What to Send Home for Summer: A 4th Grade Teacher’s Guide to Packets That Actually Work

Every year, sometime in mid-May, a variation of the same question pops up in my inbox:

“What do you recommend sending home for the summer? Something they’ll actually do?”

It’s a fair question. And honestly? For years, I didn’t have a great answer.

I’d send home a reading log. Maybe some math fact practice sheets. Cross my fingers. Come back in the fall and spend the first three weeks reteaching everything covered the prior year before spring break.

Sound familiar?

Here’s the thing: The summer slide is real. Research consistently shows that students in 3rd through 5th grade lose, on average, about 20% of their reading gains and 27% of their math gains over the summer.

And those losses aren’t random. They stack up year after year, and by the time these kids hit middle school, the gap is significant.

But here’s what I’ve come to believe after years in the classroom and now homeschooling my own kids: the answer isn’t more worksheets. It’s the right worksheets — the ones that feel manageable to a kid on a random Tuesday in July when it’s too hot to go outside, and they’re looking for something to do while the AC blasts.

Why Most Summer Packets Get Stuffed Under the Bed

The problem with a lot of summer work isn’t the content. It’s the format. A thick stack of 40 look-alike worksheets lands in a kid’s backpack, makes it home, and gets set on the kitchen counter. Then the counter gets crowded. Then it ends up in a drawer. Then September arrives.

A good summer packet works differently. It needs to:

• Feel approachable, not overwhelming
• Cover real skills — not busywork that makes parents feel like something is happening
• Be something a kid can pick up, do a page or two, and put back down without losing their place
• Actually be interesting… which, yes, is possible even in a practice packet

What I Sent Home with 4th and 5th Graders

The packet I shared with the teachers I coached covers both reading and math, but it’s built differently than a typical stack of review sheets.

On the reading side, there are summer-themed reading passages with comprehension questions — the kind of high-interest nonfiction that actually gets kids to read all the way through because it’s focused on summer holidays and themes that apply right now.

There’s a book recommendation list with genre bingo (yes, bingo — kids will do almost anything if there’s a bingo card involved), reading graphic organizers, writing journal starters, and word work activities, including a summer word sort that’s oddly satisfying to cut and rearrange.

On the math side, there are 20 practice pages covering computation, problem solving, fractions, and geometry, plus math games and a printable flashcard set. The games are the part I’m most proud of — they’re the kind of thing kids will ask to play on a rainy afternoon without realizing they’re practicing factors.

The whole thing comes with a parent letter already written and ready to print. Because one less thing you have to write in the last week of school is genuinely a gift.

The Part That Actually Makes It Work: Differentiation

Here’s what I do differently that I think matters most.

Not every kid in your class needs the same packet. The student who’s reading at grade level doesn’t need the same support as the student who’s been in intervention all year. And sending the same thing home with everyone — the too-hard version or the too-easy version — means neither kid actually does it.

This packet is designed so you can pick and choose. The clickable table of contents lets you go straight to what each student needs.

Print the reading passages and comprehension questions for the student who needs fluency work.

Print the math games and flashcards for the student who’s been struggling with fact fluency.

Give your on-grade-level kids the whole thing and let them go.

That’s the part that makes the difference between a packet that comes back in September (done!) and one that spent two months under a bed.

A Few Other Things Worth Sending

Even if you send a solid packet, it helps to layer in a couple of other simple recommendations for families:

• Six books over the summer — research shows that reading six books maintains reading skills. It doesn’t have to be hard books. Just books they actually want to read.
• A digital resource list — I include one in the packet, with links to sites like Khan Academy that let students work at their own pace without needing parent involvement.
• 15–20 minutes a day, not two hours on a Sunday — consistent, short practice beats marathon sessions every time. Parents appreciate knowing that.

Summer Slide is Real…but Preventable

The summer slide is real, but it’s also preventable…and it doesn’t require a summer of miserable worksheets to do it. The right packet, assembled thoughtfully and sent home with clear guidance for families, can make a real difference for your kids come September.

If you’re a 4th or 5th grade teacher looking for something ready to print and send, you can grab the Print-and-Go Summer Skill Pack here. It covers all of the above, includes a parent letter, and is designed to be differentiated so you can make it work for every student in your class — not just the ones who’d be fine over the summer anyway.

And if you teach 3rd grade, I have a version for that, too.

Want to go deeper on what the summer slide actually means for upper elementary students and what the research says about prevention? Read: How to Prevent the Summer Slide for 4th and 5th Graders