Summer brain: How to keep your kid's smarts from suffering
School vacation can cause educational setbacks known as "summer slide." Here are some tips on how to keep your child engaged this summer — while still having fun.
Add in a daily measure of math
Most students experience two months’ worth of learning loss in math over the summer. The best way to prevent this is to practise math daily, but that doesn’t mean making your child sit and do problems on a math worksheet, or even on the latest tech toy. Kalda says when she tried giving her daughter some math-based Nintendo games one summer, they were a fl op. “Now I just work math-ish stuff into our summer travels – calculating flight lengths, time changes, stuff like that,” she says. Finding ways to incorporate math into everyday activities is a great way to keep those synapses crackling, says Fraser. Have your six-year-old split up an apple pie for dessert, for example, or ask your nine-year-old to compare prices at the grocery store. Bake together and let your little sous chef figure out the measurements for each ingredient, then play card games like crazy eights or war while you’re enjoying the treats. Setting up a small business like an old-fashioned lemonade stand teaches kids how to make change, count up their earnings and decide how to spend it.
Have fun
Like the rest of us, kids learn best when they’re having fun. “When an emotion is engaged, events and ideas are committed to memory more strongly,” write Sharon and Craig Ramey in their landmark book Going to School: How to Help Your Child Succeed, based on 20 years of research involving 8,000 children from kindergarten through grade three. “While negative emotions, such as fear and anger, can reinforce learning, the most beneficial learning occurs from lessons or experiences linked to enjoyment and pleasure.” With that in mind, I’ve stopped buying curriculum books for my now 11-year-old. Last summer, we spent more time checking out art galleries and museums, including the Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara Falls, Ont. My daughter now considers herself an expert on monarchs and even bought a book on how to create a butterfly garden in the backyard. Bet that’s one book that doesn’t end up in our next yard sale.
A version of this article appeared in our June 2012 issue, with the headline “Summer brain drain” (p. 58).
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Ida Mae West-Simone (not verified) says ....
These are all great ideas. As a teacher, I can attest to the summer slideback being very real. Kids need their summer holidays not to 'feel like school' but at the same time, the skills need practice in fun ways to keep them up and make the September transition easier. Great article!
barbara@HomeroomAtHome (not verified) says ....
Excellent article with practical ideas. Great job. Sharing, sharing sharing. Barbara with Homeroom At Home