Program helps youngsters avoid the “summer slide”
Jeffco Public Schools has seven locations for students to stay sharp in reading
The kids in the summer reading program at Arvada’s Lawrence Elementary School were clearly violating the “quiet in the library” rule on Tuesday morning as Bollywood music and chatter spilled into the empty hallways.
It wasn’t a rebellion against the strictures of summer school, however, but a supplement to get the students interested in their literacy exercises.
Lawrence is one of seven locations in Jeffco Public Schools that runs a summer reading program for kids who need some extra time to practice their early literacy skills. State funding pays for the teachers and books, but the Jeffco Schools Foundation chips in for extras, like Tuesday’s presentation on some of the many cultures in India.
There’s some debate among experts about how concerned parents need to be that their children will forget what they learned in school during vacation, a phenomenon nicknamed the “summer slide.” Yet even among those who think learning loss is a serious concern, there’s little support for forcing kids to spend a lot of time on flashcards and worksheets during summer vacation.
Kim Ballantyne, assistant director of early literacy at Jeffco Public Schools, said extra reading time during the summer helps kids to catch up with their peers, and the activities set an expectation that school can be fun, while reinforcing reading skills. For
example, they once let kids throw a water balloon at the principal if they recognized a “sight word,” the short words that shouldn’t require sounding out.
“There’s a different feel to it,” she said.
Jennifer McCombs, a director of the behavioral and policy sciences department at RAND Corporation, said low-income children are at a higher risk of losing skills over the summer, because they are less likely to have the means for enrichment activities and tend to watch more television. For them, summer programs could be particularly beneficial, she said.
Parents need to assess whether a program lasts long enough and has enough teachers to be effective, but they also should consider if their children will enjoy the experience enough to not fight them about attendance every morning, McCombs said.
“I think parents are in the best position to evaluate what their children need,” she said.
“Find a way not to be bored”
Paul von Hippel, an associate professor of public affairs at the University of Texas Austin, questions whether summer learning loss is really as big a concern as parents have been told. Studies in the 1980s found that children can lose most of the math and reading skills they learned in the last three months of school, but more recent research found the loss was much smaller, if it existed at all, he said.
Summer learning still has value for children who are behind, because it allows them some time to catch up, von Hippel said. And, of course, there’s no harm in encouraging kids who are on track to explore their interests through summer programs, he said.
“The parents who are most anxious about summer learning loss are the parents whose kids were not at risk,” he said. “I don’t want to be the guy who tells you that you can let your kid watch TV all summer, but I think we need to view anything you do as a positive rather than preventing a negative.”
For parents who struggle to find affordable summer child care, however, debates about what activities best support learning may be irrelevant. Summer day camps through the Denver Parks and Recreation Department range from $450 to more than $700 for programs that run from mid-June to early August. YMCA camps can cost $215 per week, and day programs at universities and private providers can be priced at two to three times as much.
Pamela Roggeman, dean of education at the University of Phoenix, said parents don’t necessarily have to spend extra money if they can bring novelty into their kids’ days, though. When her children were younger, she would take them to what she called the “poor man’s zoo” — a pet store where they could look at and talk about the animals. Parents can encourage younger kids to practice drawing their letters while waiting for dinner at a restaurant, she said, and older kids may respond well to a journal.
“Kids are going to find a way not to be bored. They always do,” she said. “The question is how much say do you want to have in how they do that.”
“The right things to do”
At Lawrence Elementary, the kids kept boredom at bay by dancing, learning a few words of Hindi and decorating blank CDs to serve as holders for battery-operated candles — a safer version of the flames used to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. Some made intricate designs, while others took a different approach and slapped on sparkles as an inner artist dictated. As they finished, some of the candle-holders became flying saucers, complete with sound effects, and others were improvised fidget spinners.
“It’s like it’s hurt and I put a Band-Aid on it,” one boy said as he wrapped his candle with a sparkly strip of adhesive red cloth.
Dr. Sonal Patel, a pediatrician who co-founded an educational enrichment business called ZigZag Explorer and goes around to area schools to teach children a little bit about different cultures, led the kids through the activities. She then sent them back to their classrooms with mini-magazines with reading exercises hidden in the form of word searches, letter-tracing activities and a quiz about what they learned.
“I really want kids to learn through their senses so they’ll remember it,” she said.
Some people argue that summer school doesn’t need special activities or rewards for attendance and good behavior, but the enrichment is key to getting kids to engage in their lessons, said Denise Delgado, the foundation’s executive director.
“These are the right things to do for kids,” she said.
Parents can search summer programs in the Denver area online by type, date and cost through Blueprint 4 Summer, which also has information about financial assistance for some activities.