Newswise — As the school year comes to a close, students across the country rejoice at summer’s arrival. After all, the prospect of no school work for 2-3 months is appealing to even the most studious among the bunch.
But what if the extended summer vacation causes students to start losing what they learned?
Researchers refer to this phenomenon as the “summer slump,” “summer slide” or “summer setback,” according to Laura May, associate professor in Georgia State University’s College of Education & Human Development.
“Play is important and parents wouldn’t want to take too much of that away, but from a literacy perspective, students can experience some learning losses if they’re not practicing regularly,” said May, a former elementary teacher and literacy specialist.
For parents concerned about the “summer slump,” she offers five tips that may help.
1. Get a library card and use it. Parents who take their children to their local library once or twice a week can help them develop a lifelong love for reading – whether that’s by borrowing traditional hardbacks and paperbacks, checking out audiobooks or attending weekly story times. Find your local library at http://www.ilovelibraries.org/.
2. Encourage kids to pick out their own books. Students are much more likely to read if they’re given the freedom to choose their own books, May said. Graphic novels, book series and even fanfiction written about established characters and stories may not look like materials teachers assign in the classroom, but students will still gain valuable literacy skills by maintaining strong reading habits.
3. Find ways to incorporate reading, writing and other skills into daily life. May suggests parents give their kids the opportunity to put the skills they learned during the school year to the test at home. But instead of giving kids writing prompts or other formal assignments, think about realistic scenarios that would happen – writing a grocery or packing list, reading to their younger siblings, calculating how many miles the family will travel on their annual road trip to the beach, etc.
4. Keep a journal handy. Journaling gives students a creative outlet to express themselves and put their literacy skills into practice. Parents can give kids and teens a journal or notebook and suggest they use it to record their experiences over the summer or to start writing their own poetry, stories or fanfiction.
5. Find educational activities nearby. Take kids to bookstores that host local authors and “show them that writers are real people with interesting things to say,” May suggests. Look for similar activities at museums and other attractions in town that could be both entertaining and engaging.
To speak with May, please contact Angela Turk, Director of Communications at Georgia State University's College of Education & Human Development. Her contact information is listed in the contact box above, visible to reporters registered with Newswise and logged into the system.
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