Help Your Kids Avoid Summer Learning Loss
As a parent, you can help your kids avoid summer learning loss. Summer learning loss is when a child loses academic skills and knowledge over the summer. This happens when a child doesn’t do any intellectual work over the summer. This can be harmful to a child’s learning process.
When I was a teacher there were times when I had to figure out a way to reteach skills that students learned the previous year instead of moving forward to teach the new skills on the curriculum. The reason this had to take place was because some students couldn’t move ahead with the next skill because they needed to have mastered the skill taught in their previous grade level before we moved on. For example, a student needs to be fluent in single digit multiplication before they can be successful in 2 digit multiplication. They will struggle in this new skill if they don’t know their single digit multiplication facts by heart. Reading is another skill that needs to be maintained over the summer so kids aren’t scrambling to get by when encountering more advanced texts and questions. In order for kids to be strong readers, they need to make sure they are reading each day and practicing comprehension questions to make sure they understand what they are reading.
The way you can avoid summer learning loss is by making sure your kids are completing academic work over the summer. It doesn’t have to be a long amount of time. There are different options you can choose from to get this accomplished. One way is to set aside a certain amount of time each day that your kids will work on their learning assignments- anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour (more if needed) per day. Another way is to have a specific amount of work that your child will complete each day. For example, you can say your child will be required to complete 1 math worksheet, 1 literacy worksheet, and read for 30 minutes each day.
When selecting work for your kids, you can give them review work that they learned over the school year. You can also give them more challenging assignments to work on to prepare them for the next grade. Many teachers send home a summer work packet with students so they can complete it during the summer. You can also purchase a workbook for them to complete. These days there are a variety of activities that you can purchase or use for free online to help with your kids’ learning skills. It’s so important that they are activating their mind daily.
No matter what option you decide, please make sure your child is working academically each day. Each year your children’s work requirements get more challenging so staying disciplined over the summer is necessary. Help your children understand that you are requiring them to do this because you care about them and want them to be successful in life. Let them know that hard work is a part of life and it will pay off in the end if they are consistent.