No, not that impossibly high metal slide with no guardrails that toasted your sensitive tushy when you were a little kid. We’re talking about a problem that researchers have been tracking since the Mid-Nineties where those lazy, hazy, sunscreen-scented days of summer equal serious knowledge loss for even the best students.
Studies have shown that kids can lose between 20% and 27% of the progress they’ve gained during the school year over summer vacation. And those learning losses affecting younger students and kids from lower-income families at a disproportionately higher rate. Over time, those losses accumulate and create higher hills for kids to climb when school is back in session.
Experts agree that the best way to stop the Summer Slide is to make sure kids keep reading and working on math year-round.
If you’ve been homeschooling full- or even part-time over the last insane year, you might be shedding a single tear right now, and we get it.
But don’t think we’re snuffing the flame of that light at the end of the tunnel. We’re here with a little help from our friends!
Zogo:
This cool little app was built by Gen Z, for Gen Z. With quick, easy to follow lessons, points you can redeem for gift cards IRL (In Real Life), and fun, rapid-fire games your middle-school and older students (and their parents, friends, and neighbors of almost any age) will hit the sweet spot between challenging and learning every single time they log on.
And here’s a Simplicity Family Testimonial: When we asked the Simplicity Team to check out Zogo for a couple of days before we launched it to our members this year, they racked up more than 130 lessons and so many Pineapples we couldn’t even believe it. (Pineapples = Points in the Zogo-verse, check it out if you don’t believe us.)
Plus, because it’s sponsored by Simplicity CU, it’s free to use for anyone if you follow this link to request your download.
Banzai:
Gosh, what can we say about Banzai? They’re one of our oldest financial education partners and they just keep delivering the goods, year after year.
Their courses for kids in elementary through high school guide them through real-life scenarios and make complicated money concepts easy to understand. Plus, your student is going to love the feeling of winning at the game of life.
And, that’s not all. You can check out the Banzai Wellness Center whenever you’re looking for useful info about your money; from how to teach your kids to save, saving for college for teens, to your retirement. With new courses being added all the time, you’ll find something new every time you visit.
So, layer on the sunscreen, pour your favorite cold drink, and get your kids to check out both of these awesome FinEd partners. You’ll get a little time to relax, and they’ll keep learning all summer long.
For more info on how you can help the kids you love combat the summer slide, check out this article from Scholastic.
