Open Mic

The “summer slide” is not an amusement park ride or a game suited for backyard barbeques. Educators use the term to describe the knowledge that students commonly lose over summer vacation.

Henry King, owner and director of LearningRx Houston Central, said the summer break can have a detrimental effect on students when they return to school in the fall. “Instructors typically spend the first six weeks or more reviewing what had been taught the previous year,” he said.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, children are set back by as much as 25 percent in reading skills each summer, and the average student loses approximately 2.6 months of grade-level equivalency in mathematical computation skills.

“Skills gained during the school year seem to melt away with the heat,” King said.

King said that the summer slide is one of the reasons students in the U.S. rank lower academically when compared to other countries.

“Of the top industrial nations, the U.S. ranks in the middle,” he said. “We’re well behind Asian countries such as China, and Japan, well behind European countries such as Finland, Switzerland, and the Netherlands and even behind to our neighboring Canada.”

King said that other countries do not have long summer breaks, avoiding the summer slide. Besides beating the heat this summer, King said students have to keep their minds active. “It’s time to turn the summer brain drain into a summer brain gain,” he said.

King said parents should make learning fun for their children over the summer. He notes that the Internet and iPad can be good sources for learning and fun.

King said good sites include www.tenmarks.com, www.khanacademy.org, www.mathgoodies.com and www.math.com. He also suggest the apps: Rocket Math, Mathemagics, My Math Flash Cards and Conundra Math.

“Math is a good way to make games out of every day life,” King said. “Ask your kids to estimate how many ducks are in that pond or seats in the auditorium. Challenge them to calculate the change on a bill.”

King said summer is also a prime time to develop reading skills. He suggests that parents take time to read with their kids and also encourage their children to read as much as possible on their own.

Make reading fun by creating a book club, making a reading challenge and choosing books about topics children find interesting. Ask children to keep a summer journal, start a blog or create a comic strip, King said. “Encourage reading in bed, even if it pushes bedtimes,” he said.

The Houston Area Independent Schools Library Network (HAISLN) offers summer reading lists based on school grade level. For a copy, call LearningRx Houston Central at 713-839-8885.

King said another way to keep minds active over the summer is to take children on educational fields trips, like the Houston Children’s Museum, Houston Health Museum, NASA Space Center, Houston Museum of Natural Science or the San Jacinto Monument. He recommends a day trip to Brazos Bend State Park or Galveston’s Moody Gardens.

“No matter what you do this summer, make learning the highest priority for your children, and get personally involved,” King said. “If you’re not interested, why should they be?”

LearningRx Houston Central offers a 12-week brain-training program that fits perfectly in the summer months. To learn more about LearningRx Houston Central, visit www.learningrx.com/houston-central.

About LearningRx

LearningRx identifies and corrects the underlying cognitive skill deficiencies that keep people from achieving their full potential in school, business or life. The program, pioneered by Dr. Ken Gibson, uses intensive one-on-one training to enhance weak cognitive skills.