COLUMBUS, Ohio — Summer vacation is about a month away.
It will certainly be time for children to take a break, but there is an opportunity for enrichment. When you consider the latest national report card, data shows that children in every state are falling behind when it comes to grasping basic math.
A 2022 survey of 1,400 public school parents around the country by Learning Heroes showed that 92% believed their children were performing at grade level.
In a federal survey, school officials reported half of all U.S. students started this school year behind grade level in at least one subject.
Educators encourage enrichment to avoid the summer slide.
“It’s understandable why kids are struggling with the amount of time that kids were outside of the classroom, the way that math works. It builds on concepts. And so if you miss the concept, it’s very hard to catch up,” McKenzie Price says.
Price is a mom and educator sharing how she helped her children and those at her school in Texas work to master all levels of math.
She says that it starts with parents and guardians taking action and taking charge of technology.
“We can provide these personalized experiences. So these are apps that can be done on phones, they can be done on iPads, or on a computer. Many of them are free,” Price said.
Khan Academy is one of the personalized apps that Price recommends. It’s free and challenges children of all ages in math.
Prodigy is another free app and it targets kids with the invitation to start playing and learning. There's a separate website for teachers and parents.
Some apps are pay to play-- depending on your budget. DreamBox is a math app some say is masquerading as a video game.
“It's as little as $10 a month, and it plays like a video game. When my children were younger, they would come home from school, like ‘Can I please play dream box for 30 minutes? Can I please have some time on DreamBox?’ Hey, if I have a child who is begging to do more math outside of school, that's a win,” Price said.
Ohio kids are testing at grade level. The percentage of fourth-grade students who performed at or above the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was 40% in 2022.
There are also reading apps and programs available in Columbus.
The Columbus Metropolitan Library is holding an event called “Ready for Kindergarten Baby Laptime” where you can boost your baby’s learning ability using books, rhymes and music.
You can find more about what events CML is holding this summer here.
For those at home, the Epic-Kids’ Books and Reading app and the Education.com website can help your children strengthen their learning abilities.