Summer Vacation Without the Summer Slide

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The dreaded "Summer Slide"

Every summer, students take a few weeks to relax, recharge, and reset.

Unfortunately, that often includes resetting their brains and essentially erasing a great deal of what was learned the year before! The first few weeks back to school are spent setting-up routines and reviewing what has been forgotten so learning can resume.

In recent years many companies have made great effort to assist families and teachers in avoiding this issue with the creation of programs and workbooks. (The Brainquest Summer workbooks have been a fan-favorite in our house. But more on that another time.) However, with current events (I'm looking at you COVID-19) learning and even the general concept of "summer" is looking a little different this year.

Families are not traveling, pools are closed, and even many libraries are taking a breather with minimal check-outs or curbside pick-up only. Playdates are digital and the natives are restless.

The resulting atmosphere is one of muted melancholy. Netflix binges and hours of mindless tablet tapping fill the mornings, afternoons, and evenings between meals and the occasional grocery run. Even as some states and cities begin to find their "new normal" and resume some regular activity, we do so with an edge of caution. This summer will be a memorable one.

As a mother of four, including graduating first and third graders, I have been pondering how I hope to utilize this unique time in history. Will my kids remember this as a summer of relaxing, recharging, and resetting? I'm not so sure. In years past I have enthusiastically created colorful summer schedules full of "Water Wednesday" and "Take a Trip Tuesday", but even without a world pandemic I have to admit it often faded after the first week and looked a more like "Nothing Nothingday" and "Whatever Whateverday".

This year I know that while free time can be cathartic, I have more of a responsibility to set a routine and plan opportunities for mental stimulation in order to encourage a healthy home environment; not just for my children but for myself as well. After weeks of eLearning, I felt like a workbook (even an amazing one!) wasn't going to cut it.

What my kids really need (and what I need!) is to GO somewhere. And when physically going somewhere isn't a reality, I needed to find a different way to make that happen.

So I got to work!

After consulting with my sisters in law and some friends who were all in a similar boat- I came up with a plan. I asked our kids to each pick a country they were interested in learning more about and put them in a list- a total of 11 countries!

For each country, I am working to develop a student workbook parents and teachers can purchase through my teachers pay teachers shop, but ALSO to compile a free parent-teacher guide listing ideas and resources at no cost. While the guide is designed to work as a companion to the student workbook I'm hoping that the resources included can be beneficial to any family or classroom who may be interested in taking a virtual "trip" around the world this summer!

First up- Italy!

Parent-teachers can subscribe to receive e-mail updates about these mini-world units, including links to the FREE parent-teacher guides through my website here: The Test Lab

I'm looking forward to this summer and the challenge of creating these resources! I hope you will join us and share your positive learning experiences on social media using #thetestlabteacher

Have a good trip!

-Jessica