Research shows that teachers spend as much as six weeks each fall reviewing skills that were lost over the summer. Families can help their children stay sharp--and ahead of the curve in the fall--by practicing skills like reading and math during the summer months.

"If we can eliminate the summer gap, we can close the long-standing achievement gap between richer and poorer kids," said Richard Allington, a professor of education at the University of Tennessee and past president of the International Reading Association. "Basically, even poor kids grow reading skills at about the same rate as middle-class kids, when they are in school." he said. "Two-thirds of the achievement gap occurs during the summers, not during the school year."

Traditional outlets, such as free summer schools programs, are being slashed in some areas of the country to help balance strained budgets. This has left parents scrambling, not only for day care for younger children, but also for options to ensure their children don't fall behind.

"How to Make the Most of Summer" offers eight suggestions to keep your child learning, most of which are low-cost or free. One of my favorites is practicing math daily by tracking the daily temperature, measuring things around the house, and cooking (a great way to learn fractions). Other suggestions include participating in free library summer programs and making time to read every day; taking educational trips to local parks, museums, and zoos; and preparing for fall by previewing concepts and materials with your child. 

The Family Education website offers a plan for Reluctant Readers. With headings such as The Basics, Participate, Analyze, and Involve the Whole Family, the site provides detailed suggestions to keep that reluctant reader at your house reading during the summer months.

Subscribers to our own Raz-Kids website can use the site all summer long. For example, teachers shouldn't delete students until the fall. For summer reading, they can place them on the self-paced track and students will then be assigned all the books at their current reading level. The current teacher name and student icon/password will work all summer.

Subscribers to Reading A-Z have access to thousands of leveled books for students. Teachers might select books and print out a book list. Students can select the books they'd like to read, and classroom volunteers can assemble book packets for the students to take home for summer reading. Our Teacher's Corner offers summer reading contracts.