Summer is in full swing! This time of year scholars are enjoying their summer break with family and friends. Many scholars head off to summer camp, enjoy vacations with their loved ones and spend time relaxing at home. While it’s important to relax and enjoy the warm weather, spending an extended time away from learning puts scholars at risk of the dreaded “summer slide.”
Summer slide is the process that occurs when scholars forget some of what they learned or slip out of practice. It happens when children stop learning or studying for an extended period of time. Summer slide can set scholars back for the upcoming school year, so it’s important that parents encourage their children to continue learning during summer break.
Here are four ways that parents can help their scholars avoid the summer slide:
Play Games
Summer break is all about having fun! Who says scholars can’t have fun and learn at the same time? During the summer, parents can help their children avoid the summer slide by turning learning into fun games. Many families take trips to the beach or local national state parks. During these adventures, parents can create scavenger hunts for the children so that they can learn about nature while enjoying a family outing. Or, families with older scholars could plan a game night with engaging board games like Monopoly that help teach math skills, or a game of chess to teach strategy. The variety of engaging, educational games that scholars can play during the summer is endless.
Make Learning Messy
The warm weather makes it easy to get outside and enjoy some good messy fun while learning. Here are a few fun, messy science experiments that families can try outside. There are also plenty of other activities to enjoy outside like messy art projects. Encourage children to create art using eco-friendly materials like seeds, dried fruits, flowers, leaves and much more. Parents can incorporate lessons about different types of art and famous artists along with lessons about the importance of being eco-friendly. Families can also make a mess while practicing math. Take your cooking lesson outside and make a mess cooking unusual creations. Scholars can practice their math skills by learning how to measure and even practice doubling the recipe if necessary. Parents are sure to keep their scholars engaged this summer with a few messy activities.
Take Field Trips
Families often have busy schedules during the school year, but things usually slow down during the summer. It’s the perfect time to organize field trips to fun places nearby. We encourage parents to schedule field trips for their children during the summer. There are so many places to visit that create exciting learning opportunities like amusements parks where scholars can explore the world of engineering and think about how roller coasters are designed and constructed while they enjoy the ride. There are also plenty of museums that families can visit during the summer that give hands-on learning experiences for scholars in subjects like math, science, and history. Or, families can plan a field trip to their local library for an afternoon of reading, writing and using their imaginations. Parents can help their scholars stay far away from the summer slide by scheduling a few field trips during their summer break.
Read Together
Yes, reading, the classic yet always reliable way to keep scholars learning during all of their school breaks. During the summer parents can help their children continue to practice their literacy, language, reading and writing skills by scheduling time to read together every day. For families who maintain a busy schedule during the summer, it’s important to set aside some time for daily reading to help scholars avoid the summer slide. Reading will spark their imagination and it often leads to precious family time spent talking or debating life lessons and concepts. Parents can ask their scholar’s teacher for book suggestions or use a summer reading list to select books that match their child’s reading level. We encourage scholars and their families to spend a lot of time reading together this summer!
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Compass Charter Schools (CCS) is a WASC-accredited virtual charter school that serves families throughout California. Interested in learning more about CCS’ flexible academic programs? Visit our website, or contact our enrollment team at enrollment@compasscharters.org or (877) 506-8631.