DOs and DON’Ts of Summer

Studies have shown time and again that on average, students lose approximately 2.6 months of grade-level equivalency in mathematical computational skills during the summer months. This means that when students head back to school in the fall, they spend about 6 weeks reviewing and simply getting back into the swing of things rather than learning new material.

Fortunately, children don’t have to be in a classroom to be learning! In fact, some of the most important lessons in life are learned outside of school. Learning doesn’t have to be formal to be rewarding—even the simplest summer activity can be a “learning moment.”

That’s one of the great positives about summer and time off from school—it’s a great opportunity to gather plenty of life experiences. In the summer, life experiences are almost free for the taking! However, children need to be actively engaged during the summer in order to take advantage of the opportunities that summer can provide.

Here are some DOs and DON’Ts that will help your child avoid common summer learning pitfalls and stay engaged all summer long:

Do

• Get exercise
• Learn something new
• Stay in touch with school friends
• Pick up a book and read
• Join a class
• Go to the library
• Talk about what you are doing and why
• Stay organized
• Keep to a schedule
• Take up a new hobby
• Set a time everyday to write in a scrapbook or journal
• Keep skills sharp with workbooks
• Attend a day camp

Don’t

• Veg out all summer
• Disconnect from normal routines
• Sleep in every morning
• Stay up late every night
• Play video games all day
• Drop all projects
• Stop using a calendar or agenda to keep track of activities
• Stop learning