How can parents help their child avoid summer learning loss? By engaging in the following fun reading, writing, and math activities.

Well parents, we have reached the middle of the summer, a time of reckoning for many caregivers. That relaxing schedule and family time you were craving back during the school year has come in earnest. Some of you may even be peeking ahead and secretly hoping August arrives soon, bringing with it the start of the next school year. While the summertime daily routine is hopefully more laid back, many of you may be staring at your kid(s) – and perhaps at an adult beverage off in the distance –  and asking, “How do teachers do it all day with 20 of these in the room?” 

Engage the Brain is here to save the day – and your sanity – by offering up some educational activities to keep your child’s brain sharp and to help avoid the dreaded summer slide or learning loss that occurs when kids do not engage in reading, writing, and math over the summer months.

There are a slew of studies and statistics to support this. A Brown University study revealed the average student in grades 1 through 8 lost 17% to 34% of the prior year’s learning gains during summer break. Another study conducted by Brookings found that math declines were sharper than reading, with the extent of loss being more significant at higher grade levels. And children from low-income families are nearly three grade equivalents behind wealthier students in reading by the end of the fifth grade due to summer learning loss.

Of course summer ought to be a time to ratchet down schedules and structured learning, but that does not mean to turn it off completely. Asking a child to read during the summer can become a battle, especially with competition coming from screens and peers.

So what is the answer? How do you stave off summer learning loss and give your child time to recharge their learning and personal batteries? By presenting fun activities that mask the learning and sneak in skills your child will not realize they are practicing or will be having so much fun they will not care.

Engage the Brain scoured the Internet and curated the best summer learning activities and divided them into three categories: reading, writing, and math. They can be selected a la carte, and most require little preparation. Grab your child, pick a subject and an activity, and enjoy!

Reading activities

Keep a loose schedule: While it is summer, it is easier for your child to fall into a routine if you plan to have a reading time at about the same time every day. Perhaps there is a comfy area in the house where your child can sprawl out, relax, and read for 20 to 30 minutes.

Be a good role model: Try to set a good example by putting your phone down, stepping away from the computer, and picking up a book or magazine to read. It truly is powerful for children to see you doing what you are asking them to do.

Weekly trips to the library: Make a trip to the library extra special by pairing it with a festive treat after selecting books. Each week could be a different type of treat, such having a picnic lunch (in the family room, if needed, to beat the summer heat), stopping at a comic book shop, breaking out brand new sidewalk chalk for some driveway/sidewalk art, enjoying homemade smoothies or ice pops, or going home to build a fort to enjoy family reading time in.  

Read aloud: Not every reading session needs to be your child reading by himself. Children of all ages – yes, even middle schoolers! – enjoy listening to a story. Ask about characters, setting, and the problem of the story as you read.

Partner read: Similar to reading aloud, take turns with your child reading a story. You read one page, and she reads the next. As mentioned above discuss the story elements.

Have your child read aloud to someone else: Sometimes reading aloud to someone else is motivating for a child. With FaceTime and Zoom easily accessible, set up a time for your chid to read to a grandparent, aunt or uncle, or heck, even their pet. 

Try nonfiction topics: Not every child likes fiction. Introduce nonfiction topics your child is interested in learning about. Biographies of famous people from an area your child is interested in can be good choices. Pro athletes, scientists, history of tanks, rock stars, all make good reading topics.

Play board games: There are many great games that promote literacy and vocabulary development that kids love to play. Several examples are Scrabble, Boggle, and Bananagrams.

Children’s Cook Book: When this writer was young (and hated to read) my mother bought a Winnie the Pooh cook book, which contained some delicious recipes with easy steps. Sneakily, she asked me to read the directions while we prepared a snack – no doubt something with honey. Whatever your child’s interests are- from Minecraft to Harry Potter to Star Wars to science experiments- there is certainly a cookbook associated with it.

Audio books: Audio books have their place, especially if your child has a learning difference. It is recommended that you have the physical book so your child can read along, matching the sounds of language to the printed word.

Supplement a book with related activities: After reading a book about a specific topic, head out to a location that has some connection. Perhaps you could go to a museum, a park, a concert, or some other place that is related to the book. Help your child connect the written word with the world around them.

Writing activities

Extend the story: They lived happily ever after… or did they?! After finishing a book, challenge your child to come up with a new ending or better yet, extend the story with a new chapter.

