"Wasting the day away..."

Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffet

Hey Reader,

Imagine your child ended third grade knowing all their times tables. They worked so hard and aced their multiplication quizzes each week.

But then... when they return after summer break they are suddenly struggling in math. Their new fourth grade teacher sends home a note suggesting you review times tables.

What happened? Didn't your child know their times tables?

Pruning happened...and it happens to all kids

Children learn new information rapidly. Their brains are growing and ready to pick up all new information. But because children learn so much, the brain has a process called pruning to discard information that isn't being used. So when it comes to remembering academic skills- it's use it or lose it!

As a result, during the long summer breaks from school children can lose up to 6 months of learning (the average child will lose 2-3 months). This is called summer learning loss or summer slide.

The good news is, you can prevent summer learning loss in about 10 minutes of review time a day and 20 minutes of reading. Here are some tips to prevent summer learning loss:

• 📓 Workbooks: Buy a big review book to prepare for the next grade level. These books are an awesome, no prep resource to stay sharp. You can find my favorite summer workbooks here​
• 📚 Read Every Day: This can be together or independent reading time. Read a novel together with your older child. Aim for 15-20 minutes of reading time.
• 🚙 Take Educational Trips: take time to visit historical homes, museums, and state parks. These places will entertain your child and encourage academic discussion.
• 📝 Keep a Family Journal: Writing is one of the most difficult subjects to teach, and also one of the fastest to regress in. Keep a 5 minute family journal like this to practice

What's New?

📺 On the News: Yesterday I was invited to appear on WCNC Charlotte Today to discuss the Summer Slide. You can watch the segment here. My highlight was watching the meteorologist do her weather report in front of the green screen. It takes some major skills- she really is just pointing at nothing!

✏️ July Workshop Dates: As a newsletter subscriber you're hearing about workshop dates first! If you're local to Charlotte and considering what kindergarten to send your child to I've got 2 workshops in July to help you with that. As always each attendee will complete a survey so I can personalize the workshop. The workshop has been extended to 90 minutes instead of an hour, so I did raise prices to reflect that and the research I do before every workshop. Thank you for understanding. Use code EARLY10 to save $10!​

Things I Love

👡 obsessed: I have been wearing my summer sandals everywhere. They have a low platform, but feel as easy to walk in as normal sandals. They really elevate my summer wardrobe.

📓 10 min a day: I can't emphasize enough how helpful summer workbooks are in preventing summer slide. They are low lift on parents and high gain for children. If you want to keep the learning going this summer, I highly recommend!

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Have a great week, and as always I am here to support you!