June 13, 2013
Dear Families,
Did you know that studies have shown that students lose about 26% of their knowledge gains during the summer vacation if they don’t practice what they learned that year? The antidote to “Summer Slide” is to keep learning all summer long!
Here are some online resources to support your efforts to keep your children from experiencing that “Summer Slide”. Online and indoor activities can’t replace camps, family activities, time in nature, and of course reading (ideally, 35 minutes per day). Study skills honed by pursuing appropriate online activities and quiet seat work, such as Summer Bridge workbooks, are crucial for academic success, however. Aside from maintaining knowledge gains, summer learning activities simply help maintain the study good habits learned in school.
Please check these safe sources out and let me know what you think:
1. San Jose Public Library Kids’ Page. Kids’ catalog, events, and games! Lots of games.
2. Khan Academy. If your child is going to private summer school or studying virtually anything this summer, Khan Academy can help.
3. National Geographic Kids. Science and nature!
5. The American Museum of Natural History’s Science Website for Kids. Visually interesting and informative.
6. San Francisco Symphony Kids’ Website. For “Fun With Music” and to explore what the A-3 All Stars learned with Miss Gail this year!
7. Cool Math 4 Kids. Extremely colorful and kinetic web design; lots of activities.
8. Tumblebooks. Read books online through the San Jose Public Library. Kids may also: Watch informative videos, learn a language, read along with a recording, play lots of educational games, and store their favorites on MyCloud so they can retrieve their booklist from any computer in the world. This is an exciting, FREE resource, and I encourage all families to explore and use it! Note: Your child will need a library card.
This is only a start! Please keep checking back for this summer for more ideas, announcements, links, and projects.
E-2 Excellence 