Preventing Summer Slide for Kindergarten Students

Psst! Did someone say that SUMMER BREAK is nearing?! Today I am here to talk about summer learning and stopping the summer slide for our kiddos! I also have a summer slide parent flier FREEBIE for you as well!

Each year I was encouraged to send a packet of work home with my kiddos over summer break to help with summer slide! It’s really hit and miss but some parents do LOVE having some type of learning tool to utilize over break! They at times aren’t 100% sure on what to work on so when we send home something it really gives them a starting point! I was always a little hesitant with the packets because I feared two things 1) The kiddo would sit down and complete the entire packet in one sitting simply because it was “easy” or “fun” to them. (I would have totally been this kid— school work equals F-U-N!) And 2) that the parent would forget about the packet until ummm the last couple days of summer and then have their kiddo do all of their summer learning in a cram session. Possibly these fears were not a reality but in some capacity I’m positive both happened! This year as teachers requested summer work… I really wanted to create something FUN, ENGAGING and required a smidgen of parent involvement! That is when I created my Summer Learning Mats!

**Just a special note that the mats are designed for the grade the kiddos are in RIGHT now! For example, if you teach Pre-K you’d get the Pre-K version! If you teacher Kinder and they are headed to first, you still get the kinder version!**

Summer Learning Mats

The Summer Learning Mats are a perfect balance of student independence and parent involvement! A lot of parents are busy over the summer and don’t have much free time but these mats are designed to be 100% appropriate for that kiddo’s grade level and skill focus! The parent can help their child get started on the task, but then the child can complete the task on their own! The Summer Learning Mats give students 10 weeks of practice of the summer! You would send home the matching number summer weeks you have! The kids get 5 days of explicit math practice and 5 days of explicit ELA practice! The mats also include a Three-In-A-Row board that provides additional learning opportunities throughout the week!

The mats do not need anything additional prepped by you! The entire week is also on one entire sheet so there are FEW copies needed! You can print double-sided for additional paper saving! The kiddos will complete the task each day and “X” out the box! For Pre-K and Kinder, the students also have a built-in incentive! They get to add an image to their mat once they complete a task! First grade and second grade have a built-in reading incentive! For every 20 minutes they read, they get to color in an image!

The mats are designed to have a certain skill focus for each day of the week! Below is a break down of the Kinder mats!

Move-Your-Fingers Monday (Math)- number writing (ELA)- letter, name or address writing

Tap-It-Out Tuesday (Math) Tap and count 1:1 (ELA) tap and write words

Whip-Up-A- Web Wednesday (Math) Show all the ways to make a numbers ie. ten frame, dot cube, fingers, etc. (ELA) Show words and illustrations that start with the given beginning sound

Think-It-Out Thursday (Math) Word problems (ELA) Story writing

Fast-N-Fluent Friday (Math) Fluency in addition, subtraction and teen numbers (ELA) Fluency in the alphabet and beginning sounds

You can also see the full list of Kinder skills below (each grade level has their skills listed in the TPT description!)

What skills are covered?

Week 1: number writing, 1:1 counting, ways to show the number 5, word problem, addition fluency within 5, letter writing, writing words, beginning sounds, informational story writing, oral counting, writing CVC words, squares in “real life”, reading words, AB pattern, counting by 2’s, rhyming

Week 2: number writing, 1:1 counting, ways to show the number 10, word problem, addition fluency within 10, name writing, writing words, beginning sounds, narrative story writing, oral counting, writing CVCe words, circles in “real life”, reading words, AAB pattern, counting by 5’s, rhyming

Week 3: number writing, 1:1 counting, ways to show the number 12, word problem, subtraction fluency within 10, address writing, writing words, beginning sounds, fiction story writing, oral counting, writing digraph words, triangles in “real life”, reading words, AABB pattern, counting by 10’s, multiple meaning words

Week 4: number writing, 1:1 counting, ways to show the number 15, word problem, subtraction fluency within 10, letter writing, writing words, beginning sounds, how-to story writing, oral counting, writing blend words, rectangles in “real life”, reading words, ABBA pattern, counting by 5’s, multiple meaning words

Week 5: number writing, 1:1 counting, ways to show the number 16, word problem, teen numbers fluency, name writing, writing words, beginning sounds, opinion story writing, oral counting, writing CVC words, cubes in “real life”, reading words, ABC pattern, counting by 2’s, multiple meaning words

Week 6: number writing, 1:1 counting, ways to show the number 17, word problem, teen numbers fluency, address writing, writing words, beginning sounds, persuasive story writing, oral counting, writing CVCe words, cones in “real life”, reading words, AABC pattern, counting by 5’s, multiple meaning words

Week 7: number writing, 1:1 counting, ways to show the number 18, word problem, teen numbers fluency, family name writing, writing words, beginning sounds, narrative story writing, oral counting, writing blend words, cylinders in “real life”, reading words, AABBCC pattern, counting by 10’s, multiple meaning words

Week 8: number writing, 1:1 counting, ways to show the number 19, word problem, teen numbers fluency, letter writing, writing words, beginning sounds, informational story writing, oral counting, writing digraph words, spheres in “real life”, reading words, sound pattern, counting by 2’s, multiple meaning words

Week 9: number writing, 1:1 counting, ways to show the number 20, word problem, mixed addition and subtraction fluency, family name writing, writing words, beginning sounds, opinion story writing, oral counting, writing CVC words, ovals in “real life”, reading words, sound pattern, counting by 5’s, multiple meaning words

Week 10: number writing, 1:1 counting, ways to show the number 25, word problem, mixed addition and subtraction fluency, address writing, writing words, beginning sounds, persuasive story writing, oral counting, writing CVCe words, shapes in “real life”, reading words, sound pattern, counting by 10’s, multiple meaning words

The Pre-K version includes Alphabet and Number Sense Drill Sheets! These are perfect for parents that might not have flashcards, etc already at home!

The first grade version utilizes this included blends and digraphs review chart!

Each grade level also has an included parent note!

The Summer Learning Mats are editable and include SPANISH versions!

You can view the Summer Learning Mats HERE or clicking on the links below!

>>Pre-K Summer Learning Mats<<

>>Kindergarten Summer Learning Mats<<

>>First Grade Summer Learning Mats<<

>>Second Grade Summer Learning Mats<<

Summer Learning Menus

Now, not to throw a little wrench into this party, but I would also like to share my summer learning menus as well! Just to cover all of our bases and to make sure you have OPTIONS! The summer learning menus are bit different because they aren’t based on a day of the year, giving students a bit more freedom. The summer learning menus also cover a few more areas including movement, science, and social studies! You can view all of my summer learning MENUS below!

>> PRESCHOOL SUMMER LEARNING MENUS <<
>> KINDERGARTEN SUMMER LEARNING MENUS <<
>> FIRST GRADE SUMMER LEARNING MENUS <<

Summer Slide [freebie download]

I also have that stopping the summer slide FREEBIE parent flier for you as well! You can snag this INSTANT freebie by clicking >>HERE<< or the image directly below!