How can parents combat the 'summer slide' in elementary age students?

Answer 1

Since I have been doing this for many years, learning during the summer should be fun. There are a lot of learning games that students can play.

Children are a little frightened of the next grade so tutoring during the summer for at least twice a week for 1 hour would be very helpful. This will allow them to become prepared for the next grade content.

The summer is also for students to brush up on skills that they struggled with during the previous school year. If reading is an issue then find someone to help the students using phonics based exercises. If language arts is not strong then make sure to cover the parts of speech, sentence structure, grammar, etc. If math is an issue then make sure they get the theory to build their vocabulary. For math give them step-by-step instructions to solve average math problems and make sure to include review of multiplication if they are at that grade level.

Based on the child's grade you can look up the requirements for each grade and focus on those skills. State wide testing practice is also a good idea.

Answer 2

Learning throughout the summer is critical to a student's success. There are a variety of ways to combat the summer slide.

1. Lead by example. Parents, pick up a book to read. Share what you are reading with your student. Show enthusiasm!
2. Go to your local library. Kids love to have their own library card. Make it part of your weekly or biweekly routine to stop at the library.
3. Have conversations with your child. For example, when you see a construction site, have your child look at the area critically. Make an inference together. What is happening with the heavy equipment, what is it being used for, and what might be the next step.
4. Shopping online or in person? Enlist your child's help. Calculate prices per ounce or per serving to find the most economical purchase. Stores and websites often provide this information, so use addition and subtraction to compare differences.
5. When you fill up your gas tank, have your child chart the price of gas. Look for trends in gas prices and make predictions based on trends.

Interacting with your child and making connections to the world around us encourages student learning!