Heading back to school after a couple months away from books and assignments can result in what is known as “summer slide.”

Many students experience it and teachers will often spend the first two or three weeks on the return of classes in doing review and getting kids back up to speed.

Marti Ford, an Associate Dean of Indigenous Education and Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba explains what summer slide is.

“Because kids are out of school for two months and they’re not getting the regular math and ELA instruction that they would get while they are in school. What happens is students forget, they forget about their math skills or they start to slide a little bit in their reading skills and reading comprehension.”

Ford said we can help our children avoid summer slide by encouraging them to use the skills they have learned during everyday activities.

Some examples include baking,  where fractions are often used; going to the grocery store and estimating the total cost of the items in the cart; playing board games or writing in a journal.

Hear more about summer slide and how to help your child with it. Catch Thompson Today  this afternoon at 12:40 and 5:10.