Summer is a time for relaxation, but it’s also an opportunity to keep young minds engaged and prevent summer learning loss! This phenomenon, also called the “summer slide,” has been studied since 1906 and often occurs during long breaks when students forget what they learned in the previous school year.
To help your child can put their best foot forward before they return to school, here are some practical ways to accelerate their learning during the warmer months:
1. Journal through the summer
Journaling is an excellent way for children and young adults to reflect on their experiences, practice writing, and develop important social-emotional skills. This summer, you can encourage your child to assemble a journal to document their adventures!
They’ll print, assemble, and bind this journal with staples or thread, and during the process, they’ll get excited about filling their special notebook with fun stories and thoughts. You can help provide structure by setting aside time for their daily writing, and you’ll inspire them to journal all summer long!
2. Guide reading using novel studies
Parents have all heard the dreaded phrase “I’m bored” during the summer. Next time your kids need an engaging activity, introduce them to an immersive reading experience with a novel study!
Novel studies are guided worksheet sets that provide pre- and post-reading questions, discussion questions, and bonus activities for every chapter of a book. Without the structure of a classroom, kids are still able to enhance comprehension skills, expand vocabulary, and ignite a love for reading right at home.
Explore all 10+ novel studies in the blog below, and try them out for your child’s summer reading:
3. Try fun, quick summer-themed worksheets
You don’t need to have an extensive at-home curriculum to beat summer learning loss. Just throw in a couple of simple, seasonal worksheets from time to time!
Use quirky puzzles like these Summer Hink Pink Riddles or our new Summer Spelling Practice Word Search Puzzle to challenge their brains and make them feel like they’re playing games while they learn. Plus, incorporate themed writing prompts or grammar worksheets—we have several sets of each so they can keep practicing all summer!
4. Enter the Summer STEM Challenge
Get ready—the Education.com Summer STEM Challenge starts at the end of June! PreK through 8th-grade learners will send in photos of their real-world science, technology, engineering, and math creations based on Education.com projects. As you enter the mid-summer lull, perk up your kids’ enthusiasm by having them try out one of these challenges and sending in a photo for a chance to win!
Prepare by reading the blog below, and get inspired by last year’s entries:
5. Get more ideas with Summer Boost!
While the Summer STEM Challenge hasn’t started yet, our Summer Boost campaign is in full swing. Each week throughout the summer, we’ll be adding a specially-curated list of activities that keep kids learning while on break. Click through to your child’s grade (Kindergarten through 8th), and make sure you check back each week as we release more fun summer-themed resources!