Summer Slide - Let's Beat it TOGETHER!

Summer Slide (learning loss) is a reality and the learning loss is most significant in math. Let’s start with acknowledging that an unfavorable mix of circumstances and factors can make math come across as a difficult subject for students and parents

• 40% of parents feel their child has difficulty in math. In most cases they think child is just getting by
• One-in-three parents are unable to help their teen with high school math
• Grade 6 students who fail math have less than a one-in-five chance of beginning Grade 12 on time

Data source – oxforlearning.com

Math Learning Loss During Summer Vacation

Leah Shafer in the article ‘Summer Math Loss’ available on gse.harvard.edu, points out that the learning loss in math is much sharper than in other subjects because unlike routine reading activities that are part of family’s fabric in daily life, math activities aren’t. The teachers in school have to give up several weeks of class time to help children make up for almost 2.6 months’ worth of math learning loss over summer.

Kathlyn Lynch, an (HGSE) doctoral student remarks that many families associate math with something to be taught in school. Kids from all socioeconomic backgrounds easily forget math and computation skill over summer because of this.

How to Combat Math Learning Loss?

The good news is that math learning loss can be managed by engaging students in structured/short but routine learning activities during summer. Matthew Pietrafetta in his article ‘4 things K-12 schools can do to combat math learning loss’, refers to how Formative Assessment should be used to effectively identify student learning gaps without the pressure of a graded test. He also iterates the use of Formative Assessments as a starting point to plan a good individualized instruction plan for a child. Formative Assessments give an opportunity to remove the stigma around bad grades and help us relook at scores as opportunities for individual growth.

Our Summer Program Offering

Mathnasium Method is in alignment with ‘Formative Assessment’ school of thought and hence our Summer Program offering is valuable. Our Summer Program Offering includes a 15 1-hour session package with Pre and Post Assessments.  The Pre-Assessment aims at developing a good understanding of where exactly your child stands in their math learning and pick up your child's math learning from the same point onwards. While 1-hr sessions keep the engagement short, 15 of them spread over the summer vacation months add routine/structure to learning and do not let the learning drop. Also, parents can choose to buy more blocks of sessions at additional cost. The Post Assessment included in the package is more for parents to see the learning growth.

So, reach out to us today for more details on our Summer Program.