Stories

Katherine Slayton Buhler and Stefania Manzo
As the school year draws to a close, many parents begin contemplating how to keep their children engaged during the summer break. You probably have heard of the infamous “summer slide,” a concern that students lose academic progress over the summer months, and you may be planning ways to counteract this over the upcoming summer break. However, recent studies suggest that the extent of summer learning loss has likely been overstated. We’d thus like to focus on the opportunity that summer presents for exploration and growth.

Here are some practical tips for families to keep the learning flame alive during the summer:

• Involve your child in a plan for summer learning: Collaborate with your children to create a summer bucket list filled with educational experiences that align with some of their interests. Coming up with various choices, like visiting the local library, exploring a museum, or undertaking a coding challenge, can help motivate and engage your child.
• Maintain a summer learning workspace: Just as we recommend having a dedicated area at home for homework, maintain this space for summer learning activities. Stock it with writing materials for drawing, journaling, or writing letters, and resources to encourage creativity.
• Make travel a learning experience: If you’re planning summer trips, use it as an opportunity for your child to research the destination, map out routes, and discover the history and culture of the area. Tap into students’ number sense by discussing distance, budgeting, time optimization, or currency exchange concepts.
• Explore the outdoors: Nature offers endless opportunities for learning and discovery. Whether traveling or just getting to a local park or out in your own backyard, encourage outdoor exploration to stimulate curiosity and physical activity.
• Embrace budding entrepreneurship: Encourage your child to explore their interests and talents by pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors like helping neighbors with lawn care, selling something they’ve made, or starting a unique small business venture. This fosters creativity, independence, and financial literacy.
• Keep reading!: All of our students are encouraged to read often over the summer. Have your child set reading goals over the summer and check in on those goals. Encourage reading during downtime by having a book handy in waiting rooms or while traveling; consider a common read that more than one family member reads so that you can discuss it together or listen to an audiobook on road trips. Maintaining reading in your family’s daily routine will go a long way for your child as a learner.

In addition to these ideas, each student from rising kindergarten through eighth grade will receive a summer learning packet and access to digital resources via our Summer Learning Hub in June. While completing assigned work is important, we emphasize a relaxed approach to summer learning. Embrace the freedom to explore with your child and enjoy the learning journey together.