STAYING ENGAGED : KEEPING KIDS' BRAIN'S ACTIVE DURING THE SUMMER
Family summer activities that can help combat summer slide in reading are anything that engages the academic brain and keeps kids reading. These can include:
CO-READING ALOUD Parents and kids can take turns reading aloud to each other.
FAMILY READING CHALLENGES Set goals for the entire family in terms of daily reading.
LITERACY GAMES Find games that require some reading skill.
LIBRARY TRIPS Take trips to find books that interest each specific kid.
MAD LIBS Use storytelling games like Mad Libs to keep kids working on their literacy skills.
ENGAGING FRIENDS Find school friends and create book clubs they can engage in together.
ENCOURAGING A SUMMER JOURNAL Taking 15 minutes at the end of each day to "recap" what happened in a journal keeps the writing brain working.
GETTING CRAFTY Craft projects that have multi-step directions, strengthen both reading comprehension and executive functioning skills, like organization and planning and can help fine motor skills.
For other subjects and general learning, other strategies include:
REAL-WORLD MATH Find ways of "quizzing" kids on math in the real world, like using money and change while shopping, or measuring ingredients while baking. For younger children, pairing the socks when doing laundry.
EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION SHOWS AND PODCASTS Whenever the family can watch or listen together, and then discuss the learning, it promotes more active engagement.
EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION SHOWS AND PODCASTS Whenever the family can watch or listen together, and then discuss the learning, it promotes more active engagement.
VISITING EDUCATIONAL SPACES Museums, art galleries, and nature preserves benefit kids by sparking their interest and introducing them to new things.
DISCUSSING NEW LEARNING Perhaps the most important strategy is for families to discuss any new learning that occurred throughout the day.
If online resources are provided to help support retention, are computers provided for those students who may not have one at home? If supplemental programs that engage students are being provided, do these children have the ability to access them? As a school, it's important to look at the whole school and make sure everyone has access to the resources.
Kids need their summer vacation. They need to be kids, need to learn how to socialize with new sets of peers (whether at a camp or participating in other summer activities), as well as learn to regulate their emotions and behaviors. Camps and other summer activities with their peers are great for these things!
Parents should ask their teacher and school for resources that can be utilized at home over the summer to support retention for all students.
The goal is to keep the academic part of kids' brains active during the summer. They do need rest, relaxation, physical activity, time to play and time to just be kids. But keeping their education brains sharp during the summer can reduce summer slide. •
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. A. Jordan Wright, Chief Clinical Officer Parallel Learning (Parallel Learning – Special Education Staff Support for Schools) is a clinical and developmental psychologist with expertise in psychological assessment. He has conducted research specifically in tele-assessment with children and adolescents and authored the only book on the topic, Essentials of Psychological TeleAssessment. Widely cited and consulted with on evidence-based psychological assessment practice, he first authored a recent article on Evidence-Based Clinical Psychological Assessment, as well as having authored most recent editions of the Handbook of Psychological Assessment, the most widely used text on assessment in the field.