The summer is a great time to make sure your children are up to the challenges of the next school year and the Math they will encounter in their next grade.

Even if they did fine last year, it is important to keep those skills current over the summer months.

Be prepared

Do the Summer Math Assignment together with your child without giving the answers to see if there are any gaps in math facts knowledge or conceptual understanding. Check out your child’s school website to see which math program will be used next year and find the book in the library or download a starter chapter or ‘Get Ready’ chapter and go over that together with your child in the same way: don’t give the answers, but talk about what s/he already knows about these type of questions and how you could solve it. Use small objects (pennies, paperclips, buttons, Lego blocks etc.) to model the problem and solve by playing it out hands-on

Check for learning disabilities

Dyscalculia is the Math Learning Disability that often gets overlooked by teachers and parents. It is an inborn disability that makes it hard to do basic math. Make sure your children do not have any of the symptoms. Many children show the hallmark signs of a math LD for several years without being identified and having to go without help. You can check it with our free screener HERE (free registration required), or you can do the online Math and Dyscalculia Screening Test HERE, or you can contact us for a full Dyscalculia assessment.

Make sure you keep their math skills current with games and playful everyday life activities

During summer there is more time for building activities, so get out the blocks and Lego’s. Engage the children in talking about how much the shopping will add up to and ask to help you in adjusting measurements in recipes for more or less people. Talk about how many chores they need to do to get enough money for a desired item. Estimating is important too, so together make an estimate about the driving times related to the distance to sport facilities, camps, and your summer location and check it with the actual driving time. Keeping score and comparing scores in their favorite sport is another activity that shows math is useful and all around us. Also connecting with math in a fun, positive way can ease away any math anxiety.

Last, but not least, you can download our guide to prevent the summer slide HERE and regularly engage them in playful activities and games that will ensure they don’t lose the math skills they worked so hard for to acquire last year. Have fun with math!