Guest post by Marlene Kliman. Illustrations by Valerie Martin.
In recent years, the importance of maintaining children’s academic skills over the summer has edged into the national conversation (www.summerlearning.org). With increased focus on summer learning (or if you prefer, preventing summer learning loss) has come a proliferation of books, resources, and programs that promise to maintain or boost skills. For math learning, these approaches sometimes come across as a kind of daily dose of medicine: 10 minutes a day keeps learning loss away.
Yet, an abundance of research demonstrates that learning through play and learning in authentic contexts—learning by doing something you care about—are critical to making the learning “stick” (e.g., naeyc.org). Math learning isn’t something to get out of the way before the fun of the day can begin; it can be and should be very much part of the creativity, play, and socializing that goes on all day long, whether children are at home or at camp.
Want to help the children in your life maintain their math skills by mixing math and play this summer? Here are some time-tested ways to get started:
Start with what children love to do in their spare time. If they enjoy projects and crafts, try some of those in our book, Food Fights, Puzzles, and Hideouts. For instance, use paper towel tubes to build a hideout you can sit inside—and explore measurement and geometry in the process. If your children like games, explore the games section of the book for dozens of games of all kinds: quiet, active, partner, whole-group, cooperative, and competitive, indoors, and out.
Consider how you spend time with children in the summer. If you are a working parent, you probably spend a lot of time with your children in transit—from home to camp, to swimming lessons, to errands. Our book includes “anytime, anywhere” activities that help build math skills while you’re on the go, like practicing with negative numbers while rating your day on a scale of -2 to 2.
Build on children’s strengths. If your children excel at strategy games online or off, get them involved in card, board, or dice games that fold in some arithmetic, too.
We designed these games so that children can gain practice in what often matters in school settings while honing their logical thinking skills and sharpening their game-playing strategies. Because these games rely on the roll of a dice or the draw of a card, they’re never the same twice. And further, they give children an opportunity to apply what they know in new situations, ensuring mastery and robust understandings.
By including math as a natural part of what you and the children in your lives are doing anyway, you set the stage for repeated math experiences. You also help children build enthusiasm about math and appreciation of its relevance to everyday life. All children—whether they are struggling or succeeding in school—will benefit.
Marlene Kliman, author. Marlene is a Senior Scientist and Director of the Mixing in Math group at TERC, a non-profit STEM education organization in Cambridge, MA. She brings 30 years experience developing research-based resources for children’s math learning in and out of school.
Valerie Martin, illustrator. Valerie is a Senior Web and Graphic Designer at TERC. She specializes in conveying STEM concepts in a clear and visually appealing manner in games, curricula, and a wide range of educational resources for children and adults.
