While the typical family is enjoying a casual summer schedule, research shows that the typical student brain is also taking a summer break and forgetting up to 40% of the information learned during the school year. Worse yet, it can take up to 6 weeks to get back into the swing of learning once a student returns to school. In the average school year, that can add up to almost 50% learning loss overall, an overwhelming statistic in a make-it-or-break-it educational environment. I have created a list of activities to do with the kids to help combat this “summer slide.”

1. Enroll in a summer reading program.
2. Learning websites for kids.
3. Activity ideas for Summer Learning.
4. Improve their handwriting with my Handwriting Challenge.
5. Ask their teacher for recommended web-sites, apps, a list of books etc…
6. Get the kids to tell stories with some help from Story Stones!
7. When you go to the zoo or a museum do a project with them the next day to find out what they learned.
8. Enroll in a Young Rembrandts Summer Workshop!
9. Keep them learning this summer with ideas from three moms I interviewed last fall.
10. Follow us on Pinterest as we are always adding fun kid crafts and activities.
11. Create a daily schedule, have the kids do something educational before they get to plug in.
12. Limit screen time.
13. Encourage them to go outside and explore then sit with them to find out what they discovered.
14. Keep them drawing with our How to Draw videos.