he dreaded “Summer learning Loss,” also known as the “Summer slump,” is a very real issue affecting kids everywhere in the U.S. Some studies ascertain that kids lose two months of reading and math skills during the months when school isn’t in session.
So as educators, how do we prevent the loss of those valuable skills? Today on TeachHUB.com, frequent contributing writer Jacqui Murray, who is a veteran technology teacher in Northern California, looks at some time-honored teaching strategies that will certainly help with the summer slump. She breaks it don by subject; for instance, check out these examples:
Math: Grades 2-5: Set up a summer lemonade stand. Kids learn to measure ingredients, make change, listen to potential customers, and problem solve. If you can't put one up on your street, use a virtual lemonade stand.
History: Grades 3+: Read current events on a kid-friendly website like Newsela. If students are older and prefer to find news via a Google search, install an extension like Readability to remove ads and other distractions from the website before reading.
Reading: Any age: If students use a collaborative reading tool like Subtext, encourage students to read the books together, add comments, and reply to the observations of classmates.
Writing: Grades 2+: Write a two-sentence review of something your student read. It could be a book, but maybe it's a website, a favorite blog, or instructions for a new online game. The focus is that they read and summarize briefly.
In summation, Jacqui notes: “Whatever your summer activities, as often as possible, make them child-paced, child-directed, and inspiring. It's the process that's important, not the product. Enjoy watching how your child's brain works.”
What are some of your teaching strategies to combat the “Summer slump”? Share your ideas with the TeachHUB .com community!
