If you’ve been in education for any length of time, you’re probably aware (and scared) of the summer slide. If you’re a parent, you’ve probably landed on this page in an attempt to prevent summer slide in your own student. Students in elementary school are most vulnerable to this slide backward and can lose measurable academic progress over the long summer break. However, with a strategic blend of summer reading and math activities and 15-20 minutes of consistent practice (and a WHOLE LOT of summer fun), it’s possible to turn the summer months into a period of growth. Here are my best tips to prevent summer slide in upper elementary.

Prevent Summer Slide Bundle

This set of summer break reading and math activities will help your upper elementary children avoid the summer slide. Engage students exiting 4th and 5th grades with these projects, worksheets, and activities designed to keep their brains sharp over a long school break.

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Resources to Prevent Summer Slide

This set of summer break reading and math activities will help your upper elementary students prevent summer slide. Engage students exiting 4th and 5th grades with these projects, worksheets, and activities designed to keep their brains sharp over a long school break. Some students exiting 3rd grade may also be able to complete these independently, though they may need some support.

What is the summer slide?

The ‘summer slide’ is the phenomenon where, over the summer break, students lose a large amount of the gains they made in reading and math over the previous year. Academic studies have shown that achievement scores, especially in elementary school, slide significantly backward over summer vacation. 

How do you prevent summer slide? 

There is hope! The same academic studies that found evidence of the summer slide also suggested that regular practice in reading and math can help mitigate the slide. Students who practiced their math and reading skills over the summer were less likely to see a change in their achievement scores after the summer break. 

This printable bundle is the perfect ready-to-use resource for preventing summer slide. In addition to the paper activities, you can also encourage your kids to play educational games, complete outdoor math scavenger hunts, or write in summer journals for extra practice.

How much reading and math practice do kids need over the summer to prevent summer slide?

The good news is that it doesn’t take much time to prevent the summer slide. I suggest setting aside 15-20 minutes a day to complete meaningful math and reading activities. The activities in this summer slide bundle have been carefully selected to provide a well-rounded review of most math and literacy concepts. 

Alongside purposeful math and reading practice, I also highly recommend setting aside time to allow kids to read books that they choose. Building a love of reading comes from exposure to books, and the summer is a great time to allow children to try out different genres and formats. You could also create a summer book club or reading challenge with family, friends, or neighbors! If you’re not sure where to start with book lists, I’ve got you covered!

I’ve curated a list of my favorite titles, which you can download and share with parents here. 

Tips to Share with Parents

One of the most common questions I get every year is how parents can continue supporting their students over the summer. They often ask what books they should read, what skills they should be working on, and how they can support their students at home. I’ve done the work for you, and I have created book lists and skill lists to send home with parents over the summer! It even includes a fun reading bingo set and activity ideas for students entering grades 3-5!

Preventing summer slide doesn’t require hours of studying or strict routines. Just a little daily practice—like reading a book, writing in a journal, playing a math game, or having thoughtful conversations—can help kids stay sharp and confident heading into the new school year. This FREE resource equips parents with just what they need to do this.

This FREE guide is packed with easy, meaningful ways to keep learning going all summer long. Whether families have ten minutes or a whole hour, are ready to sit down with a workbook, or want to fit in some fun on car rides to the next summer destination, it’s packed with flexible ideas and tools to fit any family’s schedule and summer rhythm. You can send it home with students as they head off for summer!

Encourage Parents to Create a Summer Routine

Even the most well-intentioned families can find it difficult to remember to complete summer review activities (I know we are guilty of it!). It can be so easy to put backpacks away at the year’s end and forget school entirely. However, setting up a simple summer routine that includes daily reading and math practice can help. These summer learning routines can also build discipline, time management, and a love for lifelong learning.

Here are tips to share with parents:

• Print out the resources included in this bundle. They’re easy to do at home, but they are FUN! 
• Look at your schedule and set aside 15-20 minutes at a consistent time during the day. After breakfast? Right before dinner? Before evening TV time?
  • Our family doesn’t allow any screen time until we’ve spent at least an hour outside and half an hour reading a great book or doing something else educational OR creative. It doesn’t have to be a workbook. It can be sidewalk chalk math, writing in our summer journal, helping to plan a family trip by researching, baking with fractions, browsing recipe books for that night’s meal, measuring out yard for a crochet project, designing a STEM-based obstacle course, reading a magazine (The Week Junior is my favorite) etc. Get creative while still being intentional! 
• Select both a math and a literacy activity. I always quiz my kids on math facts in the car to keep them sharp! 
• Set out a page from each and work for 15-20 minutes. I suggest starting with a week of  Literacy Skill of the Week and the Road Trip Math Project. 
• Repeat each day! 

If you want your students working with their pencil and paper on intentional academic tasks, here are a few ways to structure the 20 minutes of daily practice using this summer slide bundle.

• One page of Literacy Skill of the Day and one Math Logic Puzzle
• One page of the Summer Sports Reading Project and 10 minutes of Math by the Numbers
• Two pages of the Road Trip Math Project and one Reading Fluency card
• One page of Literacy Skill of the Day and one Reading Logic Puzzle one day, and then 20 minutes of the Summer Sports Reading Project the next day. 

Don’t Miss the Bonus Guide for Parents!

The ‘bundle bonus’ file in the summer slide resource is a step-by-step guide to help parents set up meaningful summer practice. It carefully breaks down each set of activities and includes 19 pages of quick-reference guides. These guides will help parents understand any unfamiliar reading or grammar terminology.