3 Tips for Keeping Up With Math Over The Summer

Many people take a break from school over the summer, and it is often very helpful to at least slow down the academics during this time of year to make time for resting, relaxing, and enjoying time together with family and friends.

But that doesn’t mean academics have to stop altogether! If you’re someone who is looking for some ways to help your student keep up with math over the summer to make the transition into next school year a little easier, I have some tips that can help!

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1) Use online programs to help your student get a little practice each day!

There are many online programs that students can use on their own to do some quick daily math practice. IXL is an awesome online program that allows students to practice math at all grade levels, and at their own pace. It personalizes practice for each student based on their progress. IXL learns what your student knows as they work, so it tailors the problems it gives them based on specifically what they need the most help with, and doesn’t keep making them practice what they’ve already mastered.  

It also gives parents a very detailed report of their student’s progress and a clear picture of what they have mastered and what they need more practice on.

You can have your student work on IXL practice for 15-30 minutes a day (or however long/often you’d like!) over the summer to help them stay on track and not forget everything they learned during the school year. You know what they say about “use it or lose it!”

It can also really be helpful for filling in gaps they may have in certain areas or topics to help make sure they’re prepared for the next school year! 

If students get stuck while working, there are helpful hints and detailed explanations that will help your student learn and fix their mistakes.

You can try a 7 day free trial to see if you like it, and you can cancel any time, so you could cancel it after summer is over or you can keep it as supplemental practice for them throughout the school year!

A free option is Khan Academy. 

It has lessons and practice available for Kindergarten through college math and it includes video lessons and some practice problems as well.

It isn’t as personalized as IXL, and it has fewer practice problems available, but it does provide help and hints if they get stuck, and includes pretty much any topic for every grade level.

Students could work through their grade level topics at their own pace throughout the summer. 

They also have some course options such as “get ready for 5th grade” that are meant for students to do to make sure they know what they need to know to be prepared for the next grade.

2) Use games as a way to help them practice over the summer while having fun!

There are several websites with math games that students can play throughout the summer (and all school year!) to keep math fresh in their minds, and have fun while doing it! Some of the website I’ve found to be really helpful for this are:

Prodigy Math

Adapted Mind

BrainPop. 

Some of them have free accounts, some have free trials, and some have paid accounts.

I have found that making math fun by adding in games can help students enjoy their math practice more and make it less of a struggle. It feels more like they’re just playing games and they happen to be learning math at the same time!

There are also many fun math games you can find on Amazon just by searching “Math Games” and you can have fun playing those together as a family throughout the summer.

Some of my favorite math card games are The 24 Game and Zoom! 

3) Sign up for weekly classes or tutoring sessions to keep math fresh in their minds!

If you’re looking for some live math support for your student, I teach in person and online homeschool math classes, and over the summer any public school students are welcome to join my classes too! I teach math in a way that’s laid back and fun, not scary and hard, to show students that math can be interesting and exciting and much easier than they think!

I also offer private online math tutoring over zoom as well if you have a student who would like more personalized one-on-one help with math, both over the summer and during the school year. 

If you’re interested in private math tutoring, you can email me at jessica@mindfullmentor.com for more details, or visit my website at www.mindfullmentor.com/private-tutoring.