Every child looks forward to having fun and taking some time out of routine to enjoy during summer break. At the same time, parents start to worry about the child’s learning as they think the break could cause summer learning loss. So, they think being away from school for so long can affect a child’s learning, and they won’t be very enthusiastic when they go back to their normal routine at school. However, some experts often suggest that this learning loss during summer break exists, affecting the test scores and grades when they start again.
You can make this time an excellent opportunity to develop your child’s unique skills during this summertime to help them make progress by strengthening the weak subject areas. Moreover, it is an ideal span to enrich their experiences by allowing them to accelerate in academics in their unique ways. Parents have a huge responsibility to prevent summer reading loss and keep the children excited to go back to school rather than losing interest.
In this particular blog, you will learn about summer learning loss: the evidence and a possible solution, the perfect guide for parents.
How do you describe summer learning loss?
It is described as the tendency to lose core learning skills and knowledge during the summer break. It means the knowledge they have learned throughout the year.
Summer learning programmes play an important role for students. Research has suggested that a child can lose one month of learning during the summer break on average. So, in this particular scenario, children are not well prepared to start school in the fall. Meanwhile, teachers will need more time to cover such learning gaps to get students back on track. Therefore, it is better to prevent it before it happens.
Top 7 Ways To Prevent Summer Learning Loss
Summer learning loss statistics are alarming. Therefore, parents should learn how to keep children learning skills during the summer. It will help them get prepared before school starts again.
Following are the most suitable summer learning tips for parents. Such activities will support children in retaining crucial skills and knowledge while enjoying the summer vacation.
1- Make A Proper Timetable For Learning
Making a timetable for learning is one of the top summer recommendations for students. Moreover, it is a stimulating and fun way to keep track of the activities during the whole summer break. It is suggested to outline the plan of daily learning activities and review for changes. A child’s participation is a must in this process. List down the learning activities for each day and cross them off when they complete them. So, this exercise will help students develop planning skills. Distribute the daily tasks based on a child’s interest and new skills, covering different Maths facts, reading and different writing activities. Managing a child’s long list of activities throughout the summer vacation will be much easier.
2- Promote Writing Practice
Summer learning loss is real. Therefore, parents need to think more carefully to prevent it for their children, allowing them to get back to school even stronger when the summer vacation ends. Writing is a skill that your child must maintain during the summer break. Moreover, they need to improve their handwriting alongside creativity and fluency. As you know, children use laptops and other tech devices for typing purposes. Therefore, you must include writing activities in the daily timetable. That could be writing a journal, ideas and thoughts to foster creativity. Such writing exercises on paper will improve their fluency and stamina.
The exercise can be simple for younger children as writing some sentences a few times to improve motor skills. Moreover, parents should look for various fun ways to promote writing.
3- Encourage Learning Activities
Most parents fail to learn how to prevent summer learning loss using the right approach. During the summer, they have a crucial role in preventing them from losing their core skills and knowledge. So, one of the best ways to help children keep their knowledge is to provide them with learning activities that are fun at the same time. Parents should sit with the child and read together. It will improve their literacy and verbal skills. However, you can also read our blog on how to improve a child’s performance at home.
Ask your child to read some news or stories to you. Moreover, for older children, you can start a daily activity to discuss the books’ language, themes, and ideas while sitting together. Though all activities aim for summer learning loss prevention, you need to make sure they are equally fun to keep their interest.
Adnan Khan Tutoring suggests fun and highly interactive activities for children that allow them to enjoy their break and learn simultaneously.
4- Include Summer Reading
According to the research, reading can be the top area where students usually lose skills during the summer break. Therefore, you can help your child prevent this by helping them with reading activities before they get back to school. You can start by creating a book club to allow children to read and discuss different books with family or friends. Moreover, it will enable children to connect with other minds and discuss their thoughts about particular reading topics.
Such reading activities will improve the vocabulary and build core listening skills that will foster the child’s imagination. In addition, you can ask children to act out the story to make it more interesting. So, it has been one of the top suggestions to fill the summer learning gap.
5- Work Together with Common Interests
Summer loss of learning is something parents are worried about the most. They want children to have fun during the summer break, but, at the same time, they don’t want them to forget the skills they have learned. Therefore, parents should include the project or activities that allow them to work with the child. Perhaps you can find the activities your child finds interesting and eager to explore them with you. So, these exercises may include gardening, sports, engineering or some experiments. You can even ask your child for a better idea. Spending time with the child doing such activities will improve the child’s confidence and can perfectly set them for academic success.
6- Consider Online Summer Learning Program
Many platforms across the UK offer online programmes to supplement and accelerate a child’s learning during the summer vacation. So, these programmes plan out the teaching based on a child’s age and specific requirements. However, you can research and see which one fits your needs. There are many options to explore such as online homeschool tutoring to keep your child engaged during the summer break.
Adnan Khan Tutoring provides its students with summer assignments and various tasks to prevent them from summer learning loss. Our experts also guide parents in this challenging phase.
7- Visit Museum and Historical Places
Summer break is the best time to visit places you have been planning for so long. Visit historical sites and museums to enhance your child’s knowledge about the history and various periods on earth. So, make your visits to informative places where children can actually learn and have fun. Seeing things you have been learning in books in front of you is something you won’t ever forget. Therefore, it is a highly suggested activity to do during the summer.
If you still need assistance and further guidance, you can always contact us or book your free assessment to know about your child’s strengths & weaknesses and get help from experts.