Math Tutors: Prevent the Summer Slide
Summer break helps refresh students’ minds so they are ready for the next school year. The vast concern for most parents and teachers during summer break is the possible summer slide their children face and how to prevent this from happening.
Oxford Learning found students to lose 2.6 months of math knowledge (Oxford). Students spend six weeks “relearning old material in the fall to make up for summer learning loss (Oxford).”
In this article, we will discuss different ways to strengthen your child’s math skills throughout the summer months, hiring a math tutor is certainly one way to help, here are some more.
From an Experienced Math Tutor
How much does it cost to fill up your vehicle’s gas tank?
You can have your child find the gas prices near your house (ie the Gas Buddy App is helpful). Then based on the number of gallons in your tank and the price per gallon at your gas station, ask your child to estimate the total cost to fill up your vehicle? If they do a good job on these estimates, maybe a treat is in order such as a candy bar at the gas station.
How much do our family’s groceries cost?
When at the grocery store you could ask your children to compare the prices of buying in bulk versus buying smaller quantities to see which option is more financially viable. They should be able to see that in most cases, the per unit cost is less when you buy in bulk. Another option is to ask your children to compare the prices of name brand products versus store brand products.
Which one is cheaper?
As an experienced math tutor, this exercise has worked really well.
What is the right amount of Tax?
When paying for your groceries, have your children look at the final price of the groceries before tax. You can give them your appropriate sales tax rate and have them calculate what the added price will be by estimating (such as 8%) or via a calculator. Another option is the ask your children to calculate the appropriate sales tax and tip when you order your food at a restaurant. You can have them add up all the individual entrees, drinks, and deserts and then estimate the tax and the tip.
Tax can be a tricky subject, along with tipping. A private math tutor can help evaluate your students learning style and how to help them better understand these concepts.
Did I get the right discount on my purchase?
When shopping for a given item, ask your child what price that product would cost with a discount off from the regular price (such as 10%). To further challenge your child ask them the price of that same product with different discount rates such as a 20, 25, or 30% discount. This will help your child see the big difference that we pay for products when we buy products on discount.
Math Tutor Practice for Kids
How many cars do I see?
When riding in the vehicle, ask your children to count the cars they see. A slight twist to this is have them count cars by multiples such as by 2 or 3. Then they would get practice skipping numbers and count such as 2, 4, 6, 8 for each vehicle. You can also modify the game by assigning a different number to each vehicle depending on the color. What color is the most common on the roads today?
How many points did my team score?
As an experienced math tutor, this is one of my favorite activities, if your children enjoy watching sports you can ask them math problems, regarding the number of points their team would have scored. Some examples are below.
Examples:
- How many points do the Houston Texans have if they scored three touchdowns (with PATs) and one field goal?
- How many points do the Houston Rockets have if they made 3 three-pointers, 4 two-point baskets, and one free throw?
- How many runs do the Houston Astros have if the team has 3 two-run homer runs?
Which food is the healthier option?
While shopping at the grocery store with your child, try having them look at the nutrition labels of the different snacks they want. Then ask them which snack is healthier such as less sugar and less fat. Using subtraction, they can calculate how many more grams of protein, fiber, salt, fat, sugar etc. one snack has compared to the others.
Math Tutors, Preventing The Summer Slide
The summer slide is a real and frightening challenge for parents, as a top math tutor in Houston, we are dedicated to preventing this slide. Through creativity, rewards-based learning, engagement, and favorable topics, parents can help their students retain the knowledge learned in the previous school year and be prepared for the new school year. The summer slide often seems predestined; however, it can be prevented by incorporating some learning materials throughout the summer.
The practical examples in this article are some of our favorites here at Above Grade Level, there are many more than you can create to help your children work on their math over the summer but they won’t think of is as schoolwork. We hope to hear that your children soared like eagles this summer.
What a true win/win!
Sources
https://www.oxfordlearning.com/summer-learning-loss-and-how-to-prevent-it/
