Help your kids combat 'summer slide'

Summer is the time for baseball, swimming, camp, family trips and just hanging out. It is also a time when students stop thinking about school. It’s a phenomenon called “summer slide,” and it can mean teachers have to spend a month or more every fall bringing students back up to speed.

The cumulative effect of summer slide has had a particularly negative impact on the achievement gap between students of lower and higher socioeconomic levels. But there doesn’t have to be a summer slide in your family. Education Minnesota recommends you take a family vacation, but don’t let your kids take a vacation from learning.

We’ve gathered some useful tips and Web sites to help:

Make reading fun. Have your child read books her or she might not ordinarily read. He or she can also read magazines and newspapers and other material. Read aloud with your children, especially younger ones.
Read as much as possible. Encourage your child to read when he or she has free time or between activities, and make reading part of his or her daily routine.
Make learning an adventure. Visit zoos, science museums, art museums, libraries … places that stimulate critical thinking.
Make family trips a learning experience. You can teach math with menus, geography with the route and spelling with place names.
Encourage your child to take a class he or she might not otherwise take at community education.
Encourage your child to write about his/her experiences. Writing will help keep their language skills sharp.
Talk with your child about what he or she learned during school: what they liked and what caused them to struggle. Work that into the reading and other activities they do during the summer.
Check out community resources available to parents: camps, parks, schools and community education and athletic programs.

In addition, we’ve compiled a list of Web sites that can help you and your child combat “summer slide” and have fun doing it.

June 05, 2009