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SQUASH the
Summer Slump!
BY MICHELLE BLANCHARD ARDILLO
The “ dog
days of
summer ” bring
more than
just heat and
humidity —
14 June 2018
washingtonFAMILY.com for school children, they also bring the dreaded summer
slump. Between swim practice, sports camp, theatre
programs and family vacations, students of all ages
lose ground in the fundamentals of education: reading,
writing and math. Teachers spend part of the fi rst quarter
assessing and re-teaching these building blocks before
they can begin teaching new material for the school year.

As a parent, what can you do to combat the summer
slump? Here are some tips to prevent your student from
losing ground, or perhaps, even gain some ground, while
still enjoying summer break to its fullest.




AN HOUR OF POWER
Dedicate one hour a day to academics.

For younger students, break this hour
into smaller, more manageable chunks.

For tough negotiators, trade an hour of
screen time for an hour of academics!
DEDICATED DAYS
FOR SUBJECTS
>> Along with “Meatless Monday,”
make the fi rst day of the week
“Math Monday.” Use fl ashcards to
review math facts. Do a page or two
out of a math workbook. Calculate
the distance from home to camp
or to your planned vacation site.

Chart activities such as a swim meet
or sports practice, and calculate
calories needed to replace energy
expended. Cook together and
double or halve a recipe to
practice fractions.

to answer about the article. Focus
on sentence structure for younger
children, and move up to paragraph
structure for older students. Align
paragraph length to grade level:
fi ve sentences for a fi fth-grader, six
sentences for a sixth-grader and so
on. Look for a beginning, a middle
and an ending to each paragraph.

>> Make Friday a “free day.” Let your
student choose what to spend the
hour on, and be fl exible. As long as
it touches on one of the basics of the
core subjects, let them choose.

Need suggestions?
• Have a geography bee. Using
a blank map of the U.S., have your
student fi nd your home state and
bordering states. Expand this
exercise on another day to those
states where friends or family live
and label those as well. Make or
buy placemats that have maps on
them and discuss state capitals or
national landmarks while eating.

Hang up a world map in the
playroom or family room and talk
about the continents and major
bodies of water. Discuss your
family’s heritage and background
to explore other countries without
leaving home!
• Do a mini science fair in
preparation for the real thing
in the coming school year.

Check the web for basic science
labs you can do at home; most will
require components you already
have in your kitchen pantry or
garage. Check the weather forecast
for the next few days and chart
temperature, precipitation and
humidity. Measure velocity
of a playground swing or
rollercoaster from your favorite
amusement park.

>> Make Tuesday and Thursday
grammar and vocab days. Use
fl ashcards to drill on parts of speech
or punctuation rules (Did you know
there are seven comma rules?). Do
a grammar worksheet printed from
the internet. Buy or make grade-
level vocab fl ashcards with the
word on front and the defi nition
and part of speech on back. A strong
vocabulary is a major factor to
success on standardized tests such
as the ACT and SAT.

fl yparade/iStock/Getty Images Plus
>> “Writing Wednesdays” will help
take some of the trepidation out
of writing. Writing assignments
can be journaling about family trips
or writing book or movie reviews.

For those reluctant writers, read
together an article on the web about
a favorite sports fi gure or celebrity
(pre-screened for objectionable
material), and give your young
writer some open-ended questions
washingtonFAMILY.com June 2018
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