by Katie Fraser, Director of Student Success
When we think of summer, it may bring to mind the sounds of crickets in the evening, the sound of an ice cream truck coming around the block or fun times at the lake with family and friends. Something that we may not think of is learning loss (sometimes referred to as the summer slide) that educational researchers identify as particularly impactful for vulnerable learners, especially our younger learners, whose brains are being built for reading and mathematics in elementary school.
Research on the summer slide identifies the areas of reading and mathematics in elementary children as being the most impacted by learning loss over the summer holiday. A blanket strategy for keeping your children learning over the summer is to encourage their curiosity. Curiosity and questioning drive learning, and although some general tips are shared below, following your child’s interests and feeding them is one of the most impactful learning experiences a parent can provide. If the opportunity presents itself, use your child’s interests, passions and curiosity to build on the tools below. With this in mind, below are a variety of fun and engaging tips you may try to keep learning moving forward with your family in the summer months.
Tips and Tricks for our youngest learners (Ages 4-6)
Did you know that although children’s brains are wired to speak, they are not wired to read? Reading brains are built in early childhood, starting at home and strengthened at school. To help build your child’s reading brain, try these fun pre-reading activities at home:
- I hear with my little ear
(to help build phonological skills (pre-reading)) Choose an object and say “I hear with my little ear something that begins with /k/” You can give hints like.. You use it to colour” (answer crayon)
- Guess my lunch (I had three things they start with /p/ /s/ /y/) (pizza, salad, yogurt)
- Cuddle time reading, read to your children as much as you possibly can. Cuddle time reading is a great routine to build that focus on reading before bed.
Math learning begins in the early years when children are exploring math in their worlds; comparing quantities, finding patterns, and simply navigating their environment. To keep math moving forward for your littlest learners, try these activities:
- Counting out loud: help your child develop stable order and one-one correspondence by counting the number of stairs in your home, the number of steps to the bathroom, the number of apple slices from an apple.
- To lay the foundation for measurement, we can line up the number of shoes it takes to get from point A to point B or the number of hands it takes to measure our height.
- To develop visual spatial awareness, introduce puzzles and tangrams!
As our children move into elementary school, their brains have begun the process of wiring. This wiring will be the foundation upon which future learning will be built. It is therefore prudent of us as parents to keep this wiring strong by engaging in activities that will sustain the growth of learning that occurred during a school year. The tips below are aimed at keeping our brains firing over the summer in ways that are fun and engaging!
Building literacy (reading and writing) in our elementary learners:
- TD Summer Reading Club: Join this nationwide reading program designed to keep kids excited about reading throughout the summer. Activities, book recommendations, and reading challenges are available.
- Boggle, Bananagrams, Scrabble: These classic games are perfect for building vocabulary and spelling skills in a fun and competitive way.
- Summer Pen-Pals: Encourage your child to write letters to classmates, family, and friends. This keeps writing skills sharp and fosters personal connections.
- Grocery Lists and Menus: Involve children in everyday tasks by having them help write grocery lists, dinner menus, or to-do lists. This practical writing practice is both fun and useful.
Keeping math fresh and fun!
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Playing cards are a great tool for reinforcing foundational math facts. Here are some fun games to try at home:
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Game of War: Split a deck in half. As you flip over cards, whoever can add, subtract, or multiply the quickest wins the cards. The player with the most cards at the end wins.
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- Black Jack: Try to make 21 without going over. This game is great for practicing addition and strategic thinking.
- Cribbage: A traditional game that involves counting and strategy, making it perfect for practicing addition up to 31 and 15.
- 99: Another counting game where players add or subtract to reach 99, enhancing mental math skills.
- Sequence: Combines card games and board games to develop strategic planning
- Tangram Games: Puzzles that involve arranging shapes to match a specific design help build visual spatial awareness– an essential skill for math learning.
- Cooking and Baking: Involve your children in cooking and baking, where they can practice measuring ingredients and understanding fractions.
Summer is a time for families to reconnect, recharge, and rediscover the joy of learning together. Research consistently shows that online, technology-based learning interventions are often more harmful than helpful. True growth and discovery thrive through real-world experiences that are engaging, active, and shared. In the Capital Region, opportunities for meaningful learning abound — from museums and local festivals to the endless beauty of our natural surroundings. Beyond literacy and numeracy, every moment offers a chance for children to think creatively, explore curiously, and build lasting memories. This summer, the greatest gift is time spent together — exploring, wondering, and learning side by side.