Just because there’s no homework, syllabi or grades over the summer does not mean you should forget about learning.  Exit: your child’s teacher...enter: YOU! Summer regression is a real thing and it can happen to the best of us. In fact, students typically lose 2.5 months of learning over the break. Avoid summer regression in your household by incorporating math into some of your child’s favorite summer activities.

Cook and/or bake. Find fun recipes that incorporate mixing and measuring. Put your child in charge of the numbers.  For an added challenge, add in a few extra fractions and multiplication problems by making a “bakers dozen” or a “double batch”.

Schedule a day trip or vacation. Allow your child to play a role in planning. Establish a budget. Determine how much gas will be need based on how many miles you will be going. Also, figure out how much time you can allocate to each activity, etc…the numbers are endless!

Hold a game night. Playing games are a great way to incorporate math. Many games require adding numbers on a dice, counting numbers of moves, and keeping track of scores.  Some of our favorites include: Rush hour, Sumoku, Sum Swamp, Head Full of Numbers, Monopoly, Sorry, Candyland, Bingo, Life, Trouble, Chutes and Ladders, and for the real little ones Richard Scarry’s “I Found It”.

Play sports. When you take your child out to the ball game, have them keep track of the score and figure out the batting average of their favorite player.  Also, keep track of the team records and compare who’s best in the league.

Grow a garden. This doesn’t need to be in a large area, it can simply be in a windowsill. Have your little one help determine the amount of water and soil needed.  Measure the growth of the plants each week.  Count the buds of flowers. Track during which month and week the plants show the most growth.

These math activities will not only avoid summer regression, but add more quality family time. *Added bonus: they will be having so much fun they won’t even realize they’re learning!

What are your plans for your kids this summer? With the summer break quickly approaching, it is extremely important to help your child from losing academic skills and regressing over the extended break. Sneak in these teaching opportunities and your little one will have so much fun they won’t even realize they’re learning!

1.  Head to a Museum.  NYC is home to multiple museums that offer endless learning opportunities. Appreciate art at the MET, take in the dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural History, or hit up the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, which offers endless hands on activities for little learners.

2. Sign up for Play Date Connection!  Not all learning comes from textbooks. Play Date Connection is a series of structured play dates. Children meet with educational consultants who facilitate play in their own homes with their own peers. Children learn appropriate social skills that they take with them to school and beyond, through adulthood. Play dates target skills including: Sharing, Cooperation, Listening, Following directions, Dealing with conflicts, Communication with others, Problem solving, Respect, Getting along with others, and Thinking before acting.  Children have fun gaining these skills through various social & creative activities. Click for more information.

3. Head to the Baseball Field.  Baseball games can be more then just a spectator sport. Have watching and rooting for your favorite team, but get your child involved with the “numbers” and boost your child’s math skills. Ask students to find different geometric shapes on the field (so great ones are diamonds, spheres, squares, and points or line segments). Another opportunity is to keep track of batting averages or stats on the scoreboard. Click for more ideas.

4. Join Reading Wizards Book Clubs! Immerse your child in the wonderful world of reading, while sneaking in some incredible fun. Limited reading skills are a major obstacle to succeed in any school. “Reading Wizards Book Clubs” meets weekly and our book selection is entertaining, educational and fun to read! Facilitated by one of our educational experts, children socialize and learn by participating together in a book related activity. The goal of “Reading Wizards Book Clubs” is to enhance children's experience with literature to develop a love of reading. Click for more information.

5. Plant a garden. Planting requires a great deal of math. Plan on a grid how much space each plant needs, measure how much water to give them (make sure to account for rain), measure the length of the plants and figure out how much they are growing each week.  If you are planting fruits and vegetables, the lesson should continue in the kitchen, where you can cook and measuring out your ingredients. Click for more information.

Even though school will be out and your child won't be in the classroom, there is no excuse for not learning. Have fun and happy “schooling” this summer!

It's hard to believe, but Summer is almost here and school will be out! Even though your child will not be seeing the classroom for 2 months, it doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t continue learning throughout the summer, but you still have a few weeks to prepare! Sneaking these “lessons” into fun outdoor activities, your child won’t notice that you are actually teaching them outside of the classroom.

Play Hopscotch: Have your child organize the board, including writing the numbers. In additional to playing traditional Hopscotch, be the moderator and have your child jump to specific numbers on the board. Start with “Jump to 5”. To make the game more difficult, continue to add to a string of numbers. For example, “Jump from 1-2” then increase to “jump to 1-2-1-4”. For older kids, throw in some addition, subtraction and even multiplication, instruct them to “jump to ‘3+4’ or ‘7-3’ or ‘3x3’”. You should get in the game too! Take a turn and have your child shout out numbers and math problems for you. It's a great way to test if they really know the answers to their own questions, to have fun and keep up those math skills!

Grow a Garden: Have a discussion about the environment, including the plants, bulbs and seeds. As the garden is setup, count the seeds to keep track of each of the different plants. You might want to make a chart. Water the plants together each day. Watch them grow and measure over time. When the vegetables are ready, prepare a meal using them!

Take Different Methods of Transportation: Experience a new mode of transportation; pick one that your child does not normally use. If you take a car everywhere, then go for a ride on a bus, train, ferry, subway or a cable car. Do research online and find a book in the library with pictures and a description. Buy a roundtrip ticket and go for a ride!

Provide Chalk for the Sidewalk: In addition to building your child’s creative and artistic abilities, model writing letters, numbers, words and shapes, and have them imitate. Also, specify the color chalk; continue to change colors so they have the opportunity to recognize the different colors. For older children, give words they can spell and write independently.

Go swimming: On a sunny, hot day, go for a swim at the pool, lake or beach. For parents of strong swimmers, have them guess: How many laps can you do? How many strokes can you do? For parents of beginner swimmers, have them guess: How long can you hold your breath? How long can you blow bubbles? Keep track and count. Did your child guess right? Figure out the difference between their guesses and their actual performance.

As a result of these fun outdoor activities, this summer your child will be using and sharpening their fine and gross motor skills, math skills, including counting, adding subtracting, measuring and number identification, color recognition, increasing reading abilities, spelling and writing skills. Happy Summer learning and enjoy fun outdoor activities while the weather allows it!