How to Beat the Summer Slide
Have you heard of the “summer slide”? Unfortunately, it’s not the fun kind of slide you’ll find at a water park or playground. This slide is different. It’s a slide that no mom wants her child to ride.
What Is the Summer Slide?
The summer slide is a decline in reading ability and other academic skills that can occur over the summer months when school isn’t in session.
Although the summer slide may not affect every student, the general principle is one that can be observed in all sorts of situations. Skills that are learned, also need to be practiced to ensure ongoing proficiency in the skill. For example, if your child plays the violin but stops practicing for three months, his skills will decline more than the skills of a child who continues to practice and play the violin over the summer, right?
So what can we do to avoid this common problem?
How to Prevent the Summer Slide
Here’s the secret to preventing the summer slide: Keep learning all summer long. (Now, don’t panic, I’m not talking about year-round schooling, although for some homeschool families, year-round schooling may be a good solution.)
I’m talking about consciously striving to provide learning opportunities throughout the summer to keep kids’ academic skills sharp. Check out the infographic below for a big list of ideas to help you put an end to the summer slide!
Beat the Summer Slide with These Helpful Resources!
Want to keep your child’s reading and spelling skills sharp over the summer? Check out the blog posts, free downloads, and review materials below and say goodbye to the summer slide forever.
Reading Resources
Skills Review for Reading and Spelling
Vocabulary-Building Resources
Additional Resources
Would you like to learn more about how you can beat the Summer Slide? Download our FREE e-book!
What do you plan to do with your children to beat the summer slide? Share in the comments below!
Tandi Cortez
says:Wonderful content! Great tips! Will definitely use some of these with my son!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Tandi!
Lauren
says:Great ideas! We’ve been doing more library pick-ups this summer and everyone is loving it!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceLibraries are a wonderful resource for beating the summer slide, Lauren! Thank you for the reminder!
Clara
says:Thank you! Such a helpful article as always!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Clara!
Clarice
says:My kids are already listening through The Mysterious Benedict Society series on audio, and living it!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThat’s a great series, Clarice!
Wendi Knight
says:Love this! Seems like an effortless way to stay sharp this summer!
Toni Drummond
says:I find that it is very important to provide learning opportunities over the summer. My child would like to spend all 24 hours each day playing video games and watching TV, but I try to find ways to keep him otherwise occupied and having new and fun experiences at the same time.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceSuch a great point, Toni! Thank you.
Leisa
says:These are some fun tips and I hadn’t thought of some of them.
Jenn
says:Great ideas. Thanks!
Katie
says:Love these tips! We dial back on some subjects and read so much during the summer…feels like a treat that the whole family enjoys!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceWhat a great way to beat the summer slide, Katie!
Jessica Barnes
says:Great ideas. Thanks!
Niki
says:Love these ideas! We are implementing quite a few at our house!
Elizabeth H.
says:Great ideas!
Amanda
says:These are great suggestions for our Summer learning.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Amanda!
Alyssa
says:Thank you so much for the tips! My littles have worked so hard on AAR and this will help give them a little break during summer without loosing all the skills they obtained!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou are so welcome, Alyssa! Having a plan for providing ongoing review over long breaks from school is so important!
Chrysalis
says:My kids and I always continue homeschooling through the summer. It doesn’t mean we are doing it hard core. Even if it is readying for 30-minutes that day after spending the day at the beach, we did something. Every little bit counts and I make sure we do something each day of the summer. This seems to work best for us to make sure we stay on track and keep learning daily!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceIt sounds like you have a wonderful way to prevent the summer slide with your children, Chrysalis! Thank you for sharing it.
Sigrid
says:I like that you used a colorful poster to highlight the points of what to do with your child(ren) to keep them learning. Some of the best things I have done with my three girls is to let them ponder what would they do if there was no “right” answer or judgement to the activity. Their choices of what to do often seem surprisingly simple but engage learning at the same time. When my youngest (6 years old) wanted to roll out letters in play-doh, my middle one (13 years old) suddenly thought she could be creative in her own way with clay and they started talking up a storm. Learning how to correctly tell a story started evolving as my middle daughter gently corrected her younger sister as she actively listened to her when they were both engaged in clay play. They rarely get along that well, but the times the do are wonderful experiences for both. I encourage all parents and guardians of children to let the child guide some of their learning experiences to see where it may take you!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceSuch great points, Sigrid! Thank you for so much for sharing this.
Ophira
says:This is a fantastic list! Thank you so much for putting it together.
Kim
says:Thank you for these helpful tips.
Jocelyn
says:Great ideas here!
Kelsey Lafleur
says:Thank you! We love audiobooks! I never thought about it helping with the summer side.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Kelsey!
Mychal
says:These are great ideas and we incorporate most of them. I love the ‘All About Learning’ as it gives them rules to figure out a lot themselves.
Tara Archer
says:This is great! We are actively trying go to prevent the summer slide and will use this list as a guide. I also printed out a bunch of your free activities for review! Thanks for the support.
Vilma Reyes
says:I have an 11 year old entering 6th grade. Hoping to make reading special this summer with some new and exciting ideas…my research begins now…
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceVilma,
Are you looking for anything specific? We have Chapter Book Reviews that might be helpful, as well as How to Motivate Your Child to Read blog post. Let me know if I can help you with your research.
Katie B
says:I haven’t even begun to learn how to tackle this. My oldest and I are finishing pre-k, so it’s our first “summer” to slide through. Mumma needs it too. We are purchasing the AAR – Pre Reading package and will focus on this and a nature study this summer. Very much looking forward to trying it out!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceKatie,
It sounds like you have a great plan for this summer! Pre-reading and nature study should be lots of fun!
Paula
says:Not sure what we’re going to aside from several of the tips listed. Thank you for the resources listed to go along with them too :)
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Paula.
Lauren
says:Great advice! Thank you!
Sunnymay
says:I agree the reading is important year round and especially so kids don’t fall behind in the summer. Picking out books that resonate with interests like hobbies, sports, games, pets, etc. is the key. My kids loved it when I read a page in a chapter bbook and they read the next page. If it was a short page, they were gloating. We just kept on going and silly stories were the most fun.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceSunnymay,
My children enjoyed buddy reading like that so much! It made reading so much more social and special.
Sunshyne
says:Wow there are a lot of resources provided to prevent the summer slide. I look forward to exploring all of them one by one.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Sunshyne.
Katya
says:Great resources, thank you!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Katya!
Jodie
says:I learned about the summer slide big time a few years ago when I realized my son forgot how to write his name. That was so fun (not really…).
We continue through the summer with AAR. I have them pick previous stories to read as well as do a lesson two or three times a week. We also incorporate fun reading games into our days.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI like your plan to use previous All About Reading stories for reviewing, Jodie! Rereading stories helps students build smooth, fluent reading. Thanks for sharing your summer plan.