How Your Kids Can Avoid Summer Brain Drain
May 09, 2017I can’t believe it’s May already. Like many parents, I start planning for the summer as the school year starts to wind down. Working from home, I tried to let my kids stay home for a few weeks last summer. After a week of fights with Barbie dolls as the weapon of choice, meltdowns in the middle of my conference calls, and almost being decapitated during a spontaneous pillow fight, I gave up and started looking ways to survive my kids being out of school for the summer.
I wanted to prevent the “summer brain drain” when kids can lose over two month of learning over the summer, so I focused on reading programs. Local libraries have excellent free summer reading programs and companies such as Barnes and Nobles, Half Price Books, and even TD Bank offer reading programs as well. The Balance has a great list of summer reading programs that they are currently updating for 2017. Contact your local bookstores and consider using it to find free local programs in your areas.
Some schools offers summer academies, which offer programs for students from struggling to gifted. Depending on your school system, the programs may go from elementary to high school. Even better, the programs last a full school day and may be free.
For those of your who may want a more focused reading/academic program, check out your local college for summer reading programs. Some of these programs that go from entering kindergarteners to 12th graders. They are typically conducted once a week for about 2 hours with a reading assignment to complete between classes. Learning Centers such as Sylvan Tutoring, Huntington Learning Center, Kumon offer comprehensive summer programs and others, such as Mathnasium, focus on math.
Summer reading/academic programs are one of the easiest ways to distract your kids in the summer. Depending on your budget, you can find everything from simple programs at little to no costs to more comprehensive programs. Finding one for your kids can help them start off their new grade a step ahead of the other students and help you preserve your sanity during the summer months.