Dear Parents/Guardians,

While your children are probably looking forward to free time with friends, many teachers and parents are concerned about "summer slide," ­the common decline in students' academic skills over summer break. Research shows that over the summer break, children can lose over two months' mathematical proficiency. There are things that you can do as a parent to not only prevent summer learning loss, but also to give your child a head start on next year’s learning.

At school this year, we’ve been using a fun math program called Sumdog. It uses engaging games to encourage students to practice, and automatically adapts to your child’s needs. To help beat this Summer Slide, we’d like you to encourage your child to play a little Sumdog each week. Sumdog will give on-screen rewards in each week your child does 30 minutes of practice. They can log in at www.sumdog.com, or you can download the Sumdog app on Apple, Android and Kindle. Your student’s login credentials can be accessed through their Math Teacher. If you have any difficulties logging in please contact Russ Rogers at rrogers@vtsd.com.

Parents can also have a free Sumdog login. Just visit www.sumdog.com and click the Parents link at the bottom right. This lets you keep in touch over the summer, so you can give encouragement. You’ll get updates from Sumdog on your child’s progress and effort. Together, we can beat the Summer Slide! Please enjoy your time and summer experiences with your children.

Wishing you a safe and enjoyable summer,

Mr. Russell Rogers

K-12 Mathematics Supervisor

Vernon Township School District