LearningRx's Summer Study Tips; Avoid the Academic 'summer slide'

LearningRx brain training centers in the Washington, D.C. area are helping parents avoid the academic “summer slide” by providing summer brain training tips. During the summer, kids can lose an average 2 months of grade-level equivalency in math skills and 25 percent of their reading skills. LearningRx suggests cognitive exercises and games that can build brain ‘muscle’ and be fun too. For a free booklet of games, or for more information, go to www.learningrx.com.

These exercises keep the brain energized while building cognitive skills, the underlying mental abilities needed to learn.

20 Questions - Think of a person or thing and give your child 20 chances to narrow down what it is by asking yes or no questions. To help them improve their logic and reasoning, teach them to strategize by using questions that will significantly narrow down the categories, such as “Are they alive?” or “Do we have one at home?” What it helps: Logic and reasoning and memory

Speed Cards - Take a regular deck of cards and time your child as they separate it into two piles (red and black) or four piles (spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds). What it helps: Processing speed, divided attention, selective attention and visual processing

Mental Tic Tac Toe - Similar to traditional Tic Tac Toe, this game uses a ‘mental’ grid numbered 1 to 9. Players remember where their opponent has already been and call out an unoccupied space. The player who calls an occupied space loses. What it helps: Attention, logic and reasoning and working memory

Needle in a Haystack - Take a page from a newspaper and time your child as she circles all occurrences of a specific letter. Focus on increasing both accuracy and speed. What it helps: Visual processing speed

Poetry - Have your child choose four words that rhyme and then ask them to use those words to create a poem or a rhyming song. What it helps: Auditory analysis, verbal rhythm, memory

The Game of Lists – This activity has endless possibilities. On beat to an activity like jumping rope or swinging, name 15 words that start with “B”, nine types of sports, seven kinds of candy, eight dinosaurs, etc. What it helps: processing speed, divided attention, working memory and logic and reasoning

Read - According to Scholastic Parents Online, reading just six books during the summer can keep a struggling reader from regressing. When choosing the six, make sure they’re the right level – not too hard or too easy. (www.rif.org/documents/us/choosing_books.pdf)