Summer slide
Liz Atwood talks about keeping her kids engaged during the summer in this week's Tween Tuesday:
Summer is more than half over, and I’m in a full-blown battle against the summer slide—that time when kids lose much of what they have learned during the previous school year.
According to the Baltimore-based National Summer Learning Association, where former Charm City Moms host Kate Shatzkin now works, most students lose about two months of grade level equivalency in math. Low-income students also lose more than two months in reading.
Last week, the cover story in Time magazine was devoted to efforts to overcome the summer slide by developing quality summer learning programs.
In our house, we’ve had some successes and some setbacks. My 9-year-old went to a couple weeks of science camp. The older one managed to read one book in his required summer reading and is plodding through the second.
We visited Colonial Williamsburg, although we honestly spent more time at Busch Gardens and Water Country USA than in the historic area. But the boys did agree to go see Hamlet with me at an outdoor theater. Both said they liked the production, although they thought it a bit long. The younger one’s assessment: "Shakespeare had a lot of paper, didn't he?"
Those are our successes. The setbacks? Five weeks into summer vacation and the younger one is just on Day 12 of the workbook I bought to practice reading, writing and math skills. And the kids are still spending too much time watching TV and playing video games.
How’s your summer going? Do you have any recommendations for keeping the kids’ brains engaged?
If you’re looking for ideas, here are some recommendations from the National Summer Learning Association to combat the summer slide:
- Read with your children every day
- Participate in your library’s summer reading program
- Visit parks, museums and cultural centers
- Practice simple math skills while baking or at the grocery store
- Encourage your child to keep a journal
- Find out what your child will be learning next school year and work on some of those tasks
Comments
I have always been a big reader and would happily read all summer as a student. But I balked at the books I had to read for school because they were always so boring. And workbooks over the summer? Snoooooorrrrrreeeeee. IMO, the key is making it fun so the kids don't realize they are still learning, or don't mind because it's enjoyable.
Posted by: Kayris | July 27, 2010 9:36 AM
Great post, while summer is a great time for kids to engage in extra curricular activities like sports, drama, summer camps etc. Its equally important to ensure that there is minimum learning loss for summer especially in reading and math.
Good online programs in math or reading can help in preparing kids for the next year and strengthening their core foundation concepts.
Online programs can be very interesting and engaging for kids especially if the work is tied to games and rewards.
Posted by: Dan Sherman | July 28, 2010 1:05 AM