Here we go, parents, it is our turn. School is out for summer and full custody of our children has been returned. Something that is talked about often this time of year is the “summer slide.” At Huntington, we do not love that term. Why? Because slides are fun!
Instead, let’s talk about stepping up this summer instead of summer setbacks. Along with our Instagram mini-series, we provide tips, tricks, apps, and more to avoid summer setbacks!
Reading
Did you know students can lose up to 20% of reading gains from the previous school year over the summer?
First tip, READ.EVERY.DAY!!! This seems simple, but it is not always. It is important to make sure your child is reading at his or her independent reading level. We do not want them to struggle or get frustrated, hindering the joy of reading. Find something that your child enjoys. Utilize your local libraries. Let your child check out as many books as he or she would like. Recently, my daughter checked out 13 books from our local library. Did she read them all? NO!!! She found what she was interested in and enjoyed those books!
Another great idea is to find something you can read together and whether you read with each other or independently, you can have a home “Book Club” to discuss and reinforce those comprehension skills.
Final reading tip, free and/or inexpensive applications that reinforce phonics and begin teaching those important comprehension skills. We love PBS Kids, Khan Kids, Starfall ABCs, and Epic! Notice the exclamation point! Reading is important.
Math
Above we mentioned reading loss over the summer. Math loss can be even greater, up to 27% from the previous school year over the summer! We are going to start this set of tips with applications, two favorites and one that we like. You have probably heard of IXL from school (if your district uses this program.) IXL adjusts as your child does well with a particular math process or application. You can also utilize SplashLearn and Starfall. We like Starfall for younger children who are just learning number readiness, addition, and subtraction.
Simple things that we all have around the house can also help increase math skills and can be done as a family! Who doesn’t have a deck of playing cards, UNO, or a pair of die? Utilize these objects to practice addition, subtraction, and multiplication. With these smaller numbers, it is more difficult to practice division. With playing cards and UNO, add, subtract, or multiply the numbers. You can do the same when you throw the dice. Make it a challenge and see how many your child can get correct in a certain amount of time!
Writing
Let’s talk handwriting. Whew! This is a very common concern. For our K-2 students, there are free printables all over the trusted internet, lol. Seriously, Google “free printables.” You can print the entire alphabet for tracing, upper and lowercase, create your child’s name to practice, and/or just print letters that he or she may be struggling with, such as b/d. The tried-and-true method available for all, although at a cost, that we use in the center is Handwriting Without Tears. For older students, you can find inexpensive graph paper. Depending on age, the size of each graph square matters. If your child is really struggling, you will want to use half-inch squares, rather than the smaller, one-fourth squares. Have your child write one letter per square for proper formation and spatial relationships. Leave two squares between words and encourage one square for punctuation.
Written expression is a skill many parents express (pun intended) concern. Start by letting your child pick out a “special” notebook for summer writing. It would be simple for us to say; “google writing prompts,” but let’s get creative. Think about the activities you do in a week. This could be as simple as going to the grocery store, to the pool, or camp. Ask your child to pick one activity per week and list the details. From this list, children can circle the details they want to write about and develop a main idea. Depending on age, it could be three paragraphs or that well-known expectation of a five-paragraph essay with an introduction, body, and conclusion. With the details and main idea chosen, encourage creativity. For example, let’s say the lifeguard blew the whistle at the pool, “Walk, don’t run!” When the whistle blew, dolphins began performing in the pool! If your child is younger, let him or her dictate to you. The goal is expression, words from brain to paper. While practicing written expression, do not forget proper grammar!
We have talked about reading, math, and writing and hope you have learned something to help your child step up this summer. If you are concerned about summer setbacks or are looking for enrichment, give us a call to learn about our summer programs!
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Huntington Learning Center Weddington is located at 5945 Weddington Road, Suite 104. Call today ( 704-243-5782) to get your child the help they need and deserve.
