We’ve all heard of the summer slide when kids can lose, on average, 27 per cent of the math they learned in the school year. How can we help prevent the summer math slide? It’s important that kids do have some time for fun and relaxation in the summer. But as little as 10-15 minutes of practice each day can help maintain the skills they learned in the school year.

“I encourage parents to find a routine that works for them and stick with it. Some kids may prefer to knock out their daily work first thing in the morning, while others may like to complete it as an afternoon activity. The timing isn’t as important as completing the work and keeping their brains going all summer long.” – Mrs. Balius

Here are some summer math activities you can try:

• Practice telling time. If the child has recently learned how to tell time, keep up this skill by creating schedules, having your child time activities like getting dressed, and using an analogue clock throughout the day.
• Baking and cooking. Baking and cooking helps kids learn shapes, fractions, timing and more. Have fun baking together while learning and maintaining math skills.
• Math games. Games can help make learning math fun! This video explains three simple math games that are perfect for a rainy day, or when it’s just too hot to play outside. Read through the resources below for outdoor math games.

For more math summer activities, check out the resources listed below.

Coming soon! New family literacy kits on math topics will be available to borrow from the Decoda Literacy Library very soon. Stay tuned!

Resources