Summer is a great time to appreciate the freedom of less structure and fewer daily assignments, but it doesn’t mean that learning needs to stop.  In fact, math, in particular, is one of those subjects that can be appreciated while going about one’s everyday activities because it’s in everything….we just have to look for it!

One way to develop a love for math is to recognize its usefulness and all the ways it explains so much around us.  Sometimes teachers can leave out that aspect, but summer is a great time to relate what was learned in class to nature and the world around us, in general.  Approaching math in a more relaxed way, which summer lets us to do, allows students to enjoy the learning process better.  Students can also take advantage of this time away from school to brush up on past concepts and look ahead to the upcoming class without the everyday pressures of school.

The ideas in this blog provide creative, stress-free ways to learn and enjoy math this summer.  These activities can be done with friends, family, a tutor or on one’s own!  The important thing is to incorporate math in activities throughout the summer.  Math can be a hands-on activity or a mental activity, both are wonderful ways to learn and appreciate how useful it can be.

Focus on a Favorite Activity and explore it with a math and science mindset.  For example, if riding bikes is a favorite activity to do during the nice summer days, one can get hands-on math practice by something as simple as measuring the diameter of a wheel, then calculating the circumference.  With this information, the student can then take it a step further and look up how the wheel size relates to the speed or type of a bicycle.  This type of thinking will lead to a greater interest in math and science because we’re relating it to something that is personal and enjoyable.

Get Creative During Outside Time.  Being outside presents us with endless opportunities to practice math.  If you and your son/daughter go for a walk in the neighborhood, try counting or multiplication exercises involving things you may see, such as houses, cats or a certain type of flower.  Making math more tangible helps solidify simple concepts that might feel more difficult in a classroom setting.

Math While Baking is a classic way to practice learning both the metric system as well as the standard (US) system.  When baking, we often need to convert and multiply, so it can be good practice for a handful of foundational math concepts.
Looking Ahead to the Next Class.  When students feel prepared, they feel confident.  Summer is the perfect time to boost students’ confidence for the school year that’s just ahead.  By ensuring that learned concepts are solid, and by looking ahead, their confidence can soar.  Introducing upcoming concepts during the more relaxed pace that summer allows, then later seeing them taught at a deeper level in school, typically equates to a much better level of understanding.