Too often over the long summer vacation, kids forget what they’ve learned from school. This learning loss is especially prevalent in subjects that kids are unlikely to encounter over the summer, such as math and spelling. And for reasons not entirely understood, learning loss gets worse as children get older.

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to ensure that your child doesn’t fall behind. Read on.

1. Continue school work at home. Since your child will need to relearn a lot of her school work, it helps to keep her academically engaged over the summer. Find some good workbooks (on her teacher’s recommendation) and have your child do a small portion of each ever day. This strategy should make a huge difference in her grades and in her attitude towards school.

2. Forge a parent-teacher partnership. At the end of the school year, you should talk to the teacher your child will have the following fall (or if class assignments haven’t yet been made, to any teacher in that grade). Find out, for example, what your child’s fall math curriculum is going to be. Then tailor your summer learning activities to next year’s material with math games, CD-ROMs, and shopping trips that require your child to do mental arithmetic.

3. Consider summer school. Summer classes aren’t just for kids in danger of flunking. Many summer-school courses are geared toward enriching existing academic programs. Most important, they keep your child’s mental gears in motion. Call your child’s school in the spring to learn about the course selection.

4. Use your community. Most towns offer residents a variety of educational resources. Libraries have wonderful summer programs that rarely cost anything. Reading contests, themed story times, and other book-related activities are both educational and entertaining. Also, local colleges and groups offer an array of educational recreations that are geared to kids this age, including such activities as guided nature walks and story-writing classes.

5. Take a smart, intellectually stimulating vacation. If you’re planning a summer getaway, choose one with an educational theme. Find out what your kids will be studying in the coming year, and plan your trip accordingly. If they’ll be covering the Constitution, for example, consider a trip to Washington, D.C.

Before you go, read all about the topic with your child, and make a list together of the things you’d like to see and do. Think of your trip as an education scavenger hunt.

6. Find learning opportunities in everyday events. Doing the laundry, for example, provides an excellent opportunity for an impromptu math lesson. Have your kids fold sheets and towels into fractions – halves, quarters, eights, and so on.

The kitchen is also an educational gold mine. For younger kids, suggests the game “letters in the cupboard”: How many R’s can you find on the pantry shelf? Making cookies can turn into a lesson on measurements.

7. Read, read, read. Schools around the country have long regarded the summer reading list as a key weapon in the battle against brain drain. Read along with your child, and talk about what you’ve read. If your school doesn’t provide a reading list, put one together on your own with the input of your child’s teacher.

8. Just have fun. Things become so intense during the school year that summer is supposed to be just for fun. Kids need the free time to just be.

Some of the most traditional summertime amusements – selling lemonade, for example – are highly educational. They help children learn from each other and the world. Not all of life’s lessons are from school.

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