Book vs Movie: Comparing a book to its movie counterpart can be motivating to your child. Use a simple Venn diagram to compare and contrast the movie and book. Then have your child draft a paragraph either on paper or on a computer.

Write to a favorite author: Today there are lots of ways to contact an author through their own websites or on social media. Many of them will write back, creating a thrilling keepsake for your child.

Round Robin stories: One person writes the first sentence of a story, then the next person adds one sentence. If there are more than two people, then each person adds one sentence before the story returns the first person, who keeps it going. Review story structure: characters, setting, plot, climax, resolution. Encourage your child to move the story forward.

Social Media journals: Social media is everywhere and your child may either be on one or views one daily. Use this to your advantage. Your child can create posts/updates as if they are the character from a book or the author promoting the book. Look online at examples of actual posts by authors. 

New word collection: A fun way for your child to build their vocabulary is by starting a new word collection. When she reads or hears a new word, she can write the word and a definition in a journal or special notebook. Over time she will have a nice study guide for the SAT!

Create comic strips: Some children will enjoy the creative process of developing a comic strip. He can use existing characters or make up his own. He can use a blank three panel or six panel comic strip organizer.

Write fan fiction: A popular literary activity is for people to write fan fiction. It is essentially a person trying to copy the style of their favorite author. There are websites devoted to most popular writers that your child can read to develop some inspiration.

Create your own MadLibs: Most kids love filling out MadLibs. Ask your child to create her own. It reviews parts of speech and usually ends with a room full of belly laughs.

Math activities

Sidewalk chalk number lines: Get the kids outside and use sidewalk chalk to create number lines. Depending on your child’s age, the lines could count by 5s, 10s, 100’s, etc. For older children, challenge them to divide a line into fractions such as thirds, fourths, or even tenths. 

Lego math: Legos are popular toys found in many homes. Use your child’s natural love of creating with Legos and challenge them to build a structure then find its area (length times width); its perimeter (distance around the outside); and volume (how many Legos they used). 

Math walk: Another great activity to get the kids moving. Take a walk around the neighborhood – or go to a local park – and encourage your child to look for math related concepts. Examples include looking for shapes, angles, symmetry, and numbers.

Grocery shopping: Unfortunately (or fortunately) grocery shopping is a weekly – or more often – task in most households. There are many opportunities to get math involved with the process. Ask your child to look for coupons and calculate the savings. Another fun thing to do is give your child a pretend budget and challenge them to “purchase” items that come as close as possible without going over the budget number.  And yet another math game is to have your child estimate cost of total of the bill. Encourage rounding as a way to base their estimate.

Car trips: Driving in the car can also provide some great opportunities to practice math. Have your child estimate the distance of the trip or predict how long it will take to get to your destination. No cheating with Google Maps on their phone!

Create 2-D and 3-D shapes: Using craft sticks and PlayDoh your child can build 2-D shapes such as rectangles, pentagons, and octagons. Up the challenge and ask them to make 3-D shapes such cubes and rectangular prisms. Discuss faces (the sides), vertices (the corners), and edges (where two sides meet). 

War Card Game: A great way to practice basic math facts is to play the traditional card game War with a twist. To play the game two players split the deck of cards evenly, or 26 cards each. Each flips over two cards facing up. They each either add or multiply the two cards – pick one operation for each round of the game. The player with the higher answer keeps the four cards. Players flip over two more cards each and repeat. If there is a tie or equal answer, players flip over two more cards and the highest total from that flip wins all the cards.

Popular apps and websites: While the goal of this list of math activities is to get your child off their device and explore numbers and math concepts in the real world, there are many wonderful apps and websites that children love to use. A few of our favorites are: Prodigy,  Khan Academy, ReflexMath, and SplashLearn, which is good for K-5.

Final thoughts

Summer learning loss is real and every child experiences it unless they engage in reading, writing, and math activities over the summer. Completing a few worksheets does not solve the problem. Children must use critical thinking and truly invest in an activity for it to produce real results. Select an activity each day to enjoy, and your child’s learning loss will turn into a learning gain, positioning them for success on the first day of the school year and beyond.

If you feel your child needs assistance with reading skills, written expression, or math concepts, please contact Jennifer Disch at Engage the Brain to discover how a Learning Specialist may be able to help your child prepare for the new school year.