You’ve all heard of “summer slide,” the phenomenon in which students lose academic ground while away from the classroom over the long summer break.

Some estimates say students fall as much as two months behind on reading skills every summer, meaning teachers have to spend the first two months of each school year bringing students back up to the skill level they had at end of the previous school year.

While not nearly as long, students across Northeast Michigan are about to start a holiday break that will keep them out of the classroom for several days into the new year.

And studies show students can lose some of their edge over that short break, too.

While we encourage students to take a breather and spend time with their families and their new toys over Christmas vacation, it’s also important that they come back to school ready to pick up where they left off.

Detroit Public Schools offers some advice for parents to help their kids do so:

1. Read holiday books together.

2. Practice writing skills with seasonal writing projects.

3. Explore your family heritage.

4. Discover the meaning of winter holidays.

5. Create art.

6. Cook up a lesson by cooking together (uses math and science).

7. Play educational games.

8. Get outside and play!

So have a good break, kiddos, but make sure a little bit of learning is part of your holiday fun.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)