Summer is almost over and, according to researchers, my kids have by now lost over two months of the knowledge drilled into them last year. Any seasoned teacher will tell you that they spend up to six weeks at the start of the school year reprogramming kids’ brains from the seasonal learning loss/water damage of the summer vacation. A 2004 John Hopkins University study stated (a little more officially) that on average, students lose about 2.6 months of mathematical learning and from one to three months of reading loss—with low-income students experiencing the most significant loss—over the summer break.
With such stats in mind, I researched the recommendations of teachers and “learning experts” to see what I, as a parent, could do over the summer to prevent my kids from needing to play catch-up in September. I found stodgy and uninspired recommendations like “get to know your library,” “take a summer class,” “explore parent-approved learning Web sites,” and “write book reports.” Don’t these experts know that “learning is fun” sounds like “vegetables are delicious” to vacationing kids? Puhlease!
Fortunately, our summer was not a complete brain drain. I discovered a few sneaky ways to keep my kids’ brains at work while they were on vacation, and you know what? Learning really can be fun. (Just don’t tell your kids!)
Explore the Blogosphere
Last summer, I bought my son a beautiful leather-bound diary to keep track of his summer exploits. He was sporadic with his efforts and I ended up nagging him to write entries. This summer, I created a blog for him to document his summer for friends and family and he nagged me for constant access to my laptop. Every outing was a potential blog entry; every interesting view/object was a possible photo or video op to illustrate the blog. With regular enthusiastic writing, kids become reporters of their own lives and get practiced at noticing and recounting interesting details. Also, with an audience, kids make more of an effort to write well, knowing their friends and family will be checking it out. A nice bonus is that kids also get more practiced at typing, photography, grammar, spelling, proofreading, and even layout, while far-away relatives are kept up-to-date with family news.
Tip: Most blogging services have privacy features that allow you to control who can access your child’s blog. Check what restrictions are available before you sign up, and then use them—it is possible to communicate with friends and family without opening the blog up to the entire Internet. Also, creating a blog is a good opportunity to have that necessary Internet-safety conversation with your child.
Make Reports Relevant
I wonder how many kids saw The Dark Knight or Wall-E this summer. Now, how many kids would jump at the chance to write a report comparing The Dark Knight to the rest of the Batman series or a review of Wall-E instead of a report on a book they read last year? (As a reliable sixth-grade source told me, most kids do for summer book reports.)
I’m regretting that I didn’t ask my son’s school if instead of assigning the standard (yawn) book reports over vacation breaks, they might consider allowing kids the option to write other kinds of reports—blockbuster movie reports, video game reviews, a music/sports event report, or even a review of a hotel, restaurant, or a new flavor of ice cream they tried out. Sure, some kids will still choose the book report, but hopefully because they are genuinely excited about a book.
Tip: Have kids act as the family journalists for the summer and “hire” them to write reviews of family functions, recording quotes of ornery old aunts, and troublemaking cousins. Then publish their reports in a family newsletter using a Word template. This can make for very colorful writing and very interesting reading!
