Summer Learning: The best investment in your kid's future
Summer without school isn't what it used to be. For too many kids, summer means being left alone, looking for something to do. The problem goes beyond boredom. Kids who spend summer without opportunities for new experiences go back to school in the fall knowing less than they did when summer began.
Whether you call it The Summer Slide, or the Summer Learning Gap, it's a serious problem for kids, families, and communities, and it hits low-income families the hardest.
Kids who go to camp, visit museums, go to concerts, sing, dance, and have quality time with parents and caregivers actually maintain or increase their academic skills. Kids who don't have those options will fall behind, and may never catch up. By fifth grade, kids without summer learning opportunities can fall three years or more behind their peers. The prognosis is poor, and statistically, these kids are looking at a lifetime of economic disadvantage that can continue for generations.
Fortunately, there’s a ready-made solution close at hand to stop the Summer Slide: The public library. Libraries aren't babysitters: As in any public space, parents need to supervise their kids at the library. But the trip is well worth it. Kids, parents and caregivers can find free activities, events, books, music, computers, and ideas at the library. Parents who take their kids to the library are poised and ready when they hear that all-too-common summer lament: "I'm BORED, and there's nothing to do."
Libraries Help Kids AND Parents Keep Learning
Library summer programs have long been a mainstay for parents who know how libraries can keep kids active and interested. A couple of hours at the library can be a voyage of discovery for anyone. Beyond new books, skilled librarians tell enchanting stories, and host special events like puppet shows and other activities for kids throughout the summer.
A bit of tweaking can turn those special events--and even at-home activities--into science-based lessons in disguise, keeping kids' school skills sharp all summer.
Whether we realize it or not, science is part of everyday life. Pointing out the science connections to everyday phenomena helps even the youngest children begin to understand that the things that interest them also tie in to the things they learn in school. That awareness is a crucial part of learning how to learn. At the library parents can find the guidance they need to help keep their children learning and loving it.
Taking the Strategic Approach
Libraries are natural knowledge-boosters, especially when they take that extra step to raise awareness of the science connections by incorporating STEM-based curriculum goals (STEM + Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) in their summer activities. And kids will still have a great time even though they’re learning academic skills in the process.
Through a detailed research project for the King County Library System, the Metropolitan Group developed the King County Library System's summer learning program strategy, called Thinkology: The study of fun. Their strategic approach to summer programs turns juggling into a lesson in physics, as the performer explains tricks in terms of friction, center of mass, gyroscopic stability, and gravity. Collecting flowers becomes an introduction to botany by naming petals, leaves, stems, and roots. Add a touch of art to botany by drawing or making rubbings of the plants.
Music offers lessons in sound, acoustics, and electronics. Tapping on the table or drums--aka percussion--connects rhythm, math, and poetry. A bowl of rocks in water can be an at-home geology field trip. A pile of blocks or a box of straws serves as an engineering lab. Kitchen activities turn into science adventures, tailored for different age groups. Dousing a bit of baking soda with a splash of vinegar can make a volcano or a rocket.
Most public libraries offer free programs like these on site, plus related activities online, and how-to books and resources to help kids and their parents continue their own summer learning activities at home. Typically, these events are open to all, though some may require registration in advance due to space limitations.
Get Thee to The Library!
Parents who can’t take their kids to scheduled events can visit the library with the whole family, at their convenience, and ask a librarian for suggestions. At the same time, they'll get tips on how to help kids avoid the "Summer Slide" and strengthen their learning skills all summer.
Near Seattle, one new patron and her young daughter told the librarian: "I feel like I was blind and now you are showing me the path to help my daughter learn. Thank you to the King County Library and their Summer Learning Program!"
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Creating Continuous Learning Communities
Ignorance is expensive. In an April 2009 report, McKinsey & Company likened the national cost of educational underachievement to a "permanent recession:"
"The report finds that the underutilization of human potential as reflected in the achievement gap is extremely costly. Existing gaps impose the economic equivalent of a permanent national recession—one substantially larger than the deep recession the country is currently experiencing. For individuals, avoidable shortfalls in academic achievement impose heavy and often tragic consequences via lower earnings, poor health, and higher rates of incarceration."
One approach to changing this bleak outlook is to make learning a community priority. Rather than placing blame for underachievement on teachers, schools, or kids, creating a positive, community-wide focus on continuous learning provides a supportive environment where curiosity and inquiry are the norm. Collaboration is key.
Partnerships
When libraries collaborate with schools and other learning institutions and service agencies, summer learning becomes a community-wide adventure that benefits kids, parents, and participating organizations.
In western Washington, the King County Library System's summer learning program features presentations by partner organizations with strong educational outreach components, including Pacific Science Center, Imagine Children's Museum, KidsQuest Children's Museum, Burke Museum, the Museum of Flight, and Seattle Aquarium. Library patrons can "check out" passes to visit the museums.
Libraries can partner with community centers, parks and recreation departments, social service agencies, and summer nutrition programs to expand their outreach, increase pariticpation, and enhance effectiveness across the community.
Summer Learning Day: A nationwide focus on summer learning
The Urban Libraries Council and the National Summer Learning Association invite communities across the country to add their summer learning activities to a National Summer Learning Day Map. Their alliance emphasizes the importance of summer learning, and the key role of public libraries as summer learning centers. It's a great way to get started on the path toward community-wide focus on learning.
Additional Resources
KCLS Summer Booklist for grades K-6 Browse this list for ideas on science-based books for kids ages 5-12. If they aren't available at your library, ask about Interlibrary Loan.
Science Kids at Home offers a variety of home science experiments parents can do with their kids
Getting kids involved in summer learning — city by city, town by town, student by student, Washington Post
