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Many parents have heard the scary-but-true statistic that children who do not read over summer break can lose up to two months of reading achievement. According to Reading Rockets’ review of 13 empirical studies on summer reading loss, over time, this can create a compounded achievement gap of 1.5 years before a child has even reached middle school.
The good news: it’s not hard to curb summer reading loss. With a little effort, you can help your child continue to strengthen that “reading muscle” and prevent the dreaded summer slide so that when the next school year begins, he or she is ready to hit the ground running. Here are five tips to build those literacy skills this summer:
It’s summer break, which also means it is time for Huntington Learning Center’s annual summer reading program, Reading Adventure. Students select books from Huntington’s carefully formulated book lists that offer a range of choices by grade level and reading ability. They then record what they read in their “reading passport,” sharing their assessment and opinions about each book. The program is intended to introduce children to high-interest reading material and get them excited about reading.
As schools across the country struggle to keep up with the demands of an increasingly complex global economy, Huntington’s commitment to our children’s educational success has become more important than ever. A 2015 Program for International Student Assessment study showed that 15-year-old students in the U.S. ranked just 24th out of 72 educational systems in average reading literacy, and only 40th in math literacy. Additional studies show the U.S. lagging behind in other critical areas as well: 17th out of 40 in overall educational performance and 6th out of 49 in fourth grade reading.
For a busy parents with limited time, it's frustrating when your child seems to have no sense of urgency and no motivation to get things done. If you're having a hard time getting your child to move faster—here are a few tips to help him or her become speedier and more organized in school and life.
Writing is one of the most important skills a child will acquire as a student—and also one of the most difficult to master.
Dr. Ray Huntington of the Huntington Learning Center urges parents to engage their children in learning activities to avoid summer regression. Put simply, summer regression is the loss of academic knowledge gained throughout the school year. “Learning loss or the ‘summer slide’ among students over summer break is a very real problem that we see often,” says Huntington, adding that most students can lose several months of grade-level equivalency in math and reading achievement during this period. He offers several ways for parents to help minimize summer regression.
Summer is an ideal time to incorporate reading into the daily schedule—and the perfect opportunity to get children to enjoy this ageless pastime. “The key to making reading a daily habit is to make it enjoyable, and there are so many ways to do that during summer,” says Huntington. “Make it fun. Let your child choose the books. Make reading a fun family tradition. When you do things like this, you’ll start to see your child choosing to read over other activities, and his or her reading skills will improve greatly as well.”
Ray Huntington offers suggestions for parents who want to help their child establish a successful after-school routine.
Utilizing the proper study tips can be the difference between average and extraordinary grades. Read the tips found here in order to reach your potential.
You may have heard education experts, researchers or media outlets refer to mathematics curriculum in the United States as being "a mile wide and an inch deep."
