Fight Summer Brain Drain

Fight Summer
Brain Drain

Help Your Child Maintain Academic Skills!

Summer break is a much-anticipated time for children, but the long hiatus from school can lead to the phenomenon known as the “summer brain drain,” where students lose some of the academic gains made during the school year. Parents can play a crucial role in mitigating this effect by incorporating educational activities into their children’s summer routines. One effective approach is to encourage reading. Setting aside time each day for reading, whether books, magazines, or educational websites, can significantly help maintain and improve literacy skills. Parents can make this more engaging by letting children choose their reading materials based on their interests, organizing trips to the library, and discussing the stories to enhance comprehension and critical thinking.

In addition to reading, integrating math and science activities into everyday life can help combat summer learning loss. Simple activities like cooking can be transformed into educational experiences by involving children in measuring ingredients and reinforcing math skills. Whether homemade or part of a kit, science experiments can spark curiosity and promote hands-on learning. Parents can also use educational apps and online resources that offer interactive and fun ways to practice math and science concepts. Children are less likely to lose the skills they’ve developed during the school year by keeping these subjects a part of daily life.

Lastly, parents can encourage learning through exploration and play. Summer provides a perfect opportunity for experiential and expeditionary learning outside the classroom. Visiting museums, historical sites, or nature reserves can be both fun and educational, offering children a chance to learn about history, science, and the environment in a hands-on way. Creative activities such as arts and crafts, music, and storytelling can stimulate cognitive development. Parents can help their children retain their academic skills and develop a lifelong love for learning by fostering an environment where learning is seen as an enjoyable process.

Online Resources

Khan Academy
This platform offers comprehensive math, science, economics, history, and more lessons. The interactive exercises, instructional videos, and personalized learning dashboard allow students to study independently.

Readworks
Readworks offers lesson plans sorted by reading comprehension skill and grade level. Additionally, there are reading passages with questions that can be sorted by Lexile level and/or reading comprehension skill. The reading passages can be used for independent practice and evidence for goal attainment.

Newsela
Newsela allows current events to come alive through this non-fiction-based website. The site is searchable and consists of current events organized by subject/topic area. The Lexile level of an article can be adjusted based on given choices, and many of the articles include a quiz. Teachers can set up a class and assign articles or simply print off the articles. Tweentribune and Newsela help support students’ reading abilities based on their Lexile levels and address areas of non-fiction skill development.

Storybird
Storybird uses colorful and beautifully designed pictures, where students can create single-page stories or entire books. They control the flow of the pages and create the text. Teachers can monitor their student’s work, provide feedback, and control the settings on how the book is published. With teacher approval, students can comment and give feedback to each other. This is great for all students, especially students who need to “see” the story before creating their masterpiece. Great tool to address specific grammar skills, creative writing, story development, story elements, and/or sentence structure.

Wordsift
Wordsift takes reading and editing to the next level with this website. The user can paste the text into the box, and repeated words are emphasized by enlarging the text. The more a word is used, the larger it is displayed. Unlike Wordle or Taxedo, which creates word clouds using a similar dynamic, Wordsift allows the user to click on words within the text so that the visual thesaurus can identify similar words. Below the thesaurus, the definition is displayed.

Rewordify
Rewordify rewords text to make it easier or more difficult. It helps teach vocabulary and make text accessible to all learners. Teachers can create quizzes, vocabulary cards, matching worksheets, and cloze reading passages.

Xtramath
Xtramath focuses on building student fluency in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Teachers create a class and can monitor students’ progress. Students work on the site daily for 3 to 5 minutes. It is easy to use, has a short time commitment, and is rewarding. Additionally, parents can monitor student’s progress and sign up for weekly updates.

Read Theory
Read Theory’s adaptive approach fosters improvement by automatically meeting learners at individual ability levels.

Code.org
This website is for students of all ages, providing free coding courses and resources. It’s a great platform for those interested in computer science and programming.

National Geographic Kids
For younger students, National Geographic Kids offers a wealth of educational games, videos, and articles on topics related to nature, science, and geography.

Quizlet
This tool allows students to create and study flashcards on various subjects. It also offers games and practice tests to make studying more interactive and effective.

Summer Bridge Workbooks
These workbooks cover all subjects and are a great way for your child to learn essential reading comprehension, writing, math, science, social studies, and fitness skills during summer break through quick, 15-minute active learning adventures.

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