The Ohio Department of Education is sharing information and resources with parents and guardians to help avoid the ‘summer slide.’
Agency officials and education experts explained parents and summer caregivers can combat summer learning loss by encouraging students to access free online tools that will encourage reading and help them maintain math skills during summer break. The resources are reportedly customized to “launch and enhance summer learning initiatives in reading and math,” according to the press release published by the Ohio Department of Education.
Officials add, “research shows that students who do not read consistently during the summer can lose the reading progress they made during the school year; this phenomenon is known as the ‘summer slide.’”
The agency describes ‘MetaMetrics’ as an educational research group that offers “a free, researched-based tool, Find a Book, to help students create personalized readings lists and locate those books at their nearest libraries or booksellers.”
To find a book:
- Go to Fab.lexile.com
- Enter the child’s Lexile measure or grade level
- Pick books that match the reader’s interest
- View and refine the search results
Additionally, the resource provides a summer math challenge.
“Children on average lose approximately 2.6 months of learning progress in math skills during the summer months,” explained officials. “To help remedy the summer math slide, MetaMetrics also offers Summer Math Challenge, a free math-skills program based on grade-level standards that help prepare students for college and careers”
Reports indicate the program targets students who have just completed grades 1-8 and works to help them retain the math-related knowledge they obtained during the previous school year.
The Summer Math Challenge runs from June 18th through July 27th. Parents and guardians also receive emails daily with ideas for fun activities and links to educational researchers. To register or learn more click here.
Michaela Madison Reporting
