"Nearly a month into the summer, workbooks, pencils and backpacks have been put away. But just because school buildings are closed and classes have ended doesn't mean children should stop learning, educators say.
For years, educators have warned parents about "summer slide," or the regression in learning that can happen to students. During the summer, students can lose about "two months of grade-level equivalency in mathematical computation skills," according to research conducted by the National Summer Learning Association, an organization that stemmed from a center at Johns Hopkins University.
"Summer slide is not, by any means, a myth," said Kimberly Wiggins, a former teacher and director of the Huntington Learning Center in Fort Collins, which provides tutoring opportunities for students.
Christine Hendricks, principal at Tavelli Elementary School in the Poudre School District and one of two principals for PSD's elementary summer schools, said teachers regularly see a decrease in children's learning when they return each fall.
"You can really see when a student hasn't been reading over the summer," she said.
Hendricks said, for her, reading is the foundation for all other subjects, so to continue reading 20 to 30 minutes a day during the summer can have a positive impact in other academics.
"I think it's an issue for all kids, and I've been on my own kids that they need to keep reading," she said.
But Rod Lucero, assistant director of the Colorado State University's School of Teacher Education and Principal Preparation, said he doesn't believe in summer slide because "we don't forget what we learn."
"If we truly learn it, we don't forget it," he said. "It can often seem as though students have forgotten things because they can't automatically retrieve them when asked, he said, but that is because they are being asked school-related questions outside of their usual context.
Students who are asked to do algebra outside of school might struggle more to solve an equation because it's not in the context in which they learned it, Lucero said." ~ Coloradoan.com
For more information on summer education programs in Charlotte, specifically from reading & algebra tutors, please contact The Swan Learning Center.
