Congratulations! It’s June and your child has been promoted.
Now after a year of working hard, doing tons of homework assignments and sitting in an overcrowded classroom, your child gets to enjoy that little slice of heaven called summer vacation.
Now that summer has arrived, your youngster will get to enjoy two straight homework-free months of fun in the sun, youthful adventure and letting their mind rot away slowly. This summer, your child is at risk of falling behind intellectually.
As a New York City public high school teacher who has taught all levels ranging from 9th-grade special education to advanced placement 11th grade, I’ve noticed a trend that takes place over the summer: students get weaker academically.
Now there is hope for parents. There are a few basic steps you can take this summer to ensure that once the new school year begins, your child will be ready.
- Take your child to the library – When I was a preteen, my parents always made sure that at least two days out of the week were spent at the local library. The air conditioning alone was enough to get to the biblioteca, but the library also had cool activities like board games and book clubs. If your child screams about how he or she doesn’t want to be at the library, force him or her to go anyway, and read a book while you’re there too to model intellectual behavior.
- Go to a museum as a family – Wherever you are, there is probably one or more museums a short distance away. In addition to having pretty pictures or fossils, museums also enrich your child mentally.
- Talk to your children – Seriously. Instead of simply letting your children sit on their culos in front of the television, talk about seemingly adult subjects with them. Your children are going to be around you more, so engage them in questions about careers, politics, the news, and their hopes and dreams.
- Enroll your child in a summer academic course – Many colleges offer academic and recreational courses to children of varying ages. If you can afford one, it can’t hurt. As a child growing up in Brooklyn, my father worked overtime to send my siblings and I to summer programs at Kingsborough Community College; we complained a bit, but we still enjoyed the summer. We all have degrees from universities now, so the coursework must have had a positive impact.
I’m just writing this as a teacher, not a parent, so if you have any other ideas for preventing learning loss during the summer months, by all means post them here.
While summer is a time for our children to relax and have adventures, it shouldn’t be a time for intellectual regression.