It's a fact: All students experience learning losses in procedural and factual knowledge during the summer months. But what about kids who already struggle with learning? What can we do to ensure that the much needed summer break doesn't lead to a significant loss of social, emotional, vocational, and academic skills? Fortunately, there are several simple things parents of students with special or learning needs can do during the summer months to prevent and/or minimize learning loss.
Don't forget about the IEP. Without regular practice, new skills and knowledge fade. Most students don't require extended school year services, but that doesn't mean that they should put learning on hold. Before you make your summer plans, review your child's IEP goals to look for activities and projects to do that will help them maintain the progress they worked so hard to achieve during the past school year.
Find learning opportunities in your daily routine. We all do chores. Use everyday tasks to help disguise learning in a fun way. Practicing fractions by measuring ingredients while cooking or learning about money management by budgeting for your grocery shopping are two examples. Work on sorting and classification by doing laundry or reorganizing a messy closet. There are so many fun and practical activities you can do to incorporate learning into your daily routine.
Keep it simple. You don't need to create elaborate plans or force learning upon your child. If your child needs to improve social skills, plan a play date with his or her friends. If you’re trying to build or retain math skills, ask your child to count specific things as you’re out and about: “How many red cars do you see?” “How much change do I have in my purse?” Math is everywhere! If you want to improve reading skills, check out your local library for summer reading programs.
Plan outings. There are so many learning opportunities outside the home to explore. Field trips or "staycations" are easy, inexpensive, and fun! Take a nature walks and have your child record the number of trees that are along the path. Head to the zoo and play an "I spy" game to identify different animals. Build your child's independence and confidence by having them plan an activity away from home.
Unplug. Yes, unplug. During the school year, technology embedded into classroom activities in almost every class. Unfortunately, frequent computer use has been linked to several health issues, such as headaches, vision and back problems, and increased stress. Summertime is a great time to take a break from that. Connection through social media and texting has proved to be much less emotionally valuable than face-to-face connection with people. Tik Tok is fun, but it's more fun (and more beneficial) to do rather than to watch. Find an old video recorder or an actual camera, and let your child record the memories.
Relax. Summer learning is necessary to prevent or reduce learning loss during the summer, but so is taking a well-deserved break and relaxing. Kids need to unwind and recharge before starting back to school. And they're not kids for long, so relax and enjoy that time with them.
