Monfredo: Parents, Beware… The Summer Slide is Back… Need Assistance? Read This Column

Sunday, July 05, 2015

John Monfredo, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

How many of you have ever heard of the “Summer Slide”? Well, if you’re a faithful reader of this column for several years you know the importance of summer learning. Since I retired as a principal I have been alerting the public to the dangers associated with the “summer slide.”

I believe that summer can be the enemy of the school teacher for many students forget what they have learned in math and they stop reading. In the case of those students with limited English skills, many lose their newly acquired vocabulary. Please remember that the summer slide is real, for our schools see the decline in reading and math achievement just from being away from school. Often, it is the students who can least afford to lose the reading gains they’ve achieved during the school year who fall the farthest behind when they return to the classroom after a summer break from the formal school instruction.

That’s one of the reasons why through “Worcester: the City that Reads” my wife and I have collected over 275,000 books in ten years for our children in Worcester. Children living in a family with financial challenges lack books in their homes and this poses the greatest barrier to achieving literacy.

If you compare the summer slide to sports one gets the picture. Just like playing a sport, Reading and Math are skills that must be practiced. When a child spends hours a day hitting a baseball, swimming, shooting hoops, they will progress. But say he then stops hitting balls for three months or takes a few months off from swimming. Will he hit a ball on the first swing? Will he swim as efficiently as before? No, but if he practices a few times a week, will he be able to regain the previously learned skills relatively quickly? As the old saying goes, “If you don't use it, you lose it.” Thus, it’s important to keep your child’s mind engaged over the summer so he will not fall victim to the summer slide.

Researchers also point out that summer learning loss can be cumulative over time, and it leads to increased dropout rates among those students who have fallen behind. In addition, missing out on summer learning is as harmful to children's physical health as it is to their academic health, because students who lack access to summer learning opportunities are less likely to be physically active and more likely to spend their days watching TV and eating junk food. These sedentary behaviors are contributing to America's exploding childhood obesity epidemic.

Well, you get the picture and yes, we need to do something about it! This column is the first of two on the “summer slide.” This week I will focus on reading loss and what you as a parent or a care giver can do stop it and next week math will be the focal point.

First the best buy in this community is a visit to the Worcester Public Library for it’s free and the library opens the door to learning. Also, libraries give out free or low cost passes to museums, the zoo, and other places of interest. They also sponsor a number of reading or other learning programs during the summer months. During the month of July they already have programs such as “Reading Aloud to toddlers and infants,” and opportunities for the children to sign up for many special reading programs.

For parents of toddlers let me emphasize that reading aloud to young children is the most important way to get them started on the road to being a successful reader. Read to and with your child as often as possible. This is a way to spending time with your children and if it’s convenient for you read at bed time. Twenty minutes of reading aloud will accomplish more than you could ever measure. It is essential that your children read every day and again as we have been emphasizing the slogan through “Worcester Reads”

"The more I Read,

The more I know

20 minutes a day will help me grow.”

Keep books, magazines, and newspapers in the home and be a reading role model. Be sure to obtain a library card for your child and then visit the library and take books home. Libraries also rent movies and CD’s. A child who is a reluctant reader might be more interested in reading a book once he/she has seen the movie. Comic books are also a great way to get your child to read and build their vocabulary.

If you haven’t done so, enroll your child in one of the 14 elementary summer school sites in the Worcester Public Schools or other community sites in Worcester such as the United Way, YMCA, YWCA, Boys and Girls Club. This way learning will continue during the summer time.

A good home activity is cooking with your children. This is one of the best ways to integrate math, reading and following directions. Let your child design the menu too! Help your child put together their favorite recipes in a cookbook.

How about a field trip to a museum, zoo or local park with walking trails have your child keep a journal about your travels and have him write about how he spends his days in the summer time.

Another home idea … at the refrigerator door, place new words for the week each Sunday and have the use the words in conversations throughout the week.

If you are planning on taking a vacation this summer, you can turn it into a social studies activity. Ask your child to research the destination's history, cuisine, popular attractions, etc. Also, once you reach your vacation destination you can schedule tours of famous landmarks and locations, which will increase social studies knowledge.

How about a Family Night each week? Bring out the popcorn and read a book. Try once in a while to get a book based on a movie. Then, show the movie and see if the book did follow the movie script. Many movies can be obtained at the Worcester Public Library.

Again, be sure that your child has a diary in the summer time and have him write the highlights of his day each evening before going to bed. Other writing activities could be writing a letter to a friend, relative, or even to a member of the School Committee, me! It’s important that your child writes often for the more he writes, just like reading, the better he will become with this skill. In addition, be sure to have your child write about their favorite book that they read this summer and send their essay to me – John Monfredo, 8 Cherokee Road Worcester, Ma. 01606. I will select the winning essays from grades K to three, grades 4 to six, and from seven up. The winners will be rewarded with new books.

I sincerely hope that I have raised parents’ awareness of the importance of supporting their children’s learning in the summer time and have provided some ideas that one can do at home. All you need is to be organized and have the right plan. Consider some of simple strategies in this column for preventing summer learning loss. Parents, you are the child’s first and most important teachers and it is up to you to provide the needed guidance during the summer time. You can prevent the “summer slide” and I have the confidence that you will do it.

Chief of Staff, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the state came down to a 50-50 split. We are hoping for a good split so that we can make sure that both sides are accurately represented, so that when the time comes, we can make a decision as a state.”