Summer break is almost around the corner, and kids can’t wait for all the fun in the sun! While enjoying the warm weather, it’s important to keep your child on track for the next academic year. For this reason, summer learning is essential to prevent your child from falling into the summer slide. Here’s why the summer learning matters and how it benefits your child’s cognitive growth and academic performance:
Prevent Summer Learning Loss
Summer Learning Loss is defined as the loss of knowledge or skills due to the extended summer break. Many teachers know the struggle of back to school as they usually spend the first month of school in setting up the routines, and helping students to review the previous content. This catch-up period can consume up to 10% of the school year. Research indicates that most students lose 2.6 months of grade level equivalency in mathematical skills and 1-2 months of reading skills after summer break. Elementary students are more prone to summer learning loss than the Middle and High school students. In order to prevent this summer slide, parents must help support their children with reading, writing and math.
Here are some simple summer learning activities that will help to improve your child’s academic performance and make them ready for back to school.
(1) Encourage them to Read
Have your child read daily and maintain a book log. This will help them improve their reading and writing skills. You should visit public libraries with them and let them choose their own book by using IPICK method. You may enroll your child in amazing summer learning programs offered by public libraries. Hence, encouraging your child for independent reading will benefit their reading and writing skills.
(2) Write Book Reviews
Encourage your child to write book reviews during the summer to boost their learning. Writing book reviews helps kids share what they think about the author’s ideas and shows how well they understood the book. They can also share their reviews with friends. Unlike a book report, which just summarizes the book, a book review gives a quick look at what the book is about. Writing book reviews will improve your child’s reading and writing skills.
(3) Maintain a Writing Journal
Encourage your child to keep a personal journal to record their summer activities. They may include their pictures, drawings and learnings to it. This will not only preserve their summer memories, but will also help your child to practice their writing skills.
(4) Incorporate Math into Daily Activities for Summer Learning
Math becomes interesting when it’s part of everyday activities. Here are some useful ideas to incorporate math into daily activities for summer learning:
• Grocery Shopping
Take your child grocery shopping and help them practice different math concepts like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, rates, and budgeting. You can also turn it into a game by giving them a budget and seeing if they can stay within it while buying everything on your list.
• Yard Sale
If you are planning a yard sale, involve your kids in deciding prices and discounts. They can be in charge of the cash box and learn about money transactions. Additionally, you can ask them to calculate profits and losses at the end of the sale.
• Make Recipes
Cooking is a life skill that everyone should learn. Involve your kids in making delicious recipes with you. This summer learning activity will help your child understand ratios and proportions. You can also challenge them to double or halve a recipe to practice multiplication and division.
• Play Cards
Playing cards is a fun way to practice math. Games like “Go Fish” can help with number recognition, while games like “21” (Blackjack) can help with addition and understanding probability.
• Outdoor Math Games
Create math scavenger hunts or set up hopscotch with numbers where kids solve math problems to advance.
• Measure and Build Projects
If you’re doing any DIY projects around the house, get your kids involved. Measuring lengths, widths, and heights, and then calculating areas and volumes, can be a great hands-on math activity.
By integrating these activities into your summer routine, you can make math a fun and natural part of your child’s day, boosting their skills without it feeling like homework.
(5) Get Tutored
Summer tutoring can offer an opportunity for students who may have previously struggled with reading, writing and math to build confidence and get ready for the new academic year. During the summer, tutors can tailor their lesson to meet their academic needs.
About iGuide Academy
As a tutoring service, iGuide is dedicated to providing students of all levels and ages with outstanding academic support. Our experienced tutors are committed to encouraging students’ intellectual development and maximizing their potential.
With our specialized summer learning program, you can catch up, remain up-to-date, and reach ahead this summer. Get in touch with us to find out more about iGuide’s summer learning programs. Let us assist your child in realizing their full potential and achieving academic achievement.
