Stop the Summer Slide and Keep Students Engaged with These Fun Learning Activities

With summer in full swing and the back-to-school season still weeks away, students everywhere are busy basking in their extended break. While it's important for kids to spend the summer relaxing and having fun, learning losses are something every caregiver should be mindful of. 

The “summer slide” happens when kids forget some of what they learned the previous year and struggle to catch up when school starts again. Read on to learn how caregivers can fight the summer slide and ensure their students stay engaged without ruining the fun of summer vacation.

Summer Learning Can Be Fun

Keeping your student on track with learning over the summer won't require a complicated homeschool curriculum. Instead, you can create opportunities for kids to use their brains in fun ways daily. Here are a few ideas you can use this summer:

1. Maintain a Routine

For many students, the established routines and rhythms of the school year disappear quickly with the onset of summer. After all, kids tend to stay up later, sleep later and have more unstructured time when they don't have daily responsibilities. 

However, there's value in maintaining some kind of schedule during the summer months because it makes the transition back to school much easier. With that in mind, stick with a set bedtime — even if it's a bit later — and build other daily routines, like lunch and chores, so students won't face a system shock when September inevitably rolls around.  

2. Read Together

Reading is one of the most important activities kids of any age can do to stay sharp during the summer. You can help by setting aside dedicated time every day for older kids to read to themselves, or younger children can listen to audiobooks or have someone else read to them. 

If you struggle to encourage your student to read, don't forget about your local library. A weekly visit will get your kids off their tablets and phones by spending some quiet time in the library exploring all the wonderful things it offers.

3. Play Games

Playing games can be a fun way for students to keep their school skills sharp during summer. Anything that involves math, critical thinking, communication, or puzzles will get your kids using the same parts of their brain that they would while studying. Plus, a computer or traditional board game will always be a more exciting option than a worksheet. 

4. Try Cooking and Baking

Getting your students involved in daily cooking and baking activities is another strategy for keeping their brains engaged during the summer. Following a recipe, sorting and measuring ingredients and calculating cooking times all involve real academic skills. Not to mention the important life skills they'll learn along the way. Cooking and baking also provide natural opportunities to talk about nutrition and meal preparation, which are important components of growing up. 

5. Visit Museums and Historical Attractions

Your town likely has museums and local historical attractions that can provide wonderful learning opportunities during the summer. Not only are they an awesome way to spend your free time, but they also open the door for more significant conversations and learnings. For example, talking together about an event's significance or its impact on your local area will connect your student to their community and help them understand its place in our country's history. Many museums and historical attractions also offer free admission during the summer, which makes this option even more exciting.

6. Start a Summer Journal

Keeping a journal is another productive way to spend the summer months. This habit is a great way for students to hone their writing skills. But it also offers them a space to begin reflecting and processing their daily experiences. All it takes is a good notebook and a pen. 

7. Stay Physically Active

It would be easy for kids to spend the entire summer in front of a computer screen, TV, or tablet. That's why you should encourage physical activity whenever possible. One of the easiest ways to do this is by tying exercise into other activities like a nature walk or summer swimming lessons.

8. Engage in Household Projects

There are always plenty of projects to do around the house, and getting students involved can help keep their minds engaged in exciting new activities. Tasks like potting flowers, tending a vegetable garden, or building a fence teach important life lessons and provide opportunities for practical hands-on learning. 

9. Encourage Creativity

Summer is the perfect season for kids to explore their creativity through activities like crafting, art projects and music. It's also an opportunity for them to begin exploring more specific interests they might not have the chance to pursue in the classroom. If your student is drawn to a particular creative activity, look for opportunities to encourage their work and create avenues for further exploration.

10. Participate in Summer Camps

Summer day camps are another productive way for students to spend their time and are great outlets for social interaction and academic activities. Camps often center around activities like sports or art. Science, technology, engineering and math camps are also growing increasingly popular.  

11. Use Your School’s Summer Resources

Your local school district likely offers programs and tools your student can access during the summer months, which can be a fantastic way to help them stay engaged. Oregon Charter Academy (ORCA) offers several resources for students, including:

• iReady: A program that designs specific learning experiences based on student diagnostic information.

• iExcel: Software that enables students to practice skills at their grade level. 

• The Principal's Corner: A landing page for all summer activities like our K-5 reading challenges. 

• Summer Bridge: A program for 8th-grade students designed to jumpstart their high school careers by building strong work habits. 

• Summer School: A credit recovery program for high school students who need to catch up to graduate on time. 

Activities like these can help students maintain their learning and develop critical thinking skills through enjoyable activities. You don't have to create dedicated lessons or formal plans to use school-provided resources. Simply using them for a couple of hours weekly can bring tremendous benefits. 

Summer Can Also Be a Time to Learn Independence

It's important to note that in many families, both parents work during the day, meaning kids often spend time during the summer alone at home. Fortunately, you can still help your students fight the summer slide by creating and enforcing a routine that includes time for engaging in learning. Kids learn important life lessons when they need to manage their time independently, and the summer can be an opportunity to create expectations for your students and watch them display some responsibility.  

Have Fun This Summer While Staying Engaged in Learning

Summer should be a time when kids stay up late, sleep in, take trips to new places and have amazing adventures. But that doesn't mean kids have to struggle to adjust when school starts back up. With just a few carefully planned activities each week, you can help your student stay engaged with learning and be ready to hit the ground running in September. 

If you'd like to learn more about the benefits of a virtual public charter school, join one of ORCA's virtual information sessions to connect with ORCA staff and preview our learning platform. We hope to see you there!