It's ninety plus here in Seattle today with a cloudless sky and the Mariners pulled out a victory against the Red Sox in the bottom of the 9th. Yes, you couldn't have a more picture perfect summer day. But what have I been thinking about? Whether or not my kids will be ready for school in September. While my wife and I have planned a very active summer for our two boys (twins, age 8), I'm quite concerned that they will be ready for the changes that await them as they move into third grade.

Come September, most teachers will spend their first month of class time waking the minds of their students who have mostly put their "thinking caps" away for the last two months. My kids will begin learning to write in cursive next school year, which I expect to be quite a challenge for them since they haven't yet mastered printing. I didn't want them to park their pencils in their desk drawers for the summer, but still wanted them to enjoy themselves so that they were recharged and ready to go in the fall.

The answer? Ah yes, games and puzzles of course. My wife and I casually set aside 5 or 10 minutes after dinner to play games with our kids. Doing so gives us quality time with the boys while keeping their minds sharp. My wife, a crossword puzzle enthusiast, invites the boys to join her in completing the puzzle each day. I also keep some Kotsuku cards
handy, both of which work well to develop those fine motor skills and expand their vocabularies. Other favorites are chess and sudoku for keeping their math skills sharp. The most important factor to consider when choosing a game to play is consider the academic strengths and weaknesses of your student. Something as simple as creating trivia questions from the newspaper can get the intellectual juices flowing (this works particularly well when you give your kids a chance to quiz you.)