By Jennifer Sax

After ten months of working hard in school, many parents want to give their children a break over the summer. While summer fun and relaxing are extremely important, it is also essential that students maintain their skills so they are ready for the upcoming school year.  Research shows that taking an extended break from academic work can “un-do” some of the skills that students gained during the school year, and this is especially true for our students with learning disabilities, ADHD, and executive functioning challenges. To prevent summer learning loss, it’s essential that your children find a way to balance fun and academics. Here are some great ideas!

• Set up tutoring sessions. The Educational Mentors and Speech-Language Pathologists at Thinking Organized are available throughout the summer for individual sessions to work on summer packets, summer reading, and to reinforce executive functioning skills. 
• Enroll in a learning-based program. When your children are home from sleep-away camp and/or vacation, enroll them in one of the intensive academic or group programs at Thinking Organized. Master Math, Ready Reader, and Just Write programs can be scheduled to fit your summer plan while targeting crucial academic skills.
• Write daily. A summer journal can keep your children writing over the summer, which will help reinforce their ability to craft clear and descriptive prose. You can have them write about their day, or give them funny or interesting prompts to write about. If you would like a list of these, feel free to contact us!
• Start a family book club.Read the same book as your children and discuss it chapter by chapter. This can help improve and support reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. Have your child make predictions, connections between events, and look up unknown vocabulary. 

It is important to cherish the enjoyable, relaxing, and care-free aspects of summer, but don’t let that come at the cost of skill regression. Thinking Organized is here to help your children maintain and build skills at a time that is convenient for you!