Ways to Help Your Child Overcome the Summer Slide

Ways to Help Your Child Overcome the Summer Slide 

By: Azza Ibrahim June 6,2021

With the dismissal bell of the last day of the school year comes the end of a phase and the beginning of another. Summer break has started with plans to go out and relax after a long and stressful school year. As much as this experience is very exciting to all of us, it has a great deal of challenges. Challenges, like enjoying the break, avoiding the summer slide and above all staying safe. In this article, we are going to focus on one of these challenges, namely the summer slide. 

What is the summer slide?

This is a concept that has been a topic for more than 15 years now. Simply put, it is the academic loss of information attained during the school year over the summer break. Most fields of knowledge highly affected would be reading and math. Researchers attribute that loss to the fact that students tend to “put a hold” on their reading during the break. It is of course very healthy for students to take advantage of the summer break and participate in outdoor activities, but we should understand that stopping the act of reading over the break has a negative impact on the students’ academic performance for years to come. As a matter of fact, according to the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), “students show a drop of between 3-5 RIT points, relative to gains of 4-16 RIT points during the school year” which if translated to percentages, would mean 36% in reading and 50% in math for a grade 7 student. 

In this article, we will give you some hints to overcome the summer slide with your child. These are:

1. Come up with a consistent reading routine. A daily reading routine is the key to solve this issue. Set aside time everyday for that. Make sure you pick a time that works out for your child and you. Once you pick it, stick to it. 

2. Do not just stick to books for reading. Reading-related activities, hands on activities, and games like Scrabble, would be a good choice as well. Try a book scavenger hunt. Have your child try a recipe or experiment she has just read in a book. 

3. Give your child the freedom to choose a book for reading. Unless assigned by a teacher as a summer reading assignment, free choice books are a great idea to help maintain a reading routine over the summer break. During the school year, your child tends to read books assigned by their teachers. Giving your child the freedom to pick books to read over the summer is a great way to learn more about their individual preferences, which in turn will motivate them to read more. This love for reading in most cases extends to even after the break ends. Talk to your child about what they are reading and encourage them to make connections to real life events or past experiences.

4. Encourage your child to create their own reading list. This is an invaluable tool to enhance reading. Don’t worry if the list includes magazines, or even brochures.These are reading materials too. Celebrate your child’s choices and help them find the reading materials they are looking for.

5. Practice math skills in everyday life activities. Along with reading, comes math. Your child does not need to sit and recite the multiplication tables or learn the geometry theories by heart. Your child can practice math while shopping, playing soccer with friends etc. Encourage your child to calculate discounts on items being purchased, or fractions while baking a pizza.

6. Subscribe to magazines your child might like. Remember - We all LOVE shopping. Incorporate that into reading by encouraging your child to subscribe to magazines they would like to read, as long as they are age appropriate.

7. Encourage your child to read a different book if they find the one they are reading is boring. Remember it’s ‘reading for the fun of reading’, it’s not an assignment!  Be flexible with your child’s choices. Instill that idea that reading is not a “chore”.

8. Take the time to read the news with your child everyday. This is a smart strategy to combine reading with everyday life events.

9. Educational field trips. As mentioned before, outdoor activities are very healthy for your child during the summer. Let us incorporate that into learning by arranging for educational trips to museums, national parks, monumental sites etc.

Guess what ??? These are invaluable sources for information. They can also be a great way to have your child practice their writing skills by sharing their thoughts about these field trips in a journal.

10. Suggest books based on movies your child has watched before. Let your child make connections to these movies and compare/contrast them to the book. This would also be a great entry in a journal.

11. Encourage your child to read to a sibling or a younger family member/friend. It would not only build your child’s self confidence, but might instigate a love for reading in them as well.

12. Make sure the reading environment is healthy, well lit and non distracting.

13. Play a critical role in this process by modelling reading.You can even share parts of the book you are reading with your child.

14. Encourage your child to write a book review. Providing an input on a book inspires a love for reading.

15. Encourage your child to keep a journal, write a letter/email to a friend or family member. It does not have to be perfect. 

16. Let your child listen to audiobooks. These are a good choice, to help with giving expression, and pronunciation of new words.

17. Read in your mother tongue.  Research has proved that children developing skills with their mother tongue are  “... simultaneously fostering a whole host of other essential skills, such as critical thinking and literacy skills.” In other words, the skills taught to children in their mother tongue would be automatically adapted by them when they come to learn a second or even third language. 

18. Make frequent visits to the local stores in your neighbourhood. This will help your child take the lead in picking books of their choice.

19. Educational databases : Your school has subscribed to reading platforms to ensure a wide range of books at all times. Check, pick, and read !!! Reading platforms can be accessed through this link: 

https://sites.google.com/schutzschool.org.eg/saslibraries/our-libraries/online-resources

Remember, it takes only a few hours a week to prevent summer slide and set your child up for academic success for years to come. It would create a lifelong love for reading. This will shape your child’s character, thoughts, and beliefs. It will make them put real life events in perspective, become more empathetic, and are able to “...develop a stronger theory of mind”.

Although summer break will not start until mid June, it would be a great idea to try and come up with a reading scheme now.

 Try it. It works miracles. Believe me.

Works Cited

Austrew, Ashley. "How to Prevent Your Kids from Losing What They Learned in School during Summer Vacation." Scholastic, 2021, www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/raise-a-reader-blog/summer-slide.html. Accessed 23 May 2021.

Boehm, Shelby. "Rethinking Summer Reading Cover to Cover." National Council of Teachers of English, 11 Nov. 2020, ncte.org/blog/2020/06/rethinking-summer-reading-cover-cover/?utm_campaign=Classroom-The%20Scoop%20Newsletter-FY22&utm_medium=email&utm_source=MarketingCloud&utm_content=MAY-JUNE+High+School+Scoop+-+TEXT+-+External+Link. Accessed 24 May 2021.

Clevertech Team. "Stay on Top of the Summer Slide." Online, 19 May 2021. Lecture.

GoGuardian Team. "Understanding the Reality of the Summer Slide." GoGuardian, 9 July 2020, www.goguardian.com/blog/learning/what-is-summer-slide/. Accessed 24 May 2021.

Holly. "My Summer Plan to Entice My Son to Love Reading." Kids Activities.com, Kids Activities, 7 June 2020, kidsactivitiesblog.com/123729/summer-plan-to-entice-son-to-love-reading/. Accessed 24 May 2021.

"The Importance of Mother Tongue in Education." Independent Education Today, 30 Aug. 2019, ie-today.co.uk/people-policy-politics/the-importance-of-mother-tongue-in-education/. Accessed 2 June 2021.

Korbey, Holly. "Ready, Set, Read! Summer Fiction Ideas for Kids of All Ages." KQED, 2021, www.kqed.org/mindshift/29247/ready-set-read-summer-fiction-ideas-for-kids-of-all-ages. Accessed 24 May 2021.

Scholastic Parents Staff. "17 Ways to Keep Your Middle Schooler Interested in Reading." Scholastic Parents, Scholastic, 2021, www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/reading-resources/developing-reading-skills/17-ways-to-keep-your-middle-schooler-turning-pages.html. Accessed 24 May 2021.