Summertime, Learning Time: Families and Parent Educators Talk about Ways to Keep Kids Learning Over the Summer

Summertime, Learning Time: Families and Parent Educators Talk about Ways to Keep Kids Learning Over the Summer
photo by: Jayray24
By Eve Pearlman
Action Alliance for Children

As many families know, learning doesn’t just happen when children are in school. It happens every day, as families talk, read, and explore the world around them. But studies show that if kids don’t keep learning during the summer, they can forgot a lot of what they learned during the school year. Children from low-income families are more likely to have “summer learning loss,” but all kids are more likely to lose ground on math and spelling than other skills.

“Over the summer children lose what they’ve learned, if they are not maintaining some sort of brain activity other than sitting in front of the television or playing video games,” says Alferma Crawford, coordinator for Oakland’s 17 Head Start sites, “But if you keep them engaged in something constructive, it’ll be easier for them to continue where they left off when they go back to school.”

Families and parent educators offer tips for summer activities that keep kids learning.

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