Build Your Childâ€^™s Confidence for the New School Year this Summer!

If you read the above headline and thought … “New school year? We’re thinking about summer vacation!”  … that would be understandable, especially considering how the last 15 months have been for students. 

It is no secret kids will welcome the summer break and their freedom from school and homework. 

However, as you plan to fill your child's time for the summer, take a moment to reflect on how you spent your childhood and teen summers.  You may recall that if you didn't do anything academic-related, you generally started the new school year unprepared.   

Research proves this haze at the start of school can be avoided if kids stay engaged in education activities during vacations.  If you are into exercising and stop for two months, would you expect to pick up where you left off? Of course not. Academics is no different.  We must continue to exercise our brain. 

Simply doing academic activity, for as little as three to five hours per week can yield improvement.

As you give thought to your child’s readiness for the new school year, ask these questions:

• Did they truly learn the material this year, equipping them to handle the more difficult material in their new grade? 
• Are they prepared for the increased volume of homework and faster pace that high school level classes, such as Algebra, etc., require?
• Are you (mom and dad) ready for what comes next and are you in a position to provide the support your child may need?

Summer months provide children with a relaxed environment. This is conducive to clarifying and reinforcing learning and introducing new concepts. Without the burden of daily homework, children have more time, are less tired, and better focused. Children participating in summer learning make tremendous strides in a relatively short period of time.

Whether you are considering enrolling your child in a learning center, academic summer camp or creating activities for them to do at home, here are a few suggestions: 

1. Identify the areas your child needs to work on.

At Mathnasium of El Segundo, during a student’s enrollment, we provide a free assessment that allows us to pinpoint a student’s strengths and weaknesses. With this data, we then create a personal learning plan; identifying the key skills that can help prepare a child for the material they will be seeing in the new school year.  

2. Develop an action plan.
Like anything in life -- business goals, fitness goals, money saving goals, etc. -- an effective action plan will help you achieve measurable results.  Math learning is no different. 

• It’s important to keep the plan manageable by prioritizing math concepts based on the prerequisite knowledge needed for success. 
• It’s important to ensure core competencies and any gaps in a child’s math knowledge are addressed before skipping ahead to new topics.  

Math builds on itself and foundation gaps will be exposed as students reach higher levels.

3. Keep a positive attitude.
It’s hard to improve in any subject when negativity clouds your experiences. Make sure your child keeps a positive attitude toward math.  They don’t need to be “wired” for math to excel, they just need the right instruction.  Then, when the new school year starts, celebrate that first math homework success or math test grade.    

With improvement and understanding comes confidence. It won’t be long before your child is looking forward to their math classes and math tutoring sessions!

4. Remember to have fun!
Learning can and should be fun. As an example, you can incorporate math into your home life so your child can practice their skills while doing fun activities such as shopping, cooking, sports, playing board games, etc. 

Imagine the boost to your child’s confidence when they do well on those initial homework assignments and the first tests of the school year. Rather than having to relearn last year’s material, they can start strong and improve on their knowledge, confidence, and academic skills.