fIGHT "sUMMER sLIDE" WITH THESE 3 TIPS

Summer means fun-in-the-sun and days filled with not much to do, but summer is actually the perfect time for learning! Just because there's no school in session doesn't mean that learning shouldn't be happening; in fact, without formal assignments, it's the perfect time for creativity and imaginative learning. Parents can combat the notorious "summer slide" by encouraging your student to devote a little bit of time each day to keeping up their skills they learned during the school year. 

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1. Books, Books, and more Books! - Whether you start a "Kids Book Club" or complete a reading challenge at your local library, reading provides a great foundation to keeping up school year skills. Encourage your student to read anything and everything: newspapers, magazines, fiction, non-fiction, and everything in between! #teachertip: make learning stick by asking questions about what your student has been reading. 
2. Take a Field Trip Somewhere New - Is there a local museum you've been meaning to check out, farmers market coming to town, or looking to get elbow deep in some dirty? Create an opportunity to do more with your student's learnings by connecting it to an outside experience. Reading about robotics? Check out robotics camp or build a robot with your student. 
3. Put up a "Notice Wall" - Need your student to do some worksheets suggested by their teacher, but don't want to deal with the tears you might have gone through with homework time? Place the worksheets in a single location at your student's eye level; this will allow them to see the worksheets every time they pass by. Put a mix of "work" worksheets, "fun" worksheets, coloring pages, or even question about what they are reading. What you'll find is that rather than having to push your student to sit down and do the worksheets, they will sit down and do them on their own. #teachertip: it's a "Notice Wall" so don't mention it to your student too many times. Let them figure it out on their own.