How to Avoid the Summer Slide

Summer is well upon us which means all sorts of excitement: hot weather, flip flops, pools, vacations, beaches, parks – the list goes on and on! Unfortunately, there is one pitfall to summer: the summer slide. I’m not talking about that playground slide that is ALWAYS too hot (why can’t these be produced in a different material that isn’t potentially butt burning?) but the fact that most students lose some of what they’ve learned over the school year during the summer. Expert Laura Reber, founder and CEO of Chicago Home Tutor, is here to share some concrete tips for avoiding the summer slide, and encouraging summer learning no matter your child’s age.

Estimates vary on how steep the summer slide is but the consensus is unanimous that a loss happens. Here are some of my favorite tips and tricks to help you slow down or even prevent the summer slide.


Reading

If your child is learning to read, I’d recommend the website Starfall where kids can work on letter names and sounds as well as basic phonics and sight words. If you’d prefer an offline version, I also like the Sound Partner’s Program which is a great and effective program that anyone can use to teach their K-2nd grade students how to read. The lessons can be done in about 15-30 minutes per day.

If your student is already reading, but you’d like to maintain their reading skills over the summer (or improve their reading comprehension), you can use the summer reading packets from Readworks.org. If you’re more adventurous and want to explore the website more, Readworks.org also has a limitless number of articles with comprehension questions to keep your child reading all summer. You can even let your child pick the genre or topic to help keep them engaged!


Tip for the little ones:

Head to the library for story time, and let your child pick some books to bring home! Read in the morning while you eat breakfast together, or every night before bed.


Math

While the summer slide tends to focus on the importance of reading during the summer, don’t forget about math! Xtramath.org makes math fun by including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division into fun games.

For additional math skills (did you catch the pun there?), check out IXL.com which has the skills broken down both by grade level and skill set, so you can focus on the skills that were most difficult for your child to master during the school year. You can do 20 problems per day for free or create a paid account to track progress and gain unlimited access.


Tip for the little ones:

Roll some extra-large dice and practice counting the dots!


Executive Functioning Skills

Executive functioning are those skills dealing with planning, time management, organization, and flexibility. Some children can benefit from professional coaching in these areas over the summer so they are ready to tackle the school year. For those of you who’d like to work on executive functioning skills on your own over the summer, check out Habitica.com which allows you to create a virtual game world out of your child’s every day tasks and chores. If you’d prefer a print version, check out one or more of the Smart but Scattered series of books -you’ll find many practical guides for supporting your child’s executive functioning skills at school and at home.


Tip for the little ones:

Play is the first step to developing these skills. Open play places are the perfect spot for your child to explore role play and imaginative play!



Laura Reber is a nationally certified school psychologist working in the Chicago area. For more from Pearachute, visit us on Facebook and Instagram.