Resources for Students to Avoid the Summer Slide

I can't believe how quickly this school year went by.   It just dawned on me that tomorrow will be the first day without students in all our buildings and it feels like we just started the school year yesterday.  My intent was to get a post put together earlier in the week with a small list of educational resources students/parents can use this summer.  Unfortunately, time slipped away from me and I am just getting around to it now.  I guess better late then never.  Feel free to share with your students/parents if you find any of these resources useful:

Now that summer is upon us, it will be about 3 months before our students are back in our classrooms.  "Summer slide" is the term used for what happens when young minds sit idle for 3 months.  As parents and educators we are constantly trying to find ways to avoid summer slide and to ensure we keep young minds engaged educationally during the summer.  

Last night as I'm listening to Glen, our Headmaster address our 2nd graders in their moving up ceremony,  he reminded them of the importance reading has on the success of students.  He mentioned one great gift our elementary teachers instill on our elementary students is learning how to read and he asked our 2nd graders to read each and every day this summer.  This is obviously a message that carries over to all our students... reading everyday is a great way to avoid summer slide. Other ways may be to participate in online education camps or using web/app based programs to engage students this summer in learning.  Here are a few links that you may want to use this summer to avoid the "summer slide":

• DCDS Library Resource page: A comprehensive list of reading resources for all grade levels provided by our Librarians...Ensure to participate in the DCDS Summer Reading Challenge!!
• Camp Newsela:  I wrote a previous post about Newsela a few that referenced Camp Newsela in it (click here to read the post).  Camp Newsela is an online summer reading club hosted by a team of educators from Newsela tied around current event articles.
• Camp Wonderopolis:  Free online summer-learning experience full of fun, interactive STEM and literacy building topics boosted by Maker experiments
• LibriVox:  fantastic online resource for free audio books of classics.  LibriVox uses volunteers to record passages for books that are available in the public domain...students can read already created audio files of classics, or join in on the fun and read and record a book/passage to be shared on the site (This may be something that can be incorporated in your class as a project next year as well) 
• Start with a Book:  At this website you will find themes that match your child's curiosities and interests-and new and exciting things to explore this summer!  Get ideas of what books to read, activities to do, videos to watch, and apps to try
• Lego Juniors Create and Cruise:  app that allows children ages 4-7 to create their own LEGO vehicles and minifigures using their imagination (Get the app at the App Store, Google Play Store, and Windows 10 store)
• Learn to Code:  There a all sorts of resources available so I will provide just a few: 
• Code.org
• Codecademy
• Scratch 

Have a great summer!