Parents are watching on social media as teachers celebrate sending students home for summer. In August, teachers will watch as parents celebrate sending students back to school. We all get to have fun making cute videos and memes about passing on the responsibility to each other, but there is something else going on in the background and it’s keeping our teachers from maximizing class time and students from doing their best.

The first week of school is a relief for everyone - except the teacher. Parents finally get some semblance of normalcy back. Students get to see their friends again, show off their new shoes, and share their fun summer experiences.

But teachers have a much different experience. We go through several days of workshops and trainings to make sure that we are prepared to teach our students, keep them safe, and ensure that our classrooms are in compliance with the many rules that guide our profession. We spend countless hours of our own time decorating the perfect classroom, preparing welcome materials and letters to parents, and writing near perfect lessons. And then, we get ready to teach our first lesson and BAM…

“The Summer Slide” greets us during the very first minute of our first real content-centered lesson. The summer slide is the regressions that happens over the near 3-month period that the students aren’t in school. Simply put, you lose what you don’t use. Students forget some of what they learned the previous year, making it near impossible for teacher to pick up where they left off. Teachers spend anywhere from a week to a month fighting the summer slide. Worse, it forces them to either slow down or leave students behind to catch up on their own. It puts us in an impossible position.

So, how do we work together to prevent The Summer Slide (or at least lighten the blow)? We have to work together to do two things: (1) make students read and (2) keep them fluent in arithmetic and formulas.

Let’s tackle READING first…

Parents: Regardless of the age or stage or your child, make them read every day. It doesn’t have to be a long reading session; 20 to 30 minutes a day is plenty. If the child struggles a bit at first, break it into two 10- to 15-minute sessions.

For 3- to 5-year-olds, read to them until they can read to you. When they can read aloud, have them read to you and enjoy it (or at least pretend to). For kindergarten to 2nd grade students, alternate letting them read independently and having them read to you. For 3rd – 5th grade students, find chapter books that are age appropriate. Have them read every day and chat with you about the books. (Hint: Find the audio book and listen so that you can know if they’re really understanding the book. It’ll save you some time.)

Most importantly, have them explain to you what they read. Ask questions like:

1. What was your favorite part of the story?
2. Who was your favorite character? Why?
3. What are three things you remember from the story?
4. Would you want to read that story again? Why or why not?

It also doesn’t hurt to attach an incentive to it. A weekly gift card to the movies or their favorite restaurant can go a long way. Trust me, I know. (For my own two kiddos, it was a trip to Walmart to pick a new toy under $10.)

For middle and high school students, it becomes a lot more difficult unless they really enjoy reading. First, let them choose their own books – even if they seem too easy or below level at first. The goal is for them to read something (not on their phone or device). Feel free to offer them magazine or newspaper article options but print them if you can.

Because they may not want to talk about what they read, I recommend having them write it down or text it to you. (My own two had no problem sending me five or more sentences on what they read in a text.) Have them include page numbers in their note or message and randomly select times to go to pages and ask them questions. Give them a little something when they get them right, and don’t be too critical when they get it wrong. We don’t want to discourage them; we just want them to know that we’re monitoring their progress.

Churches & Community Organizations: Establish book clubs or have students read aloud in study groups of Bible study. To avoid them being embarrassed if they aren’t strong readers, ask them in advance and assign passages to review for a few days before classes or meetings. This way, they’ll experience some success reading and want to do more of it. Also, provide some sort of incentive to young people that are readers or volunteer to read during class. It's important that they know how important reading is to their village and that it is not just something their parents or teachers are forcing on them.

School Leaders & Administrators:  In preparation for next summer, as you are planning your budgets and delegating to your staff, facilitate the development and distribution of summer reading lists and quizzes online. Teachers would love an opportunity to earn a little extra money to read books and develop quizzes for the summer. It can be easily done using Google Forms or Microsoft Forms. Questions can even be shuffled or randomized. Also, research the logistics of having a day biweekly when students can stop by and take AR quizzes during the summer. (Put a catalog online of books with quizzes so that students can check the books out from the public library instead of keeping the school library open.) Attach scores and points to incentives at the start of school: free dress passes, free game tickets, social media recognition, or even skipping the line at back-to-school registration are options that don’t cost the school much. Better yet, go big and give big incentives to students that have the most points and/or show the most improvement.

As for MATH fluency (NUMERACY), we’ll tackle that with Free Friday. I’ll share some free resources for all ages ;)

I’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and questions.