Winter Break is right around the corner! Parents are probably beginning to plan for their days without a school schedule to follow. However, a non-academic break can result in children at every grade level experiencing regression. Setting aside just a half an hour to an hour every day can help children close learning gaps.
Ways to Prevent Winter Break Regression
- Make Time for Reading
- Set aside time for your child to read 15-30 minutes per day.
- Track the number of minutes your child reads every day on their “December Book It” calendar. Remind them that they could be the “Star Reader” if they read the most minutes in the month of December!
- Develop Math Skills
- Working on just three to four math problems per day can prevent regression in their math skills.
- Parents could purchase a math workbook for their child’s academic level at most department stores or grocery stores.
- Improve Reading Comprehension
- To help your child better understand what they’re reading, ask them comprehension questions at your child’s language level after they read a book either independently or after you read to them.
- Review Targeted Syntactical Elements
- Look at your child’s “My Day” letters and review the syntactical elements they targeted at school.
- Review Targeted Vocabulary
- Look at your child’s “My Day” letters and review the vocabulary words they targeted at school.
- Encourage Creative Writing
- Creative writing is a great way to improve your child’s written language skills while giving them a fun and imaginative activity. Have your child write at least one creative paragraph each week. As a parent, you can help them by choosing a topic to write about but then give them freedom with their writing!
For more ideas of fun activities over the Winter Break, here are some suggestions from others: