No Sliding this Summer!

- By Michelle Sutton

Have you heard the term “Summer Slide”? If you have not, you are not alone. According to Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, nearly 50% of parents with school-age children do not know what it means. Scholastic defines the “Summer Slide” as a loss of academic knowledge that students can experience over their summer break. In other words, when our children step away from their daily school routine, they can lose a portion of what they’ve learned during the school year. According to an article from Nationwide Children’s Hospital, entitled, Calling All Parents: Do you Know About the Summer Slide? “On average, kids lose a month or more of learning during the summer. The effect is cumulative, and worse for low-income families”. Most parents would agree, they want their children to enjoy their summer break. To expect a parent to recreate the academic rigor their children experience during the school year at home, is not an option. So, what are reasonable ways parents can lessen the summer slide?

Amy Holley, an educator with Columbus City Schools, is an active wife and mother to 5 adult children. She sees the effects of the summer slide witnessing it first-hand through her students. Amy stated, “some subjects, particularly mathematics and spelling tend to exhibit more pronounced declines over the summer, compared to others like reading comprehension.” However, when her children were in grade school, she always made sure they were mentally and physically active during their summer break. “By incorporating a mix of activities into my children’s summer routine, I prevented the summer slide while ensuring they had fun during their school breaks. For example, educational field trips, physical activities, creative activities and daily reading to encourage an opportunity to expose my children to a variety of genre of books”.

Amy is a graduate of Tennessee State University, with a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Arts in Special Education. She currently works for the Fort Hayes Career Center as an Occupation Skills Instructor Off-Site and teaches intellectually delayed students in her classroom located at Grant Medical Center. After teaching for over 30 years, Amy still has that love and passion to help students learn and she also shows them how to lead. You could call her love of teaching a family business. Amy’s father, William J. Anderson, was a beloved educator and principal in the Columbus City School district.

“Without regular academic stimulation, students may forget a portion of what they learned during the school year”, she says. “And if there is deficiency in the students' academics, that even widens the academic proficiency even more”.

Nationwide Children’s Hospital says incorporating learning in the summer doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Take your children to free programs at your local library; go to city parks. Try low-cost hobbies like gardening or learning a new sport. A poor diet can impact a child’s ability to learn, and many children have limited access to food in the summer. Take advantage of free summer meal programs in your community.

In the end, parents must play an active role to help their children lesson the summer slide. Amy adds, “Parental involvement is pivotal in encouraging academic growth, even if it is remedial, to strengthen fundamentals in the students’ subject matter. Access to academic resources (like) the library, has programs and tutoring to continue to engage in educational activities”.