The sound of the summer vacation dismissal bell makes kids forget everything they’ve learned over the past year faster than ice-cream cones melting in July. Math proficiency gained during the year is often one of the first casualties of time away from the classroom. So how can you maintain your child’s summer math skills while keeping them happy during their vacation from school? Here are a couple of tried-and-true tips for making sure your child doesn’t have to relearn all those math skills in September.
Cooking is a great way to have fun and bond with your child while teaching him math and helping him retain useful skills. Younger children can help measure ingredients. Not only does this help with motor skills, but it helps children learn to visualize fractions when they measure halves, thirds and quarters of a cup or tablespoon. Older children can read the recipe and learn to follow directions. You can even have your older child help you double a recipe or cut it back. Practice like this makes learning multiplication and division fun. And the best part is, you’ll have a tasty treat when you’re finished!
One summer when my daughter was seven, I sensed that something was bothering her. She confessed that she was worried about moving into third grade. Many children need extra practice and reassurance when they move from primary grades K-2 to the middle grades, or from elementary school to middle school. I took my daughter to a teacher supply store and bought her some arithmetic books and math learning aids that were appropriate for third grade. She was incredibly relieved to see that the material wasn’t as difficult as she had imagined and that she was psyching herself out unnecessarily. I helped her with some of the review material and she was able to enjoy the rest of her summer.
With computer learning tools it’s even easier to move up a grade. Lessons start off easy and build in difficulty. A number of packages even cover lessons for multiple grades so it’s easy to gain confidence by conquering more advanced lessons.
If your child begs for treats at the store until you’re ready to pull your hair out, a good way to keep both of you sane is to set a dollar limit. Count out some spare change before you leave for the store. Then have your child add the coins to arrive at the total amount she can spend. Not only will it keep her quiet while she decides which items she can afford to buy, it will help her with her addition and subtraction while helping her learn money skills. One caveat, though–if you say “anything,” you need to mean it–no fair second-guessing her purchases. Remember, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and avoiding buyer’s remorse is a good lesson to learn early, too.
You don’t have to spend a lot of money to provide quality learning material for your child. There are many websites with printable puzzles and worksheets that you can download for free. Believe it or not, most dollar stores have entire sections devoted to puzzle and picture books that help make learning fun. To save you a visit to the store, we have reviewed several websites that offer free, high-quality downloadable worksheets that you can print yourself.
Math isn’t just about numbers. Learning the different shapes is a big part of geometry. Getting into the car to drive to the beach or summer vacation spot? Play a game with your child, having him point out octagons (stop signs), triangles (yield signs) and rectangles (speed limit signs). Older children can name three-dimensional shapes such as pyramids and spheres that they spot along the way.
Another great source for helping your child retain her math skills is educational software. Let’s face it; many kids today would rather play computer games than do anything else. Why not use those games to sneak in a little summer math practice? Educational math games allow your child to have fun and learn everything from number recognition to addition to calculus at his own pace. One game that has been around for a long time is Math Blaster, but there are many math software titles from which to choose. On the Math Whiz Shop website, we’ve organized the titles by grade level and skills taught. Browse through the titles and read the detailed descriptions to determine which software most suits your child’s needs.
Whether it’s the beginning, middle, or end of summer, math can still be part of your child’s everyday activities, meaning there’s no reason to lose math skills. With a little ingenuity and some sleight-of-hand, your child won’t even have to know she’s learning!
