BY: KATHY MCDONALD
So, you have packed your lunch and explored your history. It’s now time to take a deep look at summer loss and how to counteract its negative effects. Summer loss refers to the loss of information that kids learned during the academic year after the traditional summer vacation. According to the Summer Activity Book: Creative Learning for Kids “If they do not practice, children lose, on average, more than two-and-a-half months of what they learned in the previous school year- mainly math skills. That’s one day of schoolwork for every weekday of vacation.”
While there are several schools of thought regarding the concept of summer loss from my personal experiences when kids are engaged in learning activities over the summer they fare better in school. The summer months have always been the ideal time to help students that are at risk of falling behind catch up with their peers. As a tutor, I have seen the tremendous positive impact this has on student achievement. Now it is not all workbooks and rote learning.
Farmers markets provide an excellent opportunity to learn about math science, music, and arts. If you walk around your neighbourhood you will see that there is often a plethora of free family fun from free outdoor movies to concerts in the park. Farmers markets are a fun fresh and healthy way for families to learn and have fun together. So simply do a bit of research about such activities in your area. In Brampton, we have our farmers market in downtown Brampton at Main and Queen Streets from 7 am to 1 pm on Saturday mornings. There is also a farmers market at Mount Pleasant which runs on Thursday evenings from 4-9pm rain or shine. Did you know that from 7-9pm in Brampton at Gage Park you can bring your lawn chair and enjoy inspirational music in the park? On Thursday families can enjoy free local music from various bands. Again, this event is free and runs from 7-9pm at Gage Park. This is a great way to expose your children to musical instruments without a hefty price tag. The bands and orchestras that perform are world class. So, do not delay get outside and explore.
I will always promote learning adventures that the family can participate as a whole. However, there is no escaping the individual time and practice that a student needs to put in for themselves. According to The Summer Vacation Activity Book researchers believe that “a fundamental cause [for summer loss] is lack of educational materials in the home. The best solution is to keep kids learning over the summer through rich, motivating and effective educational activities.” My mantra for success in math is a simple one. Ten problems a day keep failure away. Kids as young as three or four can be given simple addition questions for example 1+1=. They can be encouraged to count objects or draw circles on a paper until they can do it mentally. As the students get older the difficulty of the problems will naturally increase.
Math has gotten a bad rap over the years. It is really not as complicated as we think. In attempting to solve any math problem one can only do one of four maneuvers: addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. The machination comes from knowing when to do each manipulation. This is the beauty of practice. The more you practice the more one’s math skills increase. I remember speaking to a reputable professor of medicine from McMaster University who declared “the hardest part of medicine is getting into medical school”. This cardiologist said he could teach someone to operate on hearts that have never been to medical school. One would be exposed to so many permutations and combinations of heart abnormalities that one will be able to operate on any heart. This example illustrates that if one practices any skill adequately they will eventually master it.
The dollar store is a good starting point for finding reasonably priced workbooks and teaching aids. There are also many department stores as well as stores that sell educational supplies and resources. Parents, you can even get creative and time permitting, make up 10 questions each day for your children. If children are learning French encourage them to select French as their language of choice from the menu selection. Instead of watching Frozen 10 times in English let the kids try it in French. They already by this point have a good idea of the dialogue so it will give them an opportunity to be exposed to the language and they will be able to follow along with the movie the 11th time around. They can also put on closed captioning in different languages too.
Never ever stop learning. Be committed to be lifelong learners. Your brain craves any opportunity to have its synapses fired up. The adage if you don’t use it you lose it holds true especially for the brain. See all adventures as learning opportunities as well as encourage your children to develop a great work ethic by doing some academic work each day. So, journey with me as we strive to make our children their best versions of themselves.
I would also like to strongly suggest that while you participate in some of these incredible adventures, don’t forget to try and minimize “summer loss”. According to a Harvard Education twitter feed “on average students lose about 2.6 months of math learning over the summer” The suggested the following four tips to help beat the summer math slump. They are as follows: highlight math in everyday activities, read short math stories together, play math games and find small ways to practice math at home. Next week I will be providing ample ways to make learning fun over the summer holidays. So, continue journeying with your children or members of your “village” over the summer and explore your surroundings. Walk Good! Belle Marché.
