Summer is a time filled with fun and relaxation - but it can also lead to a decline in children's retention of what they have learned throughout the school year. In order to best combat this, teachers can implement a variety of strategies to help their pupils maintain and enhance their maths skills over the summer holidays. Let's take a look at a few different ideas:
1. Send Home Practice Packets
Before the school year ends, teachers can prepare practice packets with various maths exercises. These packets can include a mix of problems that review past topics and introduce new concepts.
2. Recommend Online Resources
Teachers can provide a list of recommended websites and apps where children can practise maths over the summer. Using maths apps such as Sumdog regularly helps children build fluency.
3. Encourage Maths Diaries
Encourage children to keep a maths diary where they write about how they use maths in everyday life. This could be tracking sports statistics, budgeting for a family trip, or measuring ingredients for a recipe.
4. Communicate with Parents
Send home tips for parents on how they can help maintain their child's maths skills. Encourage them to integrate maths into daily activities and to set aside time for maths practice.
By taking these steps, teachers can help their pupils maintain and even improve their maths skills over the summer, making the transition back to school much smoother.
5. Suggest some maths games to play at home
Maths games come in all shapes and sizes. Whether it’s traditional card games or board games, playing games helps reinforce logic, arithmetic, and problem-solving skills. Consider exploring inexpensive printable maths board games or family favourites such as chess, draughts or Monopoly.
Conclusion
Keeping pupils engaged in maths learning over the summer holidays is an annual challenge for teachers to overcome. Nevertheless, with creativity and commitment, both teachers and parents can equip children with the tools they need to maintain their skills over the summer and prepare them for the new school year.
Why not take part in our Summer Allstars challenge?
Our Summer Allstars challenge is the perfect way to keep your pupils motivated to practise their maths skills over the holidays! As children complete their tasks, they climb further up the podium to earn a bronze, silver or gold medal. Let's make building maths fluency fun for your class this summer!
