It's not too early to make summer math plans!

As we look forward to summer, most of our thoughts focus on family vacations, trips to the pool and beach, camps, and all the other fun activities that fill our days. With all this diversion, we sometimes lose sight of the detrimental impact the summer months can have on our children’s academic progress. It’s called the “Summer Slide” and it refers to the loss of learning retention during the summer when students’ minds may be idle or they discontinue practicing the skills they have learned, specifically in the areas of reading and math.

The authors of a November 2002 report from Johns Hopkins Center for Summer Learning  state that "A conservative estimate of lost instructional time is approximately two months or roughly 22 percent of the school year. . . It's common for teachers to spend at least a month re-teaching material students have forgotten over the summer." According to the National Association for Summer Learning, students, on average, lose approximately two months of grade-level math skills during the summer if they do not participate in educational activities.  Additional research states losses in math are somewhat greater than those in reading.

Math and reading are often the biggest cause for concern with the summer slide. Without regular practice, these skills tend to diminish more dramatically over the summer. While summer time means more hours at the beach or pool, running around outdoors, playing video games, or watching television, it should not mean we abandon practicing math and maintaining the skills acquired during the school year. Besides summer educational programs such as those offered at Mathnasium, there are many ways parents can create activities with their children to help them avoid the “slide” . . . Unless, of course, it’s the water slide.

1. Plan and cook meals together.  Measuring ingredients is a great way to review their lessons on measurements and adjusting recipes for differing servings helps students add and subtract fractions
2. Take a hike and explore various trees, flowers, and other vegetation. Collect some leaves or flowers and research what each one is when you get back home. Learn about birds in your area or look at and try to identify wildlife tracks you encounter.
3. Play board games that involve counting money (such as Monopoly), developing strategy (chess) or require the development of a new skill.  Board games involve more interaction unlike video games. Use your Mathnasium deck of cards or games such as “99 or Bust” and “7Ate9” to keep number facts strong and fluid.
4. Read aloud to each other, whether from a favorite book, newspaper, or comics. All types of reading is always good.
5. Make a weekly estimation jar using beans, peanuts, elbow macaroni, jellybeans, etc. Give the children the measurements of the jar and the items in the jar to assist in estimation calculations.
6. For sports fans, review how winning percentages, batting averages and ERAs are calculated and what they mean.  This is a great opportunity to talk about fractions, percentages and statistics.
7. Build a bird house or a dog house.  Measuring and cutting geometric shapes and angles are a fun way to talk about geometry.

There are many other projects and activities that will make your summer fun AND educational.  Don’t forget about the summer programs at Mathnasium where we can help your child keep up their math skills!