Summer is here and we all should find opportunities to keep our minds active and continue learning while enjoying all that summer has to offer. Keep in mind that it's impossible to overestimate the role that you can play in your childs education. In addition to being their first teachers, you continue to be your child’s teacher year after year. While a student moves from classroom to classroom, parents and families stay the same.
Summer learning loss is real. It's also counterproductive. When students return in the fall, we spend considerable time reviewing skills before introducing new material in order to help students develop new and advanced skills.
The National Summer Learning Association reports that students lose an equivalent of two months of their grade-level math computational skills over the summer, and students from low-income families also lose the same equivalency in reading achievement. While summer is a time to relax, it is not a time to stop learning.
The key to education -- especially in critical science, and math -- is activity-based learning that makes concepts relevant in real-world, meaningful ways. Summer learning does not have to mean spending all day inside a classroom or library.
Summer activities are filled with real-world learning experiences that you may help convey: A swimming pool can teach students about buoyancy. The ocean waves can be a lesson in gravitational forces. A baseball game can teach about velocity and drag. Parents and children who enjoy baking together can turn the measurements into a math lesson on fractions.
There are websites and apps, sites like Khan Academy and PBS Kids' Design Squad, that provide engaging lessons and activities for kids. Many tools can be accessed at a community library if a computer isn't available in the home. Please visit my website and explore the learning links for these and other websites to keep those brains sharp over summer.
Lastly, you can also take time to encourage your children to read, helping build not only reading comprehension and vocabulary skills, but also knowledge on topics that students find interesting.
Summer learning loss is real. It's also counterproductive. When students return in the fall, we spend considerable time reviewing skills before introducing new material in order to help students develop new and advanced skills.
The National Summer Learning Association reports that students lose an equivalent of two months of their grade-level math computational skills over the summer, and students from low-income families also lose the same equivalency in reading achievement. While summer is a time to relax, it is not a time to stop learning.
The key to education -- especially in critical science, and math -- is activity-based learning that makes concepts relevant in real-world, meaningful ways. Summer learning does not have to mean spending all day inside a classroom or library.
Summer activities are filled with real-world learning experiences that you may help convey: A swimming pool can teach students about buoyancy. The ocean waves can be a lesson in gravitational forces. A baseball game can teach about velocity and drag. Parents and children who enjoy baking together can turn the measurements into a math lesson on fractions.
There are websites and apps, sites like Khan Academy and PBS Kids' Design Squad, that provide engaging lessons and activities for kids. Many tools can be accessed at a community library if a computer isn't available in the home. Please visit my website and explore the learning links for these and other websites to keep those brains sharp over summer.
Lastly, you can also take time to encourage your children to read, helping build not only reading comprehension and vocabulary skills, but also knowledge on topics that students find interesting.