Preventing the Summer Slide

🎧 Episode Show Notes

Preventing the Summer Slide (Without Turning Summer Into School)

In our final episode of Season 1, Becky and Lauren talk about one of the most common summer concerns for families—the “summer slide.”

If you’ve ever worried about your child losing skills over the summer, this episode is here to reassure you: summer doesn’t need to feel like school to support learning. Instead, it’s about keeping things simple, consistent, and engaging—especially for students with learning differences.

🌟 What We Cover

• What the “summer slide” really means (hint: it’s about routines, not ability)
• What actually counts as reading (it’s more than you think!)
• Why audiobooks are a powerful tool for confidence and comprehension
• Easy, everyday ways kids keep learning without it feeling like school
• Simple, low-pressure tips for reading and math over the summer

💡 Key Takeaways

• A little consistency goes a long way
• Reading doesn’t have to look traditional to count
• Confidence and enjoyment matter most
• Learning happens in everyday moments

🎯 Closing Thought

A little reading, a little math, and a lot of joy go a long way.

🎙️ Coming Up Next

Tune into our summer series, Hootie’s Story Nest, where our teachers and staff share favorite books and read-alouds to keep students connected to stories all summer long.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Welcome back to the PHPS Difference Podcast. We are your hosts, Lauren Merrill, and Becky Barrett, and we're excited to welcome you to our final episode of season one.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

As we head into summer, we know this is a time when many families start thinking about reading routines and preventing that summer slide, or the idea that students lose a lot of what they've learned and gained during the school year.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Yes, and you've probably heard some of those statistics about students losing all that they've learned over the summer and hearing phrases like summer slide, and that can feel definitely overwhelming as a parent. And we're here to say this from the start that this episode is not about turning summer into school. It's about keeping things simple and consistent, especially for students with learning differences. Because when it comes to summer, a little bit of reinforcement and routines can make a big difference.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

We are looking forward to digging into this conversation and talking a little bit more about what summer slide even means, because I think that gets thrown around a lot. Especially this time of year. Yes, absolutely. And um, we know that parents jump from the end of school where it's rush, rush, rush through May, and then June hits, and all of a sudden you have kids at home and there's pressure to do something with them. I don't know if you feel that in your house, but can you talk for a second about what Summerslide is and just help our families understand that language? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

So what I think as educators, we refer to SummerSlide is just where, you know, students are not doing those academic things every day. They're not waking up at the same time, they're not reading consistently, you know, daily. And so it's just losing that reading stamina, those dis those routines that are disappearing, kids' confidence actually you'll see kind of dips whenever they come back to school. Um, you know, they don't, they really don't lose their intelligence or what they've learned, but they do lose that consistency. And it's kind of like working out, you know, if you if you miss the gym for a couple months, oof, those first few days back, it there it's it's a struggle.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Yeah, that's a good analogy. And I and I even think for my kids, I see, um, and I'm sure many people do, where there's sort of that like into school come down. Um, and so there's sort of a morning of losing your routine, losing, losing seeing your friends every day. Yes. And you're about to jump into really fun things like vacations and camps and all of this, but there's that that stall period of like, oh no, what do we do next? And so hopefully today we can dig into a few ideas that can just be tools for parents this summer to hopefully be positive and helpful as we start to build um our summer routines.

SPEAKER_01 2:39

Yes, absolutely. And I know in our household, I'm already kind of thinking of what is the schedule going to be this summer, not overly scheduled, but how can I kind of build those summer routines to still be laid back and a little bit less stressful, but also not having my kids roll out of bed and think they're going to flip on the TV. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Yeah, I'm having that same thought. And we have a couple of different tools in our house. Like we have our skylight calendar, and my kids like to um go and check things off on that. But then just even a paper schedule that they know is theirs to own, right? Um, or a dry erase board that they can check off. I feel like that's always been helpful for us too. Absolutely. Um, and in our house, um, I don't know if this is something that you do, but um, we find it really helpful to kind of do a first things first um model. So screens come last still, even in the summer, um, and using that sort of as a reward center, um, at least for for how my kiddos work. And so trying to get through um some of that reading, some of the math, or um maybe they're doing chores or just some of the family community pieces that help um so that we're not starting with dysregulation. Right. And getting outside, especially in the morning whenever it's cooler anyway.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Absolutely. So you might might as well go outside and play. And um, you know, we've got a ton of neighbors, so our kids go out and play with like mixed ages and we'll, you know, have those organic kind of 90s feel uh summer, summertime, and then you know, come in and maybe they'll listen to an audiobook or um Learning Ally, which is a great resource, or Epic, and then you know, lunch, and then maybe a little bit of screen time in the afternoon.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

