5 Easy Ways to Prevent the Summer Slide

Each August I get the kids working on these 5 easy ways to prevent the summer slide. We are pretty lenient when summer starts but I am fully aware of the backtracking that happens during the summer break. These easy daily activities give them little achievable goals to get ready for September. Plus you can totally do some online back-to-school shopping while the kids do their work.

5 Easy Ways to Prevent the Summer Slide

1. I started to introduce flash cards a few years ago when my oldest kids couldn’t figure out their time tables. We have some for numbers, letters, shapes and colours, 3-letter words, multiplication, and division. Each day our kids grab whichever stack they need to work on and start solving. If they know the card they can put it in a pile on the side but if they don’t they have to put it in the back of their pile until they know. This works on refreshing what they know quickly and uses repetition on things they don’t know. Plus the flash cards are super inexpensive. You can check out Amazon’s collection here.

2. I get my older kids to practice their typing every day. Whether we like it or not computers are the future and I want my kids to be able to key quickly. We use a free program called Typing.com that teaches them to key, has typing games and even has a coding education component. Learning how to type will allow kids to do their homework quickly and be more efficient with their time. One big thing to remember when learning to type is for the kids not to look at the keyboard but to look at the screen when they learn. You can find the free program here.

3. I am a huge fan of workbooks and have tons on hand at all times. I don’t think any of these would replace a full curriculum but they are a great reminder of content that the kids already know. I get the kids to do a few pages a day while they are eating cereal or having non-screen time. Check out some great options here.

4. I bought these educational preschool posters back when the school first went out and hung them up where we can see them all day so the kids can look it over. It’s a great reminder for the months, days, seasons, and letters among other things. My youngest guy needs lots of help because we had him in French Immersion before COVID hit so I sing songs with him to go over everything.

5. Lastly, the kids continue with the online stuff they were doing the previous school year. The older kids do IXL which is great for math and English and follows a Canadian curriculum. This program costs money but it is very effective in cementing thoughts and concepts into kids’ minds. My younger kids do Reading Eggs which I have been using since last year when we brought my daughter over from French Immersion to the English stream.

Whether you choose to do one, a few, or all 5 easy ways to prevent the summer slide, let me know. Also, if you do other things to prepare for school please comment below and let us know. Parenting is hard enough so every little tip helps.

If you are looking for more back-to-school content you should check out these posts:

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How to Get Deals on Back-to-School Shopping

5 Things to Do Now to Prep for Back-to-School

Kids Sleep Routine Tips + Bedtime Chart

Where to Buy School Uniforms Online in Canada

7 Reasons School Uniforms are Great

Aneta Alaei

Aneta is a Toronto-based mom of four that loves a good meal, great company, and learning something new. In her free time, you can find her trying to keep yet another plant alive.

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