The Summer Learning Advantage - Learning Lab

The Summer Learning Advantage

17 APRIL 2015 | BLAIR POWERS 

When school doors close at the end of the year, most kids (and families) never look back. Summer is finally here. A break from teachers, grades, tests and from the overall anxiety that school causes some children. However, just because school shuts its doors for two months, doesn’t mean that learning doesn’t, or shouldn’t, happen.

Summer school traditionally carries a negative connotation. For many students, it feels like a punishment and imposes a stigma that the only students subjected to summer school were those who truly failed the previous year. But in reality we need to erase the idea that learning only happens 180 days of the year. Learning happens all the time, from learning to tie your shoe, all the way to solving algebraic equations.  In fact, even students who do well in school should continue academic work through the summer to maintain their skills. It can be a little more difficult to work academic concepts into your everyday summer routine, but there are some fun ways to keep your kids’ brains active through the summer.

  • Books on tape are a good way to dig into that awesome book that everyone is reading but might be slightly above your child’s reading level (and even better when the child is actually reading along in a book).
  • Baking – only make half a recipe to make those fractions more challenging, and you end up with a delicious treat!
  • Take a day trip to a historic attraction or museum to see things first hand and get a mini-vacation!
  • Board Games/Family Games – Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, Chronology- good non-electronic family fun!
  • Planning a vacation – Have your child help research places, cost, events and come up with a plan!

Some students, however, really do need a more structured program to make gains, or even just keep up during the summer. These are the students whose classes moved at a pace that was just too fast for them, or those whose school year was so jam packed with activities that they just didn’t have time to focus on certain skills that needed remediation.

Actually, summer is the perfect time to catch up. It is the only time when students can go back and fill in gaps without the entire class moving on without them.

While students may be reluctant to be subjected to that one academic skill that gave them problems during the school year, think of the advantage they will have next August if they put in a little work in June and July. Think of the “back to school” anxiety that may vanish because your child feels more confident and better prepared to return to the classroom. Think about next year, when your child may be one step ahead instead of one step behind. These are the kids who need the summer advantage. Summer can still be a break from the grind, but it can also be productive at the same time!