by Felicia Hodges
Ahhh, the carefree days of
summer. As temperatures climb, children begin looking ahead to frolicking in
the sun and staying up a little later than normal school nights will allow.
But without the regularly
scheduled instruction that comes with going to school for ten months of the
year, many children lose intellectual ground during summer vacation, especially
if their break is nothing but sun, sand and fun.
“I’ve seen studies that
suggest that the average youngster can lose a little over half of what they
learned in school during the summer months,” says Dr. Thomas Peters, Director
of the Anderson Oconee Pickens Hub resource center for science and math
education at Clemson University in South Carolina. As a result of this,
teachers end up spending the first few months of the new school year reviewing
skills that were learned the year before.
“Young children or children
just mastering a new skill appear to demonstrate the greatest loses during
this...hiatus as they have not internalized the new skills and forget the
strategies they have learned or developed,” adds Beth Strandring, Ed.M who is
the Manager of Education with SmarterKids.com, an online educational store and
resource for parents. “There is usually a larger decline in math skills as
opposed to reading as many children practice reading skills at least a minimum
throughout the summer months.”
Still, parents shouldn’t
assume that reading skills won’t suffer during vacation. According to Ball
State elementary education professor Lawrence Smith, reading does not become
internalized until children reach about grade four. So, if an eight-year-old
third-grader does not pick up a book during July and August, reading progress
won’t just halt but regress.
“If you read at a
fourth-grade level and you never read again, there are studies to suggest that
you will regress to almost total illiteracy,” Smith says. “If children are not
encouraged to, they may not pick up a book.”
How Parents Can Help
Truth be told, a parent is
a child’s very first teacher. To that end, there are loads of things parents
can do to help prepare children for September, but the work should begin way
before in Independence Day.
A few weeks before the
school year ends, ask your child’s teacher about some of the concepts your
child needs to work on during the summer months. For example, if your child’s
second-grade teacher says that multiplication and division are coming in third
grade, you might try to incorporate creative ways of thinking about math into
home life. Having your child help you follow a dinner recipe by measuring out
the ingredients listed or taking him or her to a local softball game to count
the number of times batters hit doubles are both simple, inexpensive ways to
accomplish just that.
Other things to try
include:
1. Taking Your Child
Grocery Shopping - It may take longer, but have your child help find the
groceries on the list by brand name, size or price. This will help with reading
skills, sorting and counting.
2. Reading Together - For
children who are just learning to read, having a parent read to him or her is a
great way to improve comprehension. The child will be better able to
concentrate on the story without stumbling over words that they can’t pronounce
or don’t know the meaning of. For older children, having a scheduled reading
time where everyone in the household reads each week is a good way to show how
enjoyable reading can be and that people do actually read for pleasure.
3. Having Older Children
Work With Their Younger Siblings - By reading to or interacting with younger
brothers or sisters, older kids can improve their reading and math skills as
well. Often, explaining a task to someone younger helps older children grasp an
abstract concept a little better.
4. Visiting Area Museums,
Art Galleries and Learning Centers - Summer is the ideal time for taking a
trip. What better way to incorporate learning into a vacation than visiting a
cultural center or a children’s museum? Many, like the Please, Touch Museum in
Philadelphia or the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey encourage visitors to
touch as well as look.
5. Milking Technology - For
all the negative things said about both television and the Internet, there are
many benefits to using the mediums. There are a host of excellent science shows
that encourage experimentation (like “Bill Nye: Science Guy” on PBS) and
Internet sites that stimulate learning in off-school hours (like
SmartrKids.com). There are also a bevy of children’s literature CD ROMs that
read the story, highlighting the words as the story moves along. Unlike
traditional story books, this can help children learn how to pronounce words
correctly and aid in reading comprehension because they won’t skip over words they
don’t know.
6. Keeping A Journal - Not
only is a journal a good way to keep track of family happenings and activities,
it makes kids transform their thoughts and ideas into tangible sentences and
paragraphs. Writing is a skill that everyone can use, so encourage doing it as
much as possible.
7. Seizing the Moment -
Without being heavy-handed or overdoing it, you can turn even seemingly mundane
moments into learning opportunities. If you and your children spend a lot of
time in the car, play license plate games. Reward the person who finds the most
states or who can add the first two numbers the fastest. Have your little
navigators read highway billboards and road signs to you as you travel, too.
8. Using Your Resources -
Many YWCAs, YMCAs, Boys and Girls Clubs and libraries offer free or low cost
summer literacy or science programs. Lasting anywhere from a few hours to a few
weeks, they are excellent ways to encourage educational activities and
interaction with kids outside of your
child’s normal social clique.
9. Mixing It Up - We humans
are social animals who learn a lot through play and interaction with others.
Summer is a great time for honing developing social skills by having children
interact with both older and younger kids.
“Interacting with older
kids encourages reaching out of the comfort zone to learn to do what the bigger
kids can do,” says Dr. Peters. “Interacting with younger kids offers
opportunity to practice patience and kindness and to teach.”
10. Keeping It Fun - All
work and no play makes Junior a dull boy, which is why parents should remember
that summer still offers a much-needed break for children. Skipping the pool
parties and backyard cookouts altogether could do more harm than good.
“Parents should monitor
their child’s summer activities for fun and enjoyment and creative
presentation,” says Strandring. “It is important that children are not
‘burned-out’ upon returning to school.”
Read the article on NYMetroParents.
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