Tag Archive: summer slide


Keeping Reading Skills Sharp All Summer Long

Filed Under: General by Briana Kerensky — Leave a comment
July 24, 2012
summer reading billboard

Teachers assign summer reading to make sure students stay engaged in learning until they’re back in school. Photo courtesy San Antonio Public Library via Flickr.

Throughout the month of July, we’ve talked about the “summer slide” and how being out of school can impact students’ ability to retain knowledge gained in the classroom. We’ve also talked about things parents and mentors can do to alleviate summer brain drain, and even created an awesome Pinterest board with lots of fun and creative ideas. But there’s one aspect of summer learning that Beyond the Classroom has yet to discuss: assigned reading.

When most students think about assigned summer reading, it’s with an internal (or audible) groan. But when teachers give out lists of books at the end of the school year, it’s not with the intent of torturing students. Rather, it’s an effective way of making sure students stay engaged in learning and keep their language skills sharp until they’re back in the classroom. For students who don’t normally enjoy reading, or have trouble doing so, assigned summer reading ensures that books stay in their hands. And having a couple of months to complete the assignment means less pressure, so kids may actually enjoy reading and discussing the books with their families or friends.

Some of my favorite books were given to me as summer reading in high school. To this day, I absolutely love taking The Poisonwood Bible and Snow Falling on Cedars to the beach, two books I would never have read if I had not been assigned them by a teacher.

What are some favorite books you learned about through assigned summer reading? Please share them in our comments section!

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Stopping the “Summer Slide”

Filed Under: Families, Research by Briana Kerensky — Leave a comment
July 10, 2012

Communities In Schools of the Tecumseh Area, Mich. is teaching kids a life skill this summer by leading a bike safety program.

While it can drive parents crazy to have their kids home all day, students love summer break. No getting up early to catch the bus, no homework and no sitting in a classroom all day. Summer break means freedom from academic responsibility and lots of fun.

Unfortunately, all that time away from the classroom tends to have a negative impact on students once school starts up again in the fall. Known to teachers as the “summer slide,” students tend to forget a lot of what they learned while they’re away from school for so long. Instead of learning new material when they return to school in the fall, many students end up needing to spend the first few weeks of the school year reviewing and having to catch up. Studies from The Johns Hopkins Center for Summer Learning reveal that the average student falls two months behind in their reading skills during the long break.

The summer slide is a major contributing factor to the achievement gap affecting students living in poverty. According to The Johns Hopkins Center, students who live below the poverty line have less access to summer educational opportunities, and are therefore more likely to forget even more information than their more affluent peers.

Fortunately, there are ways we can all keep students learning over the summer. Across the Communities In Schools network, many of our affiliates offer programs that are both educational and take advantage of the fun this sunny season can offer. Whether it’s summer camp, kayaking trips, tending a community garden, swimming lessons or visits to college campuses, we make sure that our students are learning valuable life skills that they will need to succeed in school and in life.

If you’re looking for a way to prevent the summer slide and make sure your child keeps learning, organizations like Scholastic and The Southern Poverty Law Center offer some great free and low-cost ideas. Take advantage of your student’s open schedule to go to the zoo, museums or on a nature hike. Even something as simple as cooking together offers a great opportunity for a child to learn science, analytical reading and math!

Summer is a great time for students to read books that interest them without the stress of grades, testing and deadlines. Anindita Basu Sempere, executive director of TheWritingFaculty.com, advises parents, guardians and mentors to encourage children to take advantage of not having homework and foster a love of reading. She recently shared some tips on preventing the summer slide with The Washington Post.

For even more great ideas, we built a Pinterest board full of games and activities that promote summer engagement (including some great ones for rainy days). Feel free to repin them and share with friends!

For children, summer is supposed to be fun and carefree. But that doesn’t mean that learning needs to stop. By putting the brakes on the summer slide, we can start to close the achievement gap and make sure that every student starts school in the fall ready and excited to learn new material.

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What We’re Reading

Filed Under: Race Equity, What We're Reading by Briana Kerensky — Leave a comment
July 6, 2012
student reading

Summer is an excellent time to foster a love of learning in students.

Washington Post: Did you know that by not being in school, the average student will lose up to one month of instruction over the summer? For children with limited access to books, that loss can be up to three months. This puts them at a distinct disadvantage before they even walk into the classroom on the first day of school. Anindita Basu Sempere, executive director of TheWritingFaculty.com, recently shared some tips on preventing the “summer slide” with The Washington Post. Summer is a great time for students to read books that interest them without the stress of grades, testing and deadlines. Sempere advises parents, guardians and mentors to encourage children to take advantage of not having homework and foster a love of reading. She also lists some great ideas to get students involved in creative and analytical writing.

When school is out for summer, many Communities In Schools students lose their only access to reading materials. Oftentimes their families cannot afford books, or they lack transportation to local libraries. Across the network our affiliates work hard to make sure that students continue reading and learning during the break to prevent the “summer slide.” Communities In Schools of Atlanta, for example, has been able to give out 96,000 new books to children in their community.

Education Week: While 2012 has been a year of scholastic growth for many student groups, a new study reveals that students of Native American and Native Alaskan descent are in an academic rut. According to the 2011 National Indian Education Study, released on July 3 by the National Center for Education Statistics, achievement gaps have remained stagnant for Native American students in reading since 2005. And in mathematics, the gaps have actually widened.

While these new statistics are dismaying, they do give educators and nonprofit organizations like Communities In Schools more insight into what needs to be done to help these students succeed. During the 2009-2010 school year, only one percent of the students Communities In Schools served were of Native American descent. But we work hard to make sure that these students, and all of our students, get the resources they need to succeed.

Hollywood Reporter: When British makeup artist Lauren Luke teaches people how to apply cosmetics in her wildly popular YouTube videos, she usually does it with a smile and flair. But in her latest video, “How to Look Your Best the Morning After,” she looks upset and nervous. That’s because this time she teaching her YouTube subscribers how to cover cuts and bruises that an abusive partner or parent may have caused.

A powerful PSA for the nonprofit organization Refuge, “How to Look Your Best the Morning After” encourages victims of domestic abuse not to “cover it up” and to get help immediately. According to the National Coalition for Domestic Violence, an estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year. Thirty to 60 percent of perpetrators of intimate partner violence also abuse children in the household. Communities In Schools site coordinators are trained to recognize the signs of domestic abuse, and will immediately help students by contacting child services and social workers, organizing counseling sessions, and more.

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