June 2010: Summer Learning, Summer Health
Summer is coming! And with it comes the “summer slide”—have you heard of it? Not the kind of slide you find at the community playground or regional water park, but rather the cumulative loss of academic skills that research has shown can occur over the summer months for many children. (Learn more from The Learning Season: The Untapped Power of Summer to Advance Student Achievement PDF.)
This "slide" disproportionately affects kids who don’t have access to enriching activities and engaging learning opportunities during summertime (such as camp or family vacations), and it contributes to the persistent academic gap between students from wealthier backgrounds and those living in poverty.
Let’s Read, Let’s Move!
The "Let's Read, Let's Move" summer initiative — an Administration-wide effort led by the Corporation for National and Community Service in collaboration with First Lady Michelle Obama and five federal agencies — seeks to combat childhood obesity and summer reading loss by engaging youth in summer reading and physical activity. It also strives to provide access to healthy, affordable food. Find more information and locate an opportunity to get involved: visit Serve.gov – Let’s Read, Let’s Move.
Summer Learning Day
Summer Learning Day 2010 is a national day of advocacy for summer learning programs. It’s a time for service programs to share the value of summer learning with families and schools in their communities and to coordinate efforts around keeping kids safe, healthy, and physically and mentally engaged when school is not in session. Kids can maintain — even advance — their academic and developmental growth at these programs, which leaves them better prepared for the next school year.
Video: Summer Learning in Action (Gilroy, California)
The National Summer Learning Association is the primary sponsor for this event; they host valuable resources related to building and operating successful programs, including program planning webinars (with an archive to those you may have missed), good ideas for parents (including Keeping Kids Sharp Over the Summer), and ideas for Summer Learning Day events, such as:
- Holding a summer luau that includes a hula-hoop contest, an exhibit of young people’s work, a photo display, and an address from a local policymaker, such as a mayor or school board member.
- Creating an engaging event by inviting guests to read to young people in your program.
- Developing a service-learning project to benefit the community (one program encouraged youth to involve their grandparents in the service-learning project!).
Get started with the Summer Learning Day planning kit — it includes:
- Planning checklist
- Draft speaker invitation letter
- List of example events
- Talking points
- Summer learning tips for parents (English)
- Summer learning tips for parents (Spanish)
- Media advisory template
Make it a great summer for kids in your community — get involved, and make sure that summer learning happens!
MORE RESOURCES
Effective Practices
- Building effective programs for summer learning
- Providing summer youth activities
- Planning activities for out-of-school programs
- Creating effective surroundings for out-of-school programs
- Developing positive social interactions in out-of-school programs
- Providing summertime contact in school-based mentoring programs
Bibliographic Records
- The Kid's Guide to Social Action: How to Solve the Social Problems You Choose - and Turn Creative Thinking into Positive Action
- The Teen Guide to Global Action: How to Connect with Others (Near and Far) to Create Social Change
- The Kid's Guide to Service Projects: Over 500 Service Ideas for Young People Who Want to Make a Difference
- 50 Great Make-it, Take-it Projects
- School-Age Ideas and Activities for After-School Programs
- Half a Childhood: Quality Programs for Out-of-School Hours
Other Sites
