School's out for the summer in Wadena and surrounding communities.
Some people think of summer as a time to let go of schedules, abandon bed times, sleep in or camp out. Older students may use it as a time to get a job and earn a little extra money for added independence in the months ahead. Still others see it as a time to watch TV, play video games, follow celebrities on Twitter and nap.
Unfortunately, summer is also something else. Summer is a time of learning loss for students. As much as one-third of what was learned during the previous academic year in school is lost. The loss is greatest for those who are not involved in a variety of experiences.
Those experiences don't need to be expensive or even have a cost at all. Research shows that the learning gap among students grows during the summer season when kids are out of school and not during the academic year.
The most information and understanding is lost in math skills. This is good information to have because it means families and communities and schools can all be a part of eliminating the learning gap. Parents can target summer as a time to hold learning expectations and to add experiences.
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The Minnesota Association of School Administrators offers some ideas:
Walk, bike or drive to the library weekly. Spend some time exploring the library. Read a little about places in the world, or artists, or something of interest. Ask the librarian to suggest good reading material to bring home.
Read, read, read, together or with others. Each week, write a story about a person. The story can be real or made up. Read it to someone. Use at least a couple of words that aren't familiar.
Use scraps at home to create a model of a dream workplace or home.
Create a healthy meal from food to which you have access. Research and design a $5 meal that is both healthy and tasty. Learn about proteins, sugars, salts and what they can do to your body and how they can be reduced in the foods you eat. Or try a meal that is all fruits and vegetables.
Listen to a type of music you have not listened to before. Make instruments of things you have around the house and produce a song.
Color, paint, or draw with a pencil or chalk what you feel or want.
Parents with babies or preschoolers, count objects, look at books, color, compare sizes of things, review the alphabet and numbers. Read and count, read and count, read and count. Make eye contact and have conversations.
