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June 2007
How "Summer" and "Learning" Can Go Together
Just because the structure and
demands of the school year end doesn't mean that learning
should stop. Summer can be one of the best - and most fun
- times for children to learn. Keep your child engaged in
stimulating activities; otherwise, he or she could actually
lose knowledge by the time school starts in September.
Educators call this the "summer slide." One recent study
found it amounts to the loss of one month's knowledge in
both math and reading.
But children's learning is strengthened by the very kinds
of things that can happen during summer vacation: more involvement
by parents with their children, more reading, and the stimulation
of new experiences and trips. Summer is actually a great
learning opportunity.
Summer Learning:
What Parents Can Do
Here are some suggestions
for ways to help your child to have fun while learning this
summer:
If you are the parent of an
elementary school student:
- Encourage reading. Visit the library
together and let your child pick out stories or books
to read. Schedule time to read together. Show your child
that you enjoy reading for pleasure.
- Help your child plant a garden or
a window box. Let your child pick the seeds or seedlings
and read the instructions. Set up a chart for care of
the plants.
- Do some exploring while you're having
a picnic or at the beach. Help your child examine rocks,
leaves, insects, shells or fish. Visit the Zoo, the Aquarium,
or the Science Center.
If you are the parent of a middle
school student:
- Encourage reading. Let your child
select the books that interest him or her. Have a family
discussion over dinner about the books you each are reading.
- If you're planning a trip, sit down
with a map and show your child where you will be going
and the places you will pass through. Figure out the mileage
and travel expenses. Identify and visit historic places
or attractions that provide opportunities for enrichment.
- Let your child help you cook from
recipes. Plan a menu and shop for ingredients. Lots of
chances here to reinforce math skills like fractions and
measurements.
If you are the parent of a high
school student:
- Encourage reading and writing. Most
high schools require summer reading. Show an interest
in the books your child is reading. Suggest journal or
letter writing; your child may even consider writing a
poem or short story.
- Plan family game nights. Let your
child invite a friend or two. Select games that require
thinking skills and strategic moves.
- Encourage your child to volunteer
for a community cause. And if your child has a summer
job, help him or her develop a budget and savings plan.
 The
next time your child says – “I’m bored!
What can I do?” – be ready with a list of activities
that meet the test of “fun-filled and mind-expanding.”
For more ideas, go to the Center
for Summer Learning at www.jhu.edu/teachbaltimore/activities/index.html.
Summer
Learning
Facts For Parents
DID YOU KNOW?
Children experience a “summer
slide” in achievement.
Researchers have known for many years that children tend to
slip backward in academic knowledge and skills during summer
vacation. Students’ achievement test scores in the fall,
for example, tend to be significantly lower than their scores
just months earlier in the spring. Educators call this the
“summer slide.”
One study concluded that a typical child loses about a month’s
worth of combined knowledge in reading and math during the
summer. (Source: Cooper
et al., 1996, cited in Borman, Benson & Overman, Families,
Schools, and Summer Learning)
Non-academic summer activities can stop the "slide."
Children don't have to engage in "school" activities in
order to learn during the summer. One study found that students
who took a trip alone showed more growth in summer achievement
than those who didn't take trips. The study also found that
the more children read and visited the library during the
summer, the greater their achievement gains.
(Source: Heyns, 1978, cited in Borman, Benson &
Overman, Families, Schools, and Summer Learning)
Reading is the single most productive summer learning
activity.
If there is one summer activity that benefits a child's
achievement more than any other, it is reading. In research,
reading shows the strongest relationship to children's summer
learning.
(Source: Borman, Benson & Overman, Families,
Schools, and Summer Learning)
When parents watch more TV, children achieve less.
It's well known that children who watch a lot of TV tend
to achieve less. But a study also shows that the more TV
watched by parents, the less their children achieve. In
the study, parental TV watching tended to take away from
the time parents spent reading to children.
Children whose parents watched less TV and read to them
more showed greater growth in both reading and math.
(Source: Meyer, 1997, cited in Borman, Benson &
Overman, Families, Schools, and Summer Learning)
Out-of-school time is a dangerous time for unsupervised
children.
Studies show that children who are not supervised outside
of school hours are more likely to use alcohol and other
drugs, smoke cigarettes, be involved in criminal and other
high-risk behaviors, receive poor grades, and drop out of
school than children who have constructive, supervised activities.
(Source: Fairchild, Summer Learning Loss: Research
& Interventions, Center
for Summer Learning, 2003)
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