The school year is coming to a close in just a few weeks. You are probably looking at summer camps and swim lessons for your child. Maybe planning a few family vacations. But have you planned anything to make sure your child does not fall behind this summer?
The Summer Learning Loss
On average a student losses about 6 weeks’ worth of material they have learned in school over the summer break. There is even a larger loss in mathematics than in reading. Why is this happening? Well, as with any skill, if there is a break in learning and practicing what you learn, the skill will fade. The longer the break the worse the skills fade.
Imagine learning to play the piano or guitar. If you stop practicing for one month or two, when you return to your instrument you must relearn skills you once knew. The time you spend relearning skills could have been spent learning something new and advancing in your instrument.
The exact same thing happens to children who take “a break from school”. Even during one month of not doing academic activities, your child will lose about three weeks’ worth of what they’ve learned in school.
The Loss In Math
There is a larger loss in mathematics because there is less of a demand from schools to continue in math over the summer. Every child receives a summer reading list from elementary to high school. Most even require some analytical writing assignment that is paired with the books your child reads. However, few schools require a summer mathematics assignment. It is for this reason that many schools and teachers spend, on average, two months of the school year re-teaching materials.
Why Should You Care?
Time that can be spent teaching your child new material and even getting them ahead of their classmates is wasted relearning material. When your son or daughter does not continue to learn over the summer they will fall behind year after year. The summer learning loss starts as early as kindergarten.
Every year, every summer, your child does not continue in their academics, they fall about 1 to 3 months behind their peers. By the time they reach 5th grade they are already a full year and a half behind classmates who have been taking advantage of summer learning programs.
The students, who have been learning and growing every summer, are more likely to be put into advanced placement classes or even moved a full grade level a head. Where as a child who has not been taking advantage of summer learning programs will most likely be held back a grade in later years because they have fallen so far behind.
Stop the Loss
Summer learning loss is easily prevented. The sooner you start taking care of your child’s summer education, the better. Genie Academy’s reading and math programs are the place to start.
A current Genie Academy student will be able to take part in all new reading and writing workshops, math competitions, and even a computer programing course. These courses will be in addition to the substantial enrichment programs Genie Academy offers to all students year round.
The advancement these students have made in even just a year is remarkable. Imagine the impact Genie Academy will have on your child. Gifted and Talented programs, the President’s Award in Excellence, and high honor roll in all subjects are just a handful of things you and your child will take away from Genie Academy’s program.
Sourced through
https://www.brookings.edu/research/summer-learning-loss-what-is-it-and-what-can-we-do-about-it/
