civics & Government Education and explore the ideas and activities together.
• Visit a local landmark, historic site, or city building such as the library, city hall, or a courthouse open house, and discuss who works there and what they do.
• Practice respectful conversation by taking turns, listening fully, and using phrases like “I see it differently because” or “I agree with you when you said.”

Strengthen Independence and Time Management

• Encourage students to manage their own daily schedule that includes sleep, chores, and personal goals.
• Practice using a planner or calendar to map out weekly commitments.
• Promote responsibility by letting students handle their own planning and preparation.

Build Academic Readiness and Literacy Skills

• Aim for daily reading in any format.
• Have students summarize what they read to build comprehension.
• Introduce simple note-taking practices during videos or articles.

Strengthen Real World Math, Problem Solving, and Life Skills

• Encourage them to calculate how long everyday tasks will take and plan backward from a deadline.
• Have them read and interpret simple charts or graphs from daily life, such as weather apps or sports stats.
• Ask them to check whether answers from a calculator make sense based on the situation.
• Encourage students to tackle real-life problems by brainstorming more than one possible solution and comparing which option works best.

Build Responsibility, Self‑Advocacy, and Wellness Skills

• Help students practice communicating with teachers, asking for help, and managing their own work.
• Support stronger organization and study habits by identifying strengths, needs, and simple routines.
• Encourage social confidence and well‑being through activities, healthy coping skills, responsible tech use, and consistent sleep habits.

Encourage Curiosity and Exploration

• Try citizen science projects
  • iNaturalist (biodiversity observations)
  • Zooniverse (classifying galaxies, wildlife, medical images, etc.)
  • NASA GLOBE Observer (clouds, mosquito habitat mapping, trees)
• Volunteer for a Local Environmental or STEM Activity
• Learn to Use a New Digital Tool
  • Excel/Sheets for graphing
  • Canva for scientific diagrams
  • PhET simulations
  • Free coding sites (Scratch, Blockly, or Python intro platforms) These tools strengthen data manipulation and modeling skills.

Prepare for High School Expectations

• Tour the high school campus, if possible, check out school websites for orientation dates.
• Review graduation requirements in simple, family friendly language.
• Help students set goals for the school year, one academic, one organizational, and one personal.

Explore Personal and Financial Literacy Topics

• Practice basic budgeting by planning for small purchases, comparing everyday costs, and thinking through saving vs. spending.
• Talk about real work expectations such as the time commitment of a part‑time job and how to balance responsibilities with school.
• Introduce simple money management by exploring checking/saving, interest, and solving real problems like choosing fair or efficient options.

Explore Civic and Community Engagement

• Encourage students to volunteer at community organizations, local events, parks, libraries, or schools.
• Visit local government buildings or historic sites to learn about community roles and decision-making processes.
• Guide students to identify a community issue they care about and brainstorm one realistic action step they could take with adult support.