by Kim Jaworski, Homeschool Resource Specialist

 

Summer is just ahead, and kids notoriously backslide over the summer. Skills fade and even disappear completely during all that summer fun. But there is a strategy for preventing the backslide and it's simple and painless! 

My kids loved the summer reading program at our library. Sign them up! But also create a summer reading list for them to choose from. The simple act of reading will help keep their reading skills on track. And if you pad that summer reading list with some stories about math and science, you can cover most of your bases with this one fun program! See the next paragraphs for math authors, and check out the book series “Dear America” and “My Name is America” for historical fiction. The Max Axiom books look like comic books but cover all kinds of science topics. So do the Magic Schoolbus books.

For keeping Math on track, try books like:  How Much is a Million, Counting on Frank, Even Steven and Odd Todd, and anything by Mitsumasa Anno. There are books that handle multiplying and dividing, geometry terms, fractions and decimals, too. There are even books with math based riddles and math based tricks. Your librarian can likely point you in a helpful direction, so be sure to chat with her about this plan.

Here are some of the bigger names in Math stories. Your library will have plenty to get you started. David Adler, Stuart Murphy, David Schwartz, Greg Tang, Cindy Newschwander, Joan Sweeney, Tana Hoban and Mitsumasa Anno. You’ll find books for little mathematicians (even those just learning to count) as well as the more challenging stuff. 

Here are a few more books to add to the summer list: 10 things all future mathematicians and scientists must know (but are rarely taught), Actual Size by Steve Jenkins, Once Upon a Dime, Apple Fractions, The Doorbell Rang, One Hundred Hungry Ants, A Remainder of One, The Greedy Triangle, Measuring Penny, A Place for Zero: a math adventure, Merry-go-round a book about nouns, Many Lucious Lollipops a book about adjectives (Ruth Keller), Punned.

For more ideas, check out my homeschool facebook page. Make this summer work for you. Compile that list and set them loose at the library.  

You can also make time this summer for some games to keep skills honed. Check out my listing of Math games and Word Games. Some of these are great for travel situations and others for in the backyard or on the front sidewalk. You summer can be fun and full of learning, too.