Stop the Summer Slide

• July 24, 2022
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Many parents and caretakers worry about the “summer slide” of their student’s academic skills. Neurodiverse learners have been cited as particularly vulnerable. Here are some fun ways to prevent the loss of academic skills, while making skill work fun.

It is best to establish a daily schedule that works for your family. For some, it might be best to do academics first thing in the morning; for others, it might be while you are making dinner. Whatever works best for your family is the way to go. If you go with a structured schedule, it creates more room for negotiation and arguments. Schedules make it feel like part of the day.

Math

Math Minutes: These books come in grade level. You can order them on Amazon. Each page takes less than 10 minutes, depending on the student and the skill. The book will cover all skills for the grade level and has answer sheets in the back.

Math Minutes

Most of our students need practice with math facts. There are lots of fun ways to practice multiplication facts. Below are ways to practice them in unplugged ways and fun apps for phones and Ipads.

Non-Digital Games for Multiplication Facts Practice

Digital and Non-Digital Multiplication Facts Practice

Reading

Unplugged ideas

Kid Magazine Subscriptions

Schedule a weekly trip to the library. It’s like shopping for free.

Digital Reading 

Kindles, etc.

Newsela.com: This site puts up new current event articles for kids each day. They can select a grade level for the article. If they get to a word they don’t know, help them break it up into syllables so that they can read it.

You can ask, “What do the first three letters say?”

Writing 

During each writing activity, remind them to use simple and compound sentences. Here are some examples using these formulas. Have them check for Capitalization and punctuation.

Simple Sentence Formulas

Subject (S) -Verb (V): Bob runs.

SS V: Bob and Sue ate dinner.

S VV: Sue ran and swam.

SS VV: Bob and Sue ate dinner and saw a movie.

Compound Sentence Formula

SV, (and, but, so) SV: I, cI.

Examples:

Sue ran and swam, and Bob ate dinner.

Bob ran, but Sue went to the movies

Bob was sick, so Sue called the doctor.

SV; SV.

Sue ran and swam; Bob ate dinner.

Bob ran; Sue went to the movies

Bob was sick; Sue called the doctor.

Activities

Pen Pal weekly letter: Have them use the computer to write a letter to a chosen Pen Pal. It could be a grandparent, another relative, or a friend that has moved. Just confirm it is someone who will write back.

Have them type a draft, and then help them edit it.

Journaling: You can have them journal each day. If you need prompts, there are many websites with prompts. I like this one because it offers reminders of skills to practice.

Writing prompts and process tips