Summer Learning Loss (Seasonal Brain Drain)

The average student loses 2.6 months of knowledge over the summer. In addition, teachers typically spend the first 4 to 6 weeks of school re-teaching material to students. Thus, the term seasonal brain drain emerged to describe what typically occurs to a child’s mind over summer break.

I personally prefer that both my children move one step forward while enjoying their summer break and not two steps back. Our school district has provided us with summer homework and in the past I was noncommittal regarding the completion of it – that is no longer the case.

Since we were on vacation last week, I decided to incorporate summer homework today, which only lasted about ten minutes. My 2nd grade son listed the ordinal numbers (first, second, third …) and did some math problems and my kindergarten daughter practiced writing her upper and lower case letters – she made it to the letter J. Future sessions will be a bit longer – maybe 20 to 30 minutes.

Both of my children will complete their summer homework - reading, writing, spelling and math. I am hoping tomorrow will be better and I will spend some time tonight coming up with some fun ways to motivate my children to spend time each day reviewing these math and reading concepts. It is important that both of my children enjoy their summer, but it is also important that they begin the school year with confidence and the skills necessary to have a successful school year.

In subsequent posts I will share their homework with the hope that your children enjoy stimulating their minds this summer. Some additional ideas on how to spend a few hours a week combating the seasonal brain drain over summer break:

Visit local library.

Perfect place to visit on a rainy day! I intend to head to the library once a week, preferably on the day that they’re calling for rain.

Visit local resources.

Take your child on fun adventures in your community. I am fortunate that I live outside Washington D.C. and the zoo and museums are free. In addition, the Baltimore aquarium is 45 minutes away (unfortunately not free).

Use internet.

Select sites that your school district recommends. In addition, in previous posts we recommended some fun games or better yet play Er-u-di-tion!