Summertime is well underway and children have been busy trading in their class time for pool time as schools around the country are on hiatus until late August/early September.
Families are enjoying day trips, lighter schedules, vacations, quality time together, and plenty of outdoor fresh air. However, although children would probably much prefer to shelve their books and ignore practicing those basic math facts – they shouldn’t.
Each fall, teachers wrestle with the inevitable “summer slide” – or summer learning loss where studies show there is significant knowledge loss in reading and math over summer break if children don’t practice these skills each day.
Kelly Ross, Oak Knoll's Academic Support Counselor, said throughout the past year, schools and teachers have noticed a greater need for support of executive functioning skills – or self-regulation skills that are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully.
Ross offers the following advice for parents and families to help children avoid the summer slide and manageably prepare for the 2022-23 school year ahead.
Support Executive Functioning Skills
The fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic left many students struggling with self-regulation skills, attention spans and keeping things organized. Ross and other experts recommend that parents and caregivers should try to set aside time this summer to help their children plan out their summer work. Having a plan in place for children 3-4 days during the summer where they can focus on this summer work is helpful. Parents might suggest that their child read and work on math for 30 minutes before starting their day. Another way to work on executive functioning skills while having fun is to plan out a summer project or a trip from start to finish. These are just some ways in which you can engage your child and have them be part of the process while they brush up on these important skills ahead of the new school year.
Stay School Ready
The last thing your child wants to hear in the summer is that they must stay school ready. Instead, try giving the control back to your child and encourage them to get organized and make their own workspace in your home. Perhaps you have an area in a room like your kitchen or den for a small desk. Encourage your child to make this station their own. If your child has an iPad or iPhone they can download a Google calendar or personal organizer like Planner Pro. By giving them a bit of ownership over their space, you’re inadvertently helping them with necessary executive functioning skills as they move through the school years.
Keep Kids Reading Each Day
Although eyes may roll when you tell your child to open the books during the summer, practicing reading skills each day for at least 20 minutes is essential. Reading each day, even in the summer, trains children not to lose their established reading stamina and prevents further slides during the off months of school. Keeping up with reading is especially important this year because of the COVID remote time and additional school closures. If your child can’t focus on reading on their own, ask them to read aloud to you or a sibling. Or better yet – check out your local library for summer story times where they could attend with a friend or older children and teens might find the quiet library spaces where they can focus on their reading more beneficial than the distractions of home.
Practice Basic Math Facts
During the summer, and in addition to reading, kids should be practicing their math skills for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. There are many online platforms where your children can practice, including Khan Academy, Brain Pop and IXL. Check your children’s school website also for any summer math packets that might have been posted. The earlier your child gets a jump on your assigned summer work, the less likely they will be to race to finish the week before school begins.
Make Summer Learning Fun!
Help your children to find learning opportunities in the summer that are stress-free! Families everywhere have certainly just ended a busy school year. Perhaps give your child a journal where they can spend time free writing or drawing on its pages. There are also several different online summer classes available to enroll in. Alternatively, think about the many different types of field trips your child may be interested in exploring, including around your hometown. Think your local museum, an amusement park or another fun outing experience near you. There are so many new adventures to be had this summer! Heading to the ballpark or to an MLB game? Help your child keep score and figure out batting averages – this is a wonderful way to inadvertently practice math skills.
At the conclusion of another jam-packed school year, children certainly deserve their time off to relax, recoup and enjoy free time. Summer work does not have to be, nor should it be, stressful! There are several ways in which your child can continue to practice learning while having fun at the same time. Over the span of these upcoming long summer days, there is certainly more than enough time each day for your child to sharpen their skills for September. Not sure where to start? Consider making a family rule – no going out, riding bikes, heading to the pool until your child’s daily reading and math practice is finished for the day. Now that’s motivation!
