Summer Math Fun!

Eliminate Learning Loss with Fun Summer Math Activities

Every child looks forward to the end of the school year. No more pencils, no more books...we all remember how it was.  As we get older, we find out that those long summer months are not always the best when it comes to our children's academics. On average, a child can lose many, many months of math education over the course of a summer. When teachers start the school year, oftentimes they need to go back over last year’s work for several weeks.

There are things that can be done during the summer to help stop this gradual slide down a negative math slope.  As parents, we can fill vacations with fun summer math activities and help keep our children on track. Here are three easy ways to incorporate math into the summer, or even year-round.

1. Have your child do math problems at his/her level a couple of times a week.

It is easy to find workbooks of all levels at bookstores or online. Many of the workbooks offer problems that are interesting rather than the typical dull work you might expect. There are also websites that can be found that offer free worksheets; you only need to print them out. The work doesn’t have to be extensive, maybe 5-10 problems three times a week.

2. Help your child realize how math is used everyday.

You would be surprised by how much math we use in a day that we don’t even realize!  By opening our children’s eyes to this, we help them to understand that math is truly an important subject. Some examples that can be pointed out and worked on include: estimating, schedules, cooking, and budgeting. Having help in the kitchen is great!  Not only does your child learn a skill, they can also practice math by doubling or halving a recipe.

3. Playing family games is a great way to practice math skills.

Family games are not only for the younger kids. I am continually surprised by how often older children are interested in playing family games.  Often, it is not only my kids joining us, but their friends too. Some fun family games include Mancala, Chess, Mastermind, Othelo, Monopoly, Cards, Cribbage and Racko.

There are also some interactive math sites that have math games your kids may enjoy. You may want to try www.coolmath.com, www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.html or www.coolmath4kids.com.

Integrating math into the summer months is not that difficult and it doesn’t have to be painful for our children. Spending time together playing games or cooking is enjoyable and allows us to not only reconnect with our children, but helps them academically as well.  By introducing fun summer math activities to our children we are able to better prepare them for the future, which is one of the best gifts that we as parents can give them.