Summer Reading Slide

It's summer! 

For most parents, kids, pets, and humans on planet Earth, summer brings us an opportunity to be more relaxed. Schedules shift. Alarm clocks do not rigidly sound off their bugle call to daily life. 

This is a much anticipated time of year, especially for kids who relish in their classroom-free environments, lighter backpacks, later bedtimes, along with a slacking-off of any strict video gaming restrictions in place during the school year. 

This decompressing time is a much-needed respite; however, it is also a crucial time for that dreaded disease known as the summer reading slide. 

I realize that this may not be what you want to hear, I mean, it's summer for Pete's sake! Give it a rest! - I get it. But, much like the flu season blues, the summer reading slide is real and can infect anyone - even the best of the best, the top of the line, A++ achievers can experience a regression in their skills if they are just vegetating for approximately 10 weeks. 

In full disclosure, there are various trains of thought regarding summer reading slide - some studies tend to support that the summer reading slide virus is a myth, while other studies support that it is real and effectively targets middle to low socioeconomic groups. These groups are cited as being most vulnerable because kids in those groups tend to have less participation in summer activities and programs that engage their learning skills perhaps due to cost, transportation, or both. 

But, as with anything, even if you are among the wealthiest Ritchie Rich live-a-likes, and do nothing - not even read the description on a bag of chips all summer long - you too can summer slide!

To learn more about summer reading slide you can access an article published in Bright Hub Education here:
https://www.brighthubeducation.com/summer-learning-activities-ideas/78894-how-reading-prevents-summer-learning-loss/ 

You can also read an article from a Concordia University blog by clicking here:
https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/is-the-summer-learning-gap-real/ 

What to do?

As a preventative measure, more and more school districts across the nation have incorporated a summer reading program to help foster retention or enhancement of the reading skills a child has just invested a whole school year perfecting. 

Most schools place their summer reading program on their school website or provide parents with informational materials at the end of the year. If you have no information, contact your child's school directly, or contact your school district office. They will be able to assist you in getting the right information.

Whether you believe that the summer reading slide is real or not, there are some things that you can do to minimize the potential loss or just continue to enrich your child's learning throughout the year. 

Resources

Some free digital resources that won't break the vacation budget bank, and which can promote conversations and engagement between you and your child at any level are listed below:

Readworks.org is a free, online resource that provides parents and students alike with account access and supports reading and comprehension through standards-based materials. They have a plethora of articles in both fiction and nonfiction for K-12.  https://www.readworks.org/

Commonlit.org is another free online resource - for grades 3 -12, which also provides high-interest fiction and nonfiction reading materials with standards-based comprehension questions. https://www.commonlit.org

Quizlet.com is a vocabulary online resource that promotes vocabulary growth through the use of study activities. Creating a parental account is required if your child is under the age of  13. https://quizlet.com/

Khan Academy is another free online learning resource that covers math, as well as other topics. It contains learning videos that can be repeated for review and mastery. https://www.khanacademy.org

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