Have you heard about the "Summer Slide?"  It isn't a new ride at Dollywood, and it's not a ride we want our children to take.

The term "Summer Slide" refers to the downward drift that children's reading and math skills take over the summer.  Because many children put participation in learning activities up on a shelf along with school books, the skills they have been working on all through the school year don't get used very often in the summer.  That means teachers must spend the first four to six weeks of the new school year reviewing and catching pupils up to where they were when they left the previous school year.

Parents can reduce the slide by adding a little learning to their children's activities.  Here are a few suggestions from researchers:

• Take a trip to the library and get your children involved in a summer reading program.
• Use their interests and hobbies as learning opportunities, allowing them to become "students" of their hobbies.
• Turn daily activities into math lessons, whether it be using measurements with your children while cooking or doing math while at the grocery store.
• Limit their time watching television and playing video games in order to provide them with structure.
• Have children follow a schedule to help them keep a daily routine.
• Take educational trips to the park and museum and consider vacations with educational themes.
• Investigate what your children will be learning next school year and start previewing the information with them.

By injecting a few learning activities into your children's summer schedule, you will be helping to keep them from becoming victims of the summer slide.

Used with permission from Tennessee State Improvement Grant