Avoiding the Summer slide

Avoiding the Summer Slide

If your child does not go to summer school, try using these websites for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Below this section are more summer ideas.

Below are free websites to help your child and family find activities:
readwritethink (writing and reading resources)
Wordgames (spelling/ word study)
Greek and Latin Root practice
mathgames1 (freemath games)
access to free ebooks (kindles and phones)
free articles for kids
free DC comic online
free marvel kids activities
Kidoku free
https://www.mathplayground.com/


Math

·      Practice math facts and computation skills weekly.

·      Cook with a recipe (double, triple or reduce to half using multiplication and division)

·      Incorporate Math night (Powers of 10) into Game Night: Monopoly, etc. 

·      Create real word problems with 2 operations.

• The local grocery store is a great place to apply math skills at all age levels:

·       Use estimation skills to predict how much the grocery bill will be.

·       Comparison-shopping: How much do you save per ounce (or another unit) by buying in bulk? (Grocery store versus Sam's Costco)

·       Look at expiration dates: Which products have short shelf lives? long shelf lives? Why?

·       How much can you save by buying products on sale? (Use Percent, decimals and fractions interchangeably.)

Reading (Writing)

• Visit the library weekly or biweekly and check out books.
• Have a word of the day (discuss the root, base word and share the meaning and try to use it appropriately)
• Discuss the structure of the text (how the information is organized)
• Compare and contrast (2 different topics)
• Sequence (chronological order: beginning, middle, and ending)
• Cause and effect
• Problem and solution
• Description
• Read one chapter book a week (alternating fiction and nonfiction weekly)
• Find the fiction elements (characters, conflict, setting and plot outline.)
• Discuss the theme (fiction)
• Discuss the author’s purpose for writing. (Nonfiction theme)
• Apply theme to your life.

Activities

• Get the Bedtime Math app for leveled math problems with answers
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m77S9ZY4w1A
• Study one self-selected topic and create a project from the research
• Include graphical features
• Rank restaurants or ice cream places with 3 supporting details (My family loved this one.)
• Join a kid investment club
• Nature Walk and Talks
• Have a weekly estimation challenge: dried beans, pasta, and other small trinkets. Discuss strategies and estimation steps.

More academic links:

• Continue to use Lexia Core5 throughout the summer.  Lexia Core5 will allow your child to get additional reading practice. Look for a letter that will be sent home with your student’s login information.
• National Geographic Kids (https://kids.nationalgeographic.com): Great nature videos, activities, games, stories, and more
• Discovery Kids (https://discoverykids.ph): Video, games and activities to explore dinosaurs, sharks, space, pets, history and more
• Smithsonian Kids Collecting: (http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/students/idealabs/amazing_collections.html): how to start your own collection and see what other kids collect
• The Last American Dinosaurs https://naturalhistory.si.edu/fossil-hall/last-american-dinosaurs/): from the National Museum of Natural History
• NASA Kids Club:(https://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub/index.html): a place to play games and learn about NASA through interactive explorations
• My Wonderful World (http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/mywonderfulworld/): A multimedia tour of our seven continents
• Time for Kids (https://www.timeforkids.com): Fun games (The Great State Race), an online weekly magazine written for kids, and news from around the world.
• Visit a children’s museum and discover new things together, create new memories, introduce your student to unknown ideas & concepts, have your student use the Museum Guide/Map to guide the exploration.
• Keep a simple journal or diary. Advanced/ Technology savvy, keep a photo diary.
• Write an opinion letter explaining one item he or she should earn for the summer.
• Write a letter (email) weekly. Be sure to include:Date, greetings, Introduction, body and conclusion, and closing:
• Grandparents/ aunts
• cousins
• Local Mayor
• City council
• State and Federal government officials
• Favorite author

Just for Laughs