“School’s out for Summer” has long been a popular refrain at this time of the year for both students and staff. It’s great to take some time to relax, recharge, and reflect, but doing only this for the 10 weeks of summer vacation is detrimental to learning. This doesn’t need to equate to ‘summer school’ or an extended or year-round school schedule but should mean that everyone makes opportunities throughout the summer to keep their academic skills sharp.
Many of our staff will actually attend summer school by taking graduate courses, participating in professional development, and in some cases by working with students for much of the summer. Most staff will also continue to assess and revise their curricula and teaching strategies in order to be better prepared for their students when school starts again in late August. Other staff—including administrators, secretaries, support staff, and of course our maintenance, grounds, and custodial staff—will be working throughout the summer to prepare for the return of teachers and students.
Some students will participate in town or district summer activities that will ensure that they practice academic skills (often without knowing, as they’re enjoying different activities that are not seen as ‘school like’). Other students may attend summer camp and partake in different types of activities, i.e., computer, gaming, music, activities at science museums, historical sites and outdoor venues. Some may even opt to participate in online learning in a subject area of interest.
Most students will not have those opportunities for a range of reasons but there are still many other activities that can provide interest, experience, and allow for inquiry-based learning. These can be as simple as discussing the growth of fruits, flowers, and vegetables or as complex as charting the biodiversity in one’s backyard. It may involved adding certain activities to a family vacation such as noting the differences in the environment of the hilltowns verses the beach, visiting museums, historical sites, or national parks (yes there are some national parks and sites in our area), or just estimating the miles, times, and speed of reaching your destination. Even keeping a journal of activities, writing to friends (either online or actually using pen and paper), or writing grocery lists maintains writing skills while reading books, comics, newspapers, magazines or even blogs supports reading abilities.
It’s estimated that up to 2.6 months of mathematical skills and 2 months of reading skills can be lost over summer vacation if we don’t encourage our children in engage in activities over the summer (See https://www.oxfordlearning.com/summer-learning-loss-statistics/). The effort of encouraging the natural inquisitiveness of our children seems a small price to pay for maintaining their academic abilities and helping them stay on track for successfully completing their education and preparing to life in general. Remember that down time is essential to health but too much down time can also be detrimental to our overall ability to move forward and succeed.
