What are the benefits of continuing your child’s learning during the summer? And what are some easy and effective ways to do it?
Parents, you made it! The last day of school came, and all the stress of the school year magically disappeared. No more homework battles. No more telling Tanya to put her tuba in the Toyota. No more complaints from your child about the healthy lunch you planned and prepared. But, now you are faced with two months of unstructured time to fill, all while trying to be budget-conscious about camps and vacations, and most importantly, your own sanity.
Intuitively, you know you should continue your child’s learning over the summer. How do you do that without reigniting all of those school year battles? By following our plan presented below.
What follows are a few words about the Summer Slide and why it is absolutely real. Then some research on the benefits of summer learning. And finally, some easy ways to promote learning over the summer months.
The summer slide
According to a study conducted by NWEA, students in grades 3rd through 8th lose about 20 percent of their school year gains in reading and 27 percent of math gains. Beyond looking at formal studies, common sense would suggest any student who does not engage in any academic pursuits – reading, writing, or math – for two straight months will regress or lose some of the gains made during the past school year. If you stop exercising for two entire months, are you going to be in the same shape you were in when you resume working out? Of course not.
Another way to look at this is by asking educators what they see in their classrooms when students return the following fall. According to a survey conducted by Progress Learning, only 31 percent of teachers report that students retained the material taught the previous school year. Which is why the first month back in school is often spent reviewing last year’s material.
Of course pandemic related learning loss is still a consideration. Many students simply shut down during remote learning and are still catching up to where they ought to be. Studies and statistics vary by state, student age/grade and socioeconomic class, but it is clear a majority of students are still behind due to lingering effects of the pandemic.
However, the summer slide is not inevitable! A study by the research firm Kappan found that 22 percent of students actually made gains during the summer. How? By keeping children active in learning environments.
5 Benefits of summer learning
Catch up on key skills. Some classes are just more difficult than others for certain students. Summer is a great time to revisit these key concepts and to ensure proficiency before the next school year. Online resources such as Khan Academy can be used.
Learn a new skill. Summer is a wonderful time for your child to explore a topic of their interest. Facilitate their passion by supporting trips to the local library – or book store – to find books or other research materials. Reading is reading, so encourage them to dive deep into this topic.
Makes transition back to school in the fall easier. Students who simply shut down academics over the summer will undoubtedly have a more challenging time returning to school in the fall. Their Executive Functions skill of shifting has been idle for two months, and shifting back into a structured school schedule and environment could be difficult. Conversely, those children who have kept some semblance of a schedule over the summer and continued learning will seamlessly return to school in the fall.
Explore Enrichment opportunities. Some students have passions that simply (and sadly) get ignored during the school year due to lack of time. Summer is a fantastic time of year for your child to dive deep into their interest. For example, if your child is fascinated by pirates, encourage them to learn more. Whether guiding them to your local library or museum, if appropriate, or just assisting with online searches that lead to “rabbit holes” of pirate informational booty, your encouragement is critical to their success.
Strengthen parent-child relations. Let’s be honest – parenting during the school year can be stressful and challenging. Homework battles, projects that creep up – or you learn about – at the last minute, sports practices that have rotating schedules, etc. Sometimes parents lose patience and children, even young ones, can detect the stress. Summer offers an opportunity for you to support your child’s interests in a less demanding way. There are no grades! Rekindle special relationships by focusing on what your child likes to learn about and both enjoy the journey to new knowledge.
7 Ways to foster summer learning
There are an unlimited number of ways to support your child’s summer learning. One caveat: plunking a few worksheets in front of your kid and expecting the summer slide to slip away will not work. This is especially true in math. A Harvard study states that worksheets alone will not stave off learning loss. Rather students must engage in problem-solving and applying the concepts. Below are some suggestions on how to best position your child for a productive summer of learning.
Find a formal summer program. Most towns have a plethora of summer programs. Of course they are not all created equal. One great option is Summer Smarts, presented by Engage the Brain. Summer Smarts is a series of week long academic camps with a particular themed focus, taught by Learning Specialists. Themes range from Greek Gods to Minecraft Adventures to History Mysteries. Camps are offered on a weekly basis so your child can pick the one(s) that interests them.
Volunteer with a local organization. Depending on the age of your child, they may be required to accumulate a certain number of service hours for graduation. Volunteering during the summer is a wonderful way to give back and chip away at the required hours. And, your child will be practicing their Executive Functions skills. For example, time management and planning will be necessary when they receive the schedule of when they are to be at a particular location. If there is any fundraising going on, of course they are now applying the math concepts referred to above.
Cooking. Encourage your child to select a recipe and start cooking. Of course many recipes are loaded with fractions: 1/2 cup of this, 1/4 cup of that, etc. and elapsed time. What time will the peanut butter cookies be done? Most kids will need your support with hot stoves and ovens, so pick a day when you have enough time to properly complete a family favorite recipe.
Create a board game. Many kids have played board games such as Monopoly or Sorry or Candy Land. Encourage them to make their own game. With easy-to-obtain supplies such as construction paper, markers, pens, and or crayons, challenge your kids to develop a game that the whole family can play. Maybe they “borrow” ideas from existing games and add a new twist.
Join a public library reading challenge. Many public libraries hold reading activities and challenges for school age children during the summer. The Maitland (Florida) library offers one such example. Prizes are awarded by minutes read, which can be tracked on a reading log. There is even a challenge for adults!
Take a virtual tour and or check out museum exhibits. While in-person visits to local museums are usually the best for kids, the rest of the world is out there waiting to be explored virtually. Without leaving the comfort of your home and your child’s favorite chair in the family room, you could explore the Grand Canyon, The Great Barrier Reef, or The National Museum of Natural History.Your destination is only limited by your imagination.
Plant a garden. There are so many great skills and learning opportunities involved in preparing, planting and caring for a garden. If your backyard is not conducive to growing a crop or two, many towns have “community gardens” where residents may use a section to grow items of their choice. This is a summer long – or perhaps longer – activity, so be sure to discuss the commitment necessary for the garden to succeed.
Final thoughts
Like so many things in life, the answer to how your child can have a great summer is balance. No, parents do not need to keep a strict 7-hour school day-like schedule going with hourly lessons written down for child to dutifully complete while you are at work each day. As silly as that sounds, the antithesis of this is also true, meaning you cannot shut down academics altogether for two straight months and expect your child to waltz back into a classroom in August and be ready to go.
Clearly there is a middle ground that will fend off the Summer Slide and allow your child some flexibility and creativity in how they read, write, work with numbers, and ultimately learn over the summer. Whether your child attends a formal summer program, joins a library reading challenge, or heads out on virtual expeditions, reading texts, writing something down and working with numbers in a more problem-solving capacity is their ticket to a productive and balanced summer.
If your child struggles with engaging in academics over the summer, or you have difficulty creating meaningful activities for child to engage in, contact Jennifer Disch at Engage the Brain to discover how a Learning Specialist may be able to work with your child to develop a personal learning plan that promotes all the critical literacy skills necessary for classroom success.