Stop the Summer Learning Slide
It’s summer and your child clearly needs a break from school — but not a break from learning. Studies show that children who don’t exercise their brains during summer break can lose up to two months’ worth of valuable, hard-won learning. Here’s how to prevent the “summer slide.”
The brain is a muscle. It needs exercise to stay strong. For kids with ADHD or learning disabilities, this is particularly true. They have to work harder to retain all those multiplication tables, punctuation rules, and history facts.
In this video, learn five ways to stop the summer slide, and hold onto the school year’s learning.
Stop the Summer Learning Slide
It’s summer and your child clearly needs a break from school — but not a break from learning.
Studies show that children who don’t exercise their brains during summer break can lose up to two months’ worth of valuable, hard-won learning.
Here’s how to prevent “summer learning loss.”
1. Read every day.
Summer reading shouldn’t feel like homework. Encourage kids to read about their interests and passions for pleasure – comic books and audio books are OK.
“My kids go to different camps that cater to their interests. We also do the ‘library reading summer challenge,’ where we practice family reading time.” – Gabs
2. Incorporate writing into fun projects.
Encourage your child to start a blog, send emails to a friend or family member, or even write captions for a summer photo album.
“Writing is a big challenge in our house, so we set aside time every day to write about a trip, a science experiment, or just the daily fun of summer. A little bit of writing on a fun topic keeps things calm and low pressure while still practicing this vital skill.” – quietsmile
3. Play math games.
Fun, interesting math lessons lurk within the boxes of board games, card, and dice games.
“Board games like Monopoly, Mastermind, and Qwirkle are terrific for practicing counting, adding, and subtracting.” – Sandra Rief, M.A.
4. Take it outside.
Turn whatever your child’s outdoor adventures into a learning experience.
At the end of each day, have him write a list of things to bring to the beach tomorrow or write a journal entry explaining how he built his fort.
“Summer is the time for my daughters to earn life skill ‘badges.’ These are things like learning how to cook a certain meal, do their laundry, or wash the table.” – Halfwritten
5. Set the stage for the year ahead.
Redo her homework area together. Request early access to text books and reading lists. Walk your child to where her new classroom will be, and meet teachers in advance.
“I laminate a daily schedule. There’s one for school days and one for summer. Each has a front and a back – one side for mornings and one side for evenings.” – Leetles
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