Teachers at all grade levels are well aware of the damage that “summer slide” can do to students who have been successfully learning for months and then are not involved in significant learning activities during the summer break. Not only do students forget the material they have just learned, but not practicing their newly acquired skills also results in a sharp loss of those skills. Research from Johns Hopkins shows that students average a loss of one to two months of learning every summer.
Fortunately, there are many different ways for students to defeat the summer slide and have fun while learning all summer long. Just a few minutes a day can make more of a positive difference than many families realize. Here is a list of a few simple activities that families can do together to help everyone continue to learn.
- Practice estimating, predicting and organizing during daily activities such as trips to the grocery store, watching movies or doing household chores. All three are valuable skills that students need to be successful academically.
- Play games and solve puzzles together. Board games require concentration and imagination, while solving puzzles requires teamwork, creativity and focus.
- Select a topic and create a scrapbook involving various types of media. Whether the topic is a hobby, a family history or perhaps the student’s own life story, learning happens at every step: selecting materials, deigning the pages and creating a finished product.
- Write to a pen pal. A good child-friendly site is Students of the World. Not only will students learn about other cultures, they also will practice written expression in an authentic way.
- Build something—a fort, a dam across a creek, a tree house, a robot, a sandcastle, cardboard box toys, bed-sheet campgrounds or other craft projects. At the very least, all of these require imagination, planning and predicting.
- Create a collection and display it. Whether the collection is insects, toy cars, dolls or rocks, students will learn not only the particulars of what they collect, but also how to categorize and organize.
- Conduct an experiment and keep a scientific journal. Science Buddies has an excellent site with project ideas that range from simple to fairly complex.
- Keep a photo journal of a family event such as a trip or reunion. With a camera, a pencil and paper, students can become the family record keepers.
- Take full advantage of resources available at the public library. Many libraries go well beyond the stacks to offer reading programs as well as lecture series and guest speakers on a variety of topics sure to appeal to students of all ages.
In addition to these simple low-tech activities, there is a wealth of online resources available to families that want to prevent the summer slide. In the list below, you will find online activities that can make sure that students’ screen time is time well spent in learning—and in having fun—during summer vacation.
Math
Math Playground. Here, students can access hundreds of engaging math games, videos and activities online as well as download printable activities.
Cool Math. This easy-to-use portal for students, teachers and parents offers plenty of appealing games and activities—from learning times tables to precalculus.
General Core Subjects
Smithsonian Education. At this extensive and well-organized site, students can explore hundreds of activities related to these general areas: art, science and nature, history and culture, people and places.
Fact Monster. This wide-ranging site offers thousands of games and entertaining activities for math, history and the other core subjects.
MindShift’s Summer Learning Series. Here, students can find plenty of interesting ideas for creative projects sure to keep them learning all summer long.
Fun Brain. This popular site offers a plethora of entertaining games, learning extensions, and activities for K-8 and a little beyond.
Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. With just a click or two on this site, students can take a virtual tour of 20 of the great museums of the world.
Discovery Kids. Students who enjoy online games and intriguing activities such as building a virtual roller coaster or studying insects will enjoy learning more about science at this site.
Games for the Brain. This site is geared for older kids who enjoy logic puzzles, memory enhancers and brain games.
Free Rice. Students of all ages can quickly become addicted to learning and giving at the Free Rice site as they play a simple online game with several different categories, including SAT prep. Correct answers contribute grains of rice to the World Food Programme.
Reading
The Scholastic Summer Challenge. In this summer reading activity, teachers or parents can sign up students to participate in a reading challenge. You can find helpful book lists, tips and activities to keep children reading.
50 State Booklist. Older students as well as younger ones can travel the 50 states by reading the books in the NEA’s carefully selected lists for each state.
The Book Report Network. Reviews, contests and giveaways are just some of the offerings that make it easy for students to find tempting young adult literature texts to read.
Storyline Online. This easy-to-use site from the Screen Actors Guild Foundation features streaming video of well-known actors reading aloud from a wide selection of children’s books.