Yes, yeah. And I I think that you and I have talked a lot this season about the power of audiobooks. Yes. And I know in both of our homes, and then here at Preston Hollow, um, we really stand by the the power of that as a reading tool. And whether your child is just listening to the story and really engaged in that wonderful voice that's telling the story or they're reading along while listening. Um, either way, we know that the brain is lighting up, just like you would be if you're reading the book yourself. And um, sometimes it might be hard to sit down and always sit next to each other and read the book, right? There's so many wonderful apps out there, whether that be Audible and you're paying for books, right? Spotify has, you know, free audiobooks within your Spotify subscription if you have a subscription. Uh, Apple Books, you can also use our Learning Ally subscription in the summer or Epic subscription that we have for the school. Yes. So that I think is really, really great. And then our local library. I know that with library being your joy. Um do you want to talk anything about our libraries in Dallas and in the greater area as well? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

I think that a lot of families um here at Preston Hollow go to their local libraries, but I know that a lot of us kind of forget that they're there. And so you can get, you know, additional audiobooks or regular books. They also have amazing summer programming. They'll have their own reading challenges, they'll have incentives for kids to stick to reading. Um, and then of course, just fun activities that you can do in the library. And it's just even my fourth grader loves to go and just peruse the library and and put books on hold or you know, look online and and go pick up the books. So I just think that there's lots of opportunity and it is just such a great thing to do. Again, on those afternoons when it's hot. Um in our home, we usually go every couple weeks, so that way it's on the calendar and kids can you know expect to go and we return those library books.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

And it's just it's just a good time. Well, and we always joke, you and I, about kind of having a 90 summer. And I do think that that is a that's a thing to lean into of how do we allow kids to be kids? How do how do they have time to go to the pool and um not feel overscheduled, right? But have space and time to just I don't know, I remember curling up and loving to read a book that maybe wasn't necessarily above my reading level, but it was just something I loved. And you're in the cool air conditioning when it's so hot outside and so encouraging, those reading habits over the summer, even if it's for five or ten minutes a day. Absolutely. Um, trying to get to that 20 minutes maybe looks more like a bedtime story together and five or 10 minutes of independent reading. So creating those routines for yourselves that make sense in your family.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

I have a little trick that we do in the Barrett household um for my fourth grader that um I wouldn't say he's a reluctant reader because he does enjoy reading, but it's not something that he's just gonna like go into his room and pick up and do on his own. But I will leave uh the weekly, which is a wonderful kid-oriented newspaper or magazine rather, and I'll just leave it where he eats breakfast. And so every morning he flips through it, reads, we chat about random facts, and I don't have to like nag him. So I find that that really works too, even with books, just putting a book out, it's like he just sees it and is like, huh, okay, what is this? And it's I don't again, I don't have to nag him and ask him to read, but he's more more likely to to pick it up that way. Yeah, so it's one of my tips.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

I love that. I think that's a great, I think that's a great tip. And I think that even the allowing them to, you know, have their summer choice reading. Right. Um, maybe you go to half-price books and you pick out some books that just feel new to them. And there's something really exciting about that experience. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

And speaking of half-price books, it's also a great place to get a puzzle and some of their board games. And again, just leaving them out, you know, on the breakfast table. Yes, they will find that um, you know, they they head over there, and what a great opportunity, as we were talking about audiobooks, to, you know, have Alexa play the latest audiobook as you're kind of puzzling. Um, and next thing you know, an hour's turn gone by and um you've got that good time together as well. Absolutely. Or if parents are working, what a great opportunity to get some work in.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

Yeah, and even for travel, I think that that's a great, a great tip of bringing some extra activities with you that they can do, whether that's coloring or um something where they're listening to a story and able to um entertain and engage themselves for a little. Um, we do a lot of Legos while while listening, and that's that's a great, a great activity is coloring. Coloring. It's another opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Yeah. Well, we've talked a lot about reading. And I think that it's it makes sense listening in the car or while you're doing a puzzle or before bed or in the morning to listen to a book or read a book. Where, Lauren, do you think parents can kind of focus a little bit more on math?

SPEAKER_00 9:20

Yeah, I mean, obviously the school's going to provide some resources this summer for for families, and um hopefully students will engage in that and it'll be tied back to our curriculum, which is great, and reinforce those skills that they had this year. But math and science is around us everywhere we go. Especially in Dallas. Yes. And and not only could you go to a great museum like the Perot or go to Fort Worth and see the really awesome science museum in Fort Worth, um, we also have opportunities to just look in our environment. Right. Um, many years ago, I worked with a group that loved to do uh walks downtown. Oh, and they would actually um have kids look at like the angles of the building and talk about architecture as it fits into space and time, but also talk about it's you know, how is this a part of math? What does this have to do with geometry? And so having just those conversations about what you see around you, um, identify a rectangle, go on a shape walk, right? Um, have the kids take a picture and then go back in the house and talk about which which shapes did you see? Did you see organic shapes that actually were circles, squares, triangles, or were they all man-made shapes? I love that. Um and so allowing um allowing it to be fun, I think gamified, use dice, use dominoes. Um, visual cues are going to be one of the best ways that we can build math thinkers. And so if they are engaging in a game that they don't really know is actually teaching them math, right, that's a win. Hello Monopoly. Exactly. Yes, counting your money, counting the dots on the dominoes and dice, uh, playing Uno because you're literally looking at numbers at all the whole time. And so um gamification for math is is a great, a great way for the game.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

