Bye Bye Summer Learning Gap!
It is true that summer should be a break and a fun time for the kids! However, summer learning loss is a reality as well. What is the summer learning gap? Kids can lose up to 2.6 months in Math Skills and up to 2 months in grade level reading skills during summer holidays.
Did you know that it only takes two to three hours per week to prevent summer learning loss over the break?
Here are some quick and free ways to bridge the summer learning gap over the summer months!
5) Book Club
Once a week have a family book club and get your kids to invite friends to join your family. Then watch the movie version of the book at the end to celebrate! Meet weekly to discuss the chapters you have read.
4) Self Publishing
Get out some paper or use my free download to have your kids create their own graphic novel. Not much writing here but lots of critical thinking, planning ahead and problem solving! Get them to only add one get page a day and by the end of summer they will have their own awesome graphic novel to bring to school to show and share!
3) Kid Cooks
Have the kids cook once a week, perhaps every Friday night. They will have to choose a recipe on Monday (reading) and write down the ingredients needed and go shopping with you for the ingredients before Friday. Lots of language arts and science will happen without them even knowing it!
2) Family Dates
Have your kids get on a device and have them plan out a family date on a budget of $25. Tell them they have to create a poster advertising the family day and they can use the money to make it a great event. Can you see the critical thinking, social skills, marketing strategies, and math that will be involved? Your kids probably won’t, but they’ll still benefit from it!
1) Family Game Night!
Have a regular family Game Night! Pull out the games you already have or even just a deck of cards! Board games and card games are excellent for teaching and reinforcing problem solving skills, math skills, reading skills, communication, good sportsmanship, critical thinking, planning and strategizing, social skills, reasoning, and fair play.
You will notice none of these activities involve math drills or traditional school work – not that those aren’t beneficial, but a little fun in the summer can make closing that summer learning gap lots of fun for everyone!