**Written by Valerie Vazquez, a MomGenerations NYC Editor.

When one thinks of summer many things come to mind…time to plan
vacations, book summer camp, wake up late and fill your kids schedules
with playdates and cultural activities. One of the things that
immediately pops into my head is the dreaded brain drain. Research
shows students lose two to three months of grade level math
equivalency over the summer, which impacts their readiness for the
next school year. My daughter Sophia is entering second grade in a
gifted program that has proven to be very challenging. She excels in
reading but it is very hard to get her interested in Math. As a
child, I myself always struggled with math and I always say a little
prayer hoping she didn’t inherit my aversion to mathematics every time
we sit together to do homework.

As her 1st grade year comes to an end I think back on all the money
and time I spent trying to ensure she was at or above grade level in
Math. From workbooks, to flash cards, to purchasing the textbook she
used in school so we can review at home, to even hiring a tutor…you
name it and I did it. The introduction of common core into our lives
added to the stress level and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that
there were often tears at the dining room table when it came time to
work on math homework.

Although I am looking forward to giving us BOTH a break from studies
this summer, I know that it is necessary to be diligent so she doesn’t
fall behind come September.

This is where TenMarks is invaluable to both Sophia and I. TenMarks,
is an Amazon company and recipient of the 2015 CODiE Award for Best
Math Instructional Solution, they are working hard to keep students
engaged over the summer to reverse learning loss in math before
heading back to school.

The TenMarks Summer Math Program is a national program that provides
students with a personalized course tuned to their individual learning
needs, based on a summative end-of-year assessment. With the Program,
parents can encourage students to use screen time in a productive way
over the summer, whether at home or on-the-go. Data from 2014 showed
that the TenMarksSummer Math Program helped reverse summer learning
loss for over 69% of participating students—in just 8 weeks, with
one-hour of use per week, students tested at the beginning of the
program and then again at the end of the program averaged 11% increase
in scores.

The program is available today and runs through August 31, 2015, and
is available FREE to every family in the United States—parents should
visit http://summer.tenmarks.com for more information and to sign up.
TheTenMarks Math for Students app is available for tablets on iOS,
Android or Fire OS.

When I discussed with Sophia that we would be working on a math
program to sharpen her skills and prepare her for 2nd grade she was
less than enthused. However, once we logged in and she started with
the program she couldn’t stop saying “Mommy, this is fun!” The
TenMarks program is not only fun and interactive but truly engaging. I
was surprised how long she wanted to continue working on the program.
I also LOVED, the reward system and grading that really helped instill
a confidence in her that I hadn’t seen all year!

The program starts with a diagnostic assessment it uses to
automatically create a personalized summer curriculum, which reviews
concepts from the previous year, and introduces concepts for the year
ahead. As students work through their curriculum, they use embedded
hints and video lessons to refresh what they know while learning new
material. The program adapts with targeted interventions for real-time
learning assistance.

For parents, TenMarks provides real time reports and drill down
insights so families can easily monitor usage, proficiency and
performance for each student.

Although school isn’t over Sophia actually asks to use the TenMarks
program daily and went back to school to tell all her friends about a
math website that “is actually fun.” As a result of Sophia’s praise,
her teacher sent a note home to all parents encouraging them to sign
up as well.

Thank you TenMarks for finding a way to stimulate, educate and engage
children in a subject matter that many children struggle with and for
giving parents piece of mind knowing that they can provide a
phenomenal educational learning experience for school readiness
without having to suffer financial hardships to do so.

Disclaimer: Compensation was provided by TenMarks via MomTrends. The
opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not
indicative of the opinions of TenMarks or Momtrends.