education
Preventing Summer Amnesia
By Stacy DeBroff
For most students, summer is a three-month-long
vacation for the brain. Here are some great tips to keep your child’s mind
sharp throughout the summer months, without them even knowing it!
Preventing Summer Amnesia
Kids think “school’s out, summer’s here, don’t bore me
with anything intellectual!” Teachers complain about spending the first two
months of school reviewing material forgotten due to summer learning loss.
There are two major ways to counter this summer amnesia as a parent.
Make sure your child doesn’t see books as foreign
objects collecting dust on the shelf. Most library staff recommend great
thrillers and adventure books, so pick an exciting and challenging book to
read aloud together, even with a middleschooler, as it increases vocabulary,
improves his listening skills, and stimulates his imagination.
Set and stick to limits on TV, video, and computer
games: just as you do during the school year. And remember that even comic
books and magazines beat reading nothing at all!
It’s never too late to add some fun, intellectual activities to your summer plan.
For example: Visit a local museum, going to the gift
shop first to buy four postcards of exhibit items and turning the visit into
an adventurous treasure hunt; or cook together with your child, even
doubling recipes, as each step involves math and science.
Jump Starting the Fall
We are shockingly already into June; and before you
know it, the first day of school will be here with all the unresolved
academic and social issues of last year coming back into play.
Take the next six weeks to craft a detailed two-page
letter about your child for next year’s teachers. Teachers swept up in the
tumult of a new school year so appreciate getting insight into your child:
everything from passions outside of school to intellectual interests and
interpersonal dynamics. Think of this as your summer homework.
Watch any negative comments to your child about this
coming year’s teachers, such as “I heard your teacher Mrs. Smith for this
coming year is... very strict or not very good or very demanding...”
Teachers say these comments ultimately get back to them in the classroom in
the form of a disrespectful behavior, as it does not take long for your
child to feel the same way about the teacher as you do.
Encourage increased independence and responsibility at
home this summer: your child will apply the same qualities to his education.
Learning to pick up after himself and keep track of his stuff this summer
will prepare your child for the self-reliance teachers look for.
Be on the lookout for summer stories your child will be
asked to share in September and have your child dabble in summer creative
writing, capturing exciting details while they are fresh.
Differences Between Teachers & Parents
Teachers want to collabarate and parents want to
advocate, which teachers in turn think as wanting to agitate.
Teachers want the opportunity to work things out,
taking time to figure out an issue, such as why a child struggles
academically or thinks the teacher hates him, while parents feel aggravated
and want immediate action and a fast, definitive resolution when a big
problem presents itself.
School administrators and teachers often fear increased
parental vigilance. Many teachers would prefer to shut their classroom doors
to keep parents away rather than be overwhelmed by criticism, demands,
incessant meddling, and complaints to the principal.
The Ideal Level of Involvement
We parents find it difficult to strike the fine balance
of advocating for our children in an informed, strategic manner without
micromanaging details to the point where our children lack the confidence to
tackle problems independently. Ideally we intervene as facilitator not
meddler, homework consultant not co-participant, and enabler not controller.
Stacy DeBroff is author of “Sign Me Up!” and runs the
website MomCentral.com.
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