Ahead of the ‘Summer Slide’
Everyone loves the summer holidays (teachers in particular), and it’s a great way for children to kick back and have fun, unencumbered by daily routines and a hectic after-school schedule. If traveling to a different country is a factor of your summer holidays, then this is a highly valuable learning and educational experience both socially and developmentally.
However, all of this free time can sometimes lead to the ‘summer slide’, a regression in academic proficiency due to the summer break. That is not to say that parents should sign their kids up for rigorous tutoring and buy endless books which, let’s face it, end up gathering dust on the shelf (guilty as charged), but it could be beneficial to keep up with basic reading and math skills. Your child may be given books and work from their teacher which will help guide parents in helping their child. It doesn’t have to always be pencil and paper or books and it is a good time to take advantage of children’s love of screens by letting them access educational websites. Below you can find a few that your children may enjoy using:
Reading
Scholastic has a summer reading challenge: Summer Reading Challenge
Reading Eggs for Ages 3-10: A fun website for learning phonics and children can create their own Avatar and home when they have earned enough ‘eggs’ Reading Eggs
Jolly Phonics: A fun website to help with learning phonics for 3-6-year-olds. If your child loves learning through songs and actions then they will love this. Jolly Phonics
Maths
Mathseeds (the sister website of Reading Eggs): Mathseeds
Buzz Maths: A maths program for middle schoolers that has rave reviews Buzz Maths
Splash Games: Free and fun maths games for Pre-k to Grade 5 SplashLearn
All the best intentions may fly out of the window and to be honest, this is fine. The holidays were created for a reason and it is the opportune time to let your child take it easy, travel to a different country, play with friends, cousins etc, spend valuable time with grandparents, and HAVE FUN!