It is shocking to me the stats on how much a child loses academically over the summer (upwards of 30% of what they learned throughout the school year). Now us parents have to worry about that too?! When does it end?! This summer I have decided to take a playful and creative approach to avoiding the summer slide by doing these activities with my young kids:

1. We go to a different playground every few days. I figure this is stimulating their brain, challenging their gross motor skills and creating new neural pathways by introducing something new and challenging. On the drive or walk over we talk about it being an "adventure" and discuss what we think will be there, the directions and paths there and then on the way home we challenge ourselves by taking a different way back. This introduces the notion of time, space and direction.

2. Summer reading challenges- in many states the local public libraries offer summer reading programs and incentives. I like that, they have the agenda based on age and they have the prizes! This is a fun and easy way to make going to the library and reading a regular part of your summer. And when I can tell that the kids are losing interest I offer that they can rent a movie, magazines or music out of the library- it's an easy way to stir up interest again!

3. Camps- I love summer camps, what kids are learning in the social-emotional aspect of development is priceless. And nowadays many areas are offering academic yet fun camps that teach everything from STEM, math for girls, coding, gaming, inventions- something for everyone. I have decided every year the few weeks before school starts up again my kids will do math camp, we have done it the past two years and it has been a fun and effective way to get my kids caught up and ready for school!