"How to stanch your kid’s summer learning loss
A few schools already have. Most are about to. Close their doors on the academic year, that is. And for many students that means that much of what they have learned in the past nine months goes out of their heads like summer heat rising from the blacktop. To offer advice on how to stanch this seasonal brain-drain, “Today” invited contributor and psychologist Dr. Ruth Peters onto the show. Here are some of her suggestions:
Summer will be here before you know it, and if you think those lazy, hazy months should be all play and no work, take a gander at the following statistics provided to me by Ron Fairchild, Executive Director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Summer Learning. (Ron and I recently participated in a seminar in conjunction with Johns Hopkins and Sylvan Learning Centers and he was kind enough to provide this information to me.)
Important facts
Action you can take
What can you do, personally, to help combat summer learning loss with your own kids?
Well, unless you live somewhere particularly remote, there are probably plenty of options in your community — you just need to be a bit creative and think outside the box.
For instance, my local newspaper, every April or May, has a special section listing all private as well as community-funded summer programs for kids. Many of these are eclectic-types of camps involving swimming, sports, crafts and field trips. However, more and more add in reading enrichment or remediation as well as math tutoring over the summer.
In addition to community and private day camps, check out the following options:
What you should do now
Before this school year ends, be sure to check with this year’s teacher(s) to get suggestions for summer workbooks and pleasure books, science activities, etc. He or she will know what will be helpful for next year. Also, you may be able to check with next year’s teacher to get his or her advice on interesting summer activities.
NOTE: This is especially necessary if your child is “on the bubble” (weak in a particular subject, afraid to answer questions in class for fear of being wrong). Summer is a great time to fill in the learning gaps and to begin the next year in a confident manner.
Learn from a vacation
Think of your summer vacation as a teachable moment. It’s sort of like tricking your kids into learning. Stealth learning is a neat way to get your kids reading, doing math or learning geography without them even realizing it!
Let the kids go online to sites such as Mapquest or one of the travel sites to help “research” the journey to and from the vacation site, as well as activities surrounding where you will be spending your summer vacation. Even if you can’t leave town for a vacation, have your child compile a “virtual vacation” by doing some research and downloading pictures of events that he or she would like to take part in. Who knows, maybe next summer they will be able to actually visit the location!
Local learning resources
Don’t forget summer learning opportunities locally, in addition to your library. Check out museums, the zoo, aquariums, concerts and parks that you don’t usually get to attend during the school year. Have them keep a journal (writing skills!) of their activities, and perhaps e-mail friends and relatives about what they are doing (again, stealth writing practice!).
Set some goals
Finally, try to motivate your child to complete five to 10 math problems (from a grade-appropriate workbook) a few times a week, and to read a chapter in a pleasure book several days a week also. Hopefully, the work will be fun (keep it low-level and simple), and the kid will do it for enjoyment.
Or, you can enhance motivation by saying, “You can turn on the television after you’ve read a chapter in your book.” Some parents skip the weekly allowance and reward their children for accomplishing some academics during the summer, by tying their allowance to task completion. You know your kids, use the option that will be most successful.
Dr. Ruth’s Bottom Line: Don’t delay — now is the time to take action for keeping the brain stimulated, as well as the body moving, over the summer months. Keep it simple, fun and stimulating. Let the kids pick out the books to read and the sites to research on the Internet (again, only safe sites allowed!). Learning alone and informally or via a structured group for part of the day or part of the summer will help to prevent summer learning loss and help your child stay sharp for school next year. But, please remember that summer is also for relaxing, taking some time off, and just being a kid. The trick is to balance fun with learning, and with all of the local options available to you, it’s a task worth tackling!
For more resources on summer reading, go to the reading resources pages at the National PTA Wesite, www.pta.org.
PLEASE NOTE: The information in this column should not be construed as providing specific psychological or medical advice, but rather to offer readers information to better understand the lives and health of themselves and their children. It is not intended to provide an alternative to professional treatment or to replace the services of a physician, psychiatrist or psychotherapist.
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