School’s out, summer’s here, and it’s time for some fun in the sun! The summer season is all about sleeping in, playing outside, and relaxing, right? Sure, summer should be a time for the kids to sit back and enjoy life. But there’s no reason you can’t keep their math skills sharp at the same time. Unfortunately, June, July, and August are three months of the year when your kids are at the highest risk of losing all the math knowledge they’ve gained throughout the school year.
On average, those 2.5 months away from school accounts for significant learning loss in students. The good news is that there are ways to combat the summer slide. Let’s take a closer look at summer learning loss and explore some helpful tips to keep your child’s math skills sharp.
What Is the Summer Slide?
Educators refer to learning loss that occurs in the summer months, the “summer slide.” Essentially, it is a decline in your child’s academic skills that occurs due to an extended time when school isn’t in session. Research shows that kids who don’t practice their educational qualifications in the summer months can suffer from learning loss by the time a new school year starts.
It makes sense, right? The concept of a summer slide is actually applicable to most situations in life. For example, if you master a skill at work, then stop using it for three months, your skillset will decline. You’ll undoubtedly be less experienced than someone who has continued to practice and implement that skill into their daily work life.
The same goes for students who don’t practice what they learned in school over the summer. Summer learning loss isn’t just a problem for students, educators, and parents in the classroom. It can have long-lasting effects that include:
- Lower test scores
- Lower self-confidence
- Lower chance of high school and college success
Math, in particular, is a skill that can be easily affected by the summer slide. Most math teachers spend three to six weeks at the beginning of school reteaching math skills students learned at the end of the previous school year.
The good news is that a couple of months of focused learning can improve your child’s learning skills. The great news is that a little extra effort by parents in the summer can help students avoid the summer slide altogether. In fact, summer is a great time to keep your kids’ math skills sharp. That’s because children have more time, are less tired, and have more focus without the burden of other classes, homework, and extracurricular activities.
Keep Math Skills Sharp with These Summer Tips
The secret to avoiding the summer slide and keeping math skills sharp is to keep your kids learning all summer long. The key to doing so is to provide learning opportunities throughout the summer and make them fun! Here are some fun ways to keep math skills sharp, so your student is prepared for the next school year when summer comes to an end:
1. Whip Up Something in the Kitchen
Grab your favorite recipe and meet your student in the kitchen. Almost all areas of cooking involve math. Precise measuring, sequencing, and counting are math concepts used when baking or following a recipe. Older students can benefit from scaling a recipe, which often requires multiplication and division. Your kids won’t even know they’re learning and practicing their math skills while they’re having fun with mom or dad in the kitchen. Start with something simple, like a brownie or smoothie recipe.
2. Play Math-Based Games
Board and card games are a great way to keep those math skills sharp and have some family fun. Any board games that use money, require someone to keep score, or rely on an excellent strategy to win are great options for your active summer learner. You can take them on vacation, bring them along for long car rides, or plan a regular family game night each week. The right games will improve your child’s numerical fluency, logic, and probability skills. Some great choices are Monopoly, Scrabble, Chess, and Blokus.
3. Let Your Kids Get Involved in Shopping
Shopping is a great way to incorporate math into your child’s summer life. Bring them along to the grocery store. Ask them to find discounts, compare prices, and help you add up the items in your cart. Coupons are another great way to keep those math skills sharp. For more independent children, you can give them some cash to spend and let them figure out what they can afford on their own. Farmers’ markets are a great source of learning and fun in the sun.
4. Take a Learning-Based Field Trip
When you have a chance to take off work and do something fun with the kids, do your best to incorporate learning. There are so many museums across the nation that provide a fun, math-focused experience that the whole family can enjoy. Get up close and personal with inventions and innovations. Engage in interactive exhibits. Let your kids have their shot at hands-on activities that stimulate the brain and bring math into play.
5. Take The Kids to a Ball Game
Believe it or not, watching sports is a great way to sharpen those math skills. You can watch a game on TV, or give your kids a real treat and take them to a ball game. Encourage them to keep stats of their favorite team or player. Keep track of how much time passes between brilliant plays, touchdowns, or goals. Hit the outdoor basketball court as a family and measure it up to see how it compares to a professional-sized court. There are endless opportunities for strengthening those math skills when sports are involved.
6. Read. Read. Read
Have your child read all summer long. When it comes to reading, the more, the better. This won’t just build their reading skills and keep their brain sharp, but it’ll help with math as well. Find books that make math an integral part of the story. Not only does it keep age-appropriate math concepts at the front of your child’s mind, but it also encourages them to think mathematically. There are dozens of books for kids of all ages. Ask your child’s math tutor, talk to a librarian, or check out some of these popular math-based books:
- Secrets, Lies, and Algebra by Wendy Lichtman
- The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
- The Number Devil by Hans Magnus
7. Dance to the Music
Music is inherently mathematical. The musical patterns of your favorite songs actually follow a mathematical structure. Luckily, there are so many ways to bring music into your life. Listen to music together at home. Crank up the stereo in the car. Have an impromptu dance party. Check out your local library or activity center for summer music activities for children. Many communities have free outdoor concerts in the summer at local parks or community centers. Bring the whole family and make it a tradition that the kids will always remember.
8. Plan a DIY Project
Do-it-yourself projects are a great way to expand your child’s math skills and accomplish a little home-improvement in the process. Find a project that requires your students to work with numbers, measurements, angles, spatial thinking, and calculations. If you come to a roadblock, let your child do the problem-solving. DIY projects are a tremendous math-based activity and an excellent way to accomplish something as a team.
9. Encourage Your Child’s Inner Entrepreneur
Summer is a great time to teach your child to start a little side business. No, we’re not talking about breaking those child labor laws. But kids have been doing yard work, babysitting, and walking dogs for centuries. It’s a way for kids to earn extra spending money, keep busy, and meet new people. Plus, managing the money they make helps them learn about accounting, expenses, and profit margins.
10. Take Advantage of Summer Learning Programs and Math Camps
Math camps and summer learning programs are valuable chances for kids to dig deep into concepts they’ve already learned and even explore concepts not covered in school. Kids can learn at their own pace, and get individual help they might now receive in a school setting. Summer camps specialize in creative, effective teaching methods and work with your family’s summer schedule. It’s just one more way to help your child succeed as they enter a new school year with a sharp mind.
Momentum Learning provides Summer Math Camps in-person and online. Based on your child’s needs, we focus on fractions, multiplication, algebra readiness, and contest math. We make math fun while preparing your kids to succeed in the coming school year. Our summer programs aren’t just for kids who are struggling; they’re for any students who watch to catch up, keep up, or get ahead.
When you enroll your child in one of our programs, you’re not just helping them avoid the long-term effects of the summer slide. You’re keeping their math skills sharp, so they can continue to move forward on their educational journey.
Avoid the summer slide and keep your kids’ math skills sharp with one of our in-person or online summer programs. Get more information today!