Another one of my favorites is just um cooking. So having kids look through recipe books and decide what they want, what they wanna, what they wanna cook, and that's a lot of measurement and um reading, obviously, but um paying attention to detail, yeah, making sure you're reading the whole recipe. Yes. Um, but I think fractions, that's a great way for kids to continue, you know, honing in on those math skills as well.

SPEAKER_00 11:28

I completely agree. Um, and then also, you know, for time telling, you know, have a get an analog clock. That's a great idea. Get something with hands and have them just look at it and ask them once a day, what what time is it? And um, and one of the things we like in our house even is a visual timer. Um, we can link the one that we have um in our show notes, but we have this really great visual timer, it just sits on our kitchen table. It helps with task orientation. So that's a really great, great tool. Um, it has a little arm that changes the whole clock to red until the time is up, and then you have the option of the buzzer or not. So depending on the kid if that stresses them out. Yeah. Um, but that helps with task orientation, but it's also helping them understand how many minutes have elapsed and how many minutes they have to go. Um, and then it can also help scaffold this is how long it's until you get to do the next one.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

That's a great idea. So one of my biggest takeaways from our of one of our reading episodes was Catherine Bush's timer that she has off on her counter. And and I I bought that as well. So it's like I flip it, it's 20 minutes, and we all go sit and accomplish something, whether it's chores or reading or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 12:35

Yeah. And another one is a sand timer. Yes, we make that's what I have the 20-minute sand timer. Those are great. Yes. As we um come to the end of this season, we have spent so much time this year talking about all of the different types of learning differences we serve at Preston Hollow, um, the things that we value as a school and what we want to help our parents and community um build skills and knowledge around. And the hope for this episode is to just help help you feel like you're a little bit more prepared as we go into summer. Right. So, um, Becky, if you want to, we have some rapid-fire parent tips. Yes. Um, do you want to kind of take us through some of those real quickly?

SPEAKER_01 13:23

Yes, absolutely. So I think one of the biggest for our family is I'm gonna aim for my own kids to read on their own for 10 to 15 minutes every day. It's just gonna be part of their schedule. Again, it could be first thing in the morning, it could be during lunchtime, listening to an audiobook. Um, and then your point of letting kids choose what they want to read, I think is so critical. And not making it necessarily where they're gonna have a comprehension test at the end of it, but just a simple question of did you like what you read or what do you think you want to read next? Or, you know, does that book remind you of anything? Um, and again, obviously visiting our local libraries regularly. Um, I mentioned earlier, just kind of plopping books down, keeping keeping books visible, having kids let, you know, let them see you reading, uh, making sure that, you know, you're talking about what you're reading as well. And again, just focusing on enjoying reading versus performing and reading, making making sure they're reading specific books. Uh what about you, Lauren? Do you have any any tips that I've missed?

SPEAKER_00 14:26

No, I think that was great. And I think it just goes back to um when you can find a game, when you can find a puzzle, when you can find all of these other um ways for students or children to engage um in learning where it feels fun because that's what summer is supposed to be. It's supposed to be a break. We know that kids grow so much over the summer because they get more sleep. They get to play outside and as much outside play as possible because that just grows their their spirits just as much as any of the other academic work we do. And so finding finding time for that and finding time to just enjoy your child and them enjoy you. I think that that's the biggest gift of summer. Um and so, yeah, summer should just still feel like summer, building confidence and joy, which is what really matters, and looking at those small moments so you can kind of realize that it doesn't have to feel perfect. It can feel um organic and feel like what it needs to be for your family. Um and also remembering that if you have younger children at home or older children at home, every age loves to have a read aloud, every age loves to be read too, or engage in games that maybe are a little below their age or a little above their age. So family as community is always a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 15:46

Yeah. Well, Lauren, before we go, we just want to say thank you so much for listening this season, and we are so grateful, and we know that it means so much to us as we get your feedback and to our PHPS community.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

And just a reminder that a little math, a little reading, and a lot of consistency can go a long way in helping your students feel confident heading back into school.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

So we hope you have a wonderful summer, and don't forget to tune in to our summer series, Hootie's Story Nest, where you'll hear from our amazing teachers and staff as they share some of their favorite stories with you.