Border Lines

Summer Brain Drain is the widely acknowledged loss of academic skills which happens during school’s summer break.  Studies cite anywhere from about 2.5 months to 3 weeks of learning lost or forgotten when skills are not being practiced.

As parents, if we are concerned about keeping our kids at the top of their game, we find a nice summer reading program from the local library or book store.  If we think there’s a reading deficiency , we might go even further and sign the kids up for an engaging summer reading program from a local tutor or learning center.  

If you think that’s all you need to prevent summer brain drain, please read on.

Turns out , math skills deteriorate more from summer brain drain and need at least as much attention as reading skills.  A thorough review of 39 studies concluded that math suffers most from lack of use during the long summertime break.

Of course we can involve our kids on a daily basis with practical math in fun ways at home.  One of my favorites is working on fractions while making cookies .  (e.g. Measure two quarter cups of brown sugar because I need a half cup total )  These at-home math drills can easily be adjusted for the appropriate age and grade with older students calculating surface area for painting projects and younger students counting out the right number of nails.   Little gardeners can figure out how many plants or seeds to buy to fill an area with tomato plants.  Young travelers can map out a journey and estimate how long the trip will take.  Shoppers can calculate sale prices or which paper towel package has the lowest cost per unit .

While these activities help, especially when you know and focus on your child’s weaker areas and calculations which are easily forgotten, studies still show that much of the computational skills which generally are not practiced over the long summer break, are simply forgotten .  For this very reason, many schools have changed from a traditional school year calendar to year round school.  

Most states in the U.S. currently have several schools with year round calendars.  Many schools are currently debating or actively switching to year round schedules.  If your child is attending a school with a traditional calendar , studies show he or she will be forgetting at least one month of math each summer, and that summer loss is cumulative.  Your child will forget or lose approximately a year of math instruction and will later be competing with students who had the benefit of year round school.

So what is a concerned parent to do?

The best solution I’ve found is to enroll kids in a great summer math program.  While not as readily available as summer reading programs, summer math programs are out there and are even more important.

Some things to keep in mind are as follows.

Does the program create an individualized plan after assessing your child’s strengths and weaknesses?

Is the curriculum is both fun and comprehensive?

Are the teachers academically qualified with appropriate degrees?

Will you receive appropriate reports to track your student’s progress?

Does the program deliver results?

This summer, give your child the opportunity to have fun and get a step ahead of the coming school year.  Your choice of summer activity will either leave your child behind, with the old summer brain drain, or put your student far ahead of her peers, and spare you the tortuous nights struggling with math homework during the next school year .  Polish those math skills this summer, and your student will shine later!

Related posts:

1. Unique Reading Program for Struggling Adolescent Readers Features American, British, and World Literature Program enables struggling readers to access the same selections as their on-level peers NEW YORK, Nov. 3 /PRNewswire/ — Middle and high school students reading...
2. New Study Says Household Order Key to Kids Early Reading Abilities The results of a new study on the effects of the home environment on early learning growth indicates that household order is the key to...
3. As Kids Head Back to School, National Advocacy Group Issues Report on Progress of School Wellness SYRACUSE, N.Y., Aug. 8 /PRNewswire/ — “The passage of federal legislation two years ago mandating schools to adopt wellness policies — a response by...
4. Summer Things To Do In Mexico – Ensenada And Oaxaca If you are looking for summer things to do outside the United States, Mexico is just there waiting for you. Mexico is a very lively...
5. Living in Mexico – True Total Immersion Spanish Almost without exception, the private language schools and universities in Mexico use the translation method of Spanish instruction. The translation method is a philosophy of...