Summer break is a time of joy and excitement for children, filled with freedom, playtime, swimming, and indulging in delicious ice cream. However, amidst all the fun, there is a significant risk of losing valuable math and reading skills, physical activity, and socialization opportunities.
While students eagerly await their summer vacations, and teachers and parents use this time to recharge and prepare for the upcoming academic year, it’s crucial to recognize that summer break is a period of two to three months spent outside of the classroom. This time away from structured learning can have a detrimental impact on a student’s overall educational growth.
The phenomenon of summer learning loss is a genuine concern for many young individuals in America. Without regular classroom instruction, children tend to forget valuable skills and knowledge acquired during the school year. This issue becomes even more troubling for kids who lack access to high-quality summer activities that keep their hearts, minds, and bodies engaged and active. Beyond traditional summer school programs, there exist numerous opportunities for enriching summer experiences that can help kids retain what they have learned.
Speaking from personal experience, I am grateful that my children had the opportunity to spend their summer vacations in the Adirondack mountains. They engaged in activities like hiking, swimming in lakes, playing chess, and reading Harry Potter books. As a single parent involved in social work and academia, I may not have been wealthy, but I managed to afford summer camp through scholarships. This ensured that my kids continued to learn and remain engaged throughout their break. Unfortunately, children from low-income families often lack access to such enriching summer activities, resulting in significant academic gaps between them and their peers.
As the founding director of Binghamton University Community Schools, I have witnessed the immense role extracurricular programming plays in providing all students with the necessary resources to succeed. Community schools act as a vital link between families and school districts, with summer programs serving as an essential component. By connecting students and families to schools, community schools facilitate access to critical resources that optimize learning, empowering all students to make progress in their education.
When kids return to school in the fall without the benefits of engaging summer activities, they spend considerable time trying to catch up. This detracts from their ability to delve into new concepts that more privileged students had the opportunity to learn. Consequently, the achievement gap between affluent and economically disadvantaged families widens, leaving many young individuals falling behind. Over time, these learning losses accumulate and, by ninth grade, nearly two-thirds of the achievement gap between disadvantaged and advantaged students can be attributed to how they spent their summers.
Community schools play a vital role in mitigating this achievement gap by providing enrichment programs that include music, athletics, outdoor experiences, reading, mentoring, and more. By offering access to healthy activities during the summer, community schools allow youth from low-income backgrounds to keep up with their peers. This, in turn, enables teachers in high-poverty areas to proceed with new content in the fall, rather than having to revisit concepts forgotten during the break. Overall, summer programming has the power to lessen the achievement gap, creating more opportunities for success and breaking the cycle of poverty as more young individuals graduate and become productive members of our communities.
The summer months are crucial for academic success, and by transforming summers into a time of growth and learning, we can make a significant difference in the lives of millions of youth, families, teachers, communities, and society as a whole. Let us ensure that summer is not only a time for freedom and fun but also a time for personal development and educational advancement.
(Laura Bronstein is the esteemed dean of the College of Community and Public Affairs at Binghamton University.)
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