Not the summer slide, summer of growth

Ah, summer time.  Most teachers feel like this:

But many families may have mixed feelings about the long summer days.

They're grateful for the break from school, but they may have some wonderings:  what do the kids do with so much unstructured time?  Will my child maintain what he learned over the past school year or will he regress? 

While there is a healthy debate between researchers and educators regarding the summer slide, as teachers and caretakers, we know that students benefit from structured activities to ensure they continue their overall growth.  Repeated intentional practice ensures that skills -- any skills -- are solidified as habits.  These habits will allow for an easier transition to the next grade level.

This does not mean that the whole day or even the majority of the week needs to be structured.  Make a schedule that meets the needs of your child and your family culture.  Which means your family's schedule will look different than my family's schedule.  Summer is a wonderful opportunity for children to play, socialize, be bored, and explore.  Fifteen minutes to an hour (amount of time depends on the age), two to three days a week is a potential option for structured learning, especially if you're spending an extended amount of time at home.  If your family is traveling, structured activities may be once a week in the form of a journal or playing games in the car or plane.  

The most important thing is that families are intentional with maintaining skills and habits.

The significance of vocabulary

This article from Reading Rockets provides an overview of how learners build their vocabularies.

Vocabulary is a critical component of comprehension. Simply put, the more words we can identify and understand with breadth and depth, the better we can comprehend written and spoken language, as well as use them to express ourselves precisely and accurately.

While we learn many words implicitly, through exposure to rich conversations, videos, experiences, and texts, we all benefit from direct and explicit instruction, in which we use graphic organizers, dictionaries, and other activities to build our vocabularies.  

Vocabulary growth can be maintained over the summer with this Summer Word Study Vocabulary Journal.

 

This word study journal is a perfect opportunity to engage in some fun vocabulary instruction over the summer to maintain student growth from the previous grade level.  Great for students who have completed 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades.  Happy learning!