Kids and teachers alike look forward to summer break, it’s a much-needed reprieve from all of the hard work both have put into the school year and gives them time to prepare for the next one so it’s important to learn What Teachers Should Know Before Summer Vacation.
But while teachers spend much of their vacation time planning their educational material, most students are forgetting what they’ve learned.
What can be done to help children remember their lessons during this extended break?
Here are some things teachers and parents should know before summer vacation.
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Table of Contents
Why Do Schools Have Summer Break?
There is a popular story that schools first introduced summer breaks so kids could spend that time working on their parents’ farms.
However, that’s all it is — a story.
While it’s true farmers counted on their children’s labor during the summer, this is not why officials created summer vacations.
In fact, the need for a consistent school calendar urged them to finally create a long break.
Wealthy families would already take their children out of school during the summer to travel and this idea began to spread through the middle class as well.
In addition, no one had invented the air conditioner yet and schools were often unbearable in the heat.
There were also unfounded medical beliefs that inspired the long vacation.
People believed the human mind and body were too fragile to spend 49 weeks out of the year learning as some schools did.
While certain officials wanted to lengthen the school years in some states, they acknowledged that students did not need to be in school during the summer.
Thus the summer vacation became official due to potential funding issues and low attendance.
Summer Vacation’s Effect on Education
While it may be too much for students to be learning for nearly the entire year, the length of summer break does have some adverse effects.
A study from the American Educational Research Association found in their review of almost 40 studies that children’s test scores worsened over the summer.
Kids lost about a month of what they learned while on vacation.
The same research discovered summer affected math more than reading, but math calculation and spelling were negatively affected in equal measure.
They concluded this might be due to how easy it is to practice reading and how many fewer resources there are for practicing math.
This makes sense for the findings on computation and spelling as well.
Kids aren’t typically working on how to calculate and spell while they’re supposed to be relaxing.
While there were no results for different sexes or races, the AERA did identify one consensus — summer break impacted students more as they increased in grade level.
This could be due to the content of the education older kids receive.
While young students learn concepts like how to read and add, those in higher grade levels learn about facts and procedures.
According to the association’s research, children remember concepts more readily than anything else.
How to Encourage Lesson Retention
With all of these statistics, parents and teachers may be wondering how to help their children remember what they’ve learned over summer vacation.
The following tips are ways to keep kids engaged and remember everything they know.
1. Find Enrichment Programs
If parents have the financial means, summer enrichment camps can do wonders for their kids. The right programs can provide a great balance between school and fun. While it’s true that learning all the time might not have as severe of effects as people used to think, too much pressure can burn out children. Make sure these camps have plenty of activities that are both educational and entertaining.
2. Foster Learning Outside of the Classroom
As many have said, students learn more when enjoying what they’re doing.
When kids are really engaged in the material, they’re motivated to keep educating themselves and use what they’ve learned in real life.
These kinds of lessons can also help children develop critical thinking skills, work with others and be creative.
While they’re in school, find classes and lesson plans that inspire students to collaborate and study in and out of the classroom.
This kind of learning will help children bring their education with them always.
3. Space Out Review
The concept of cramming is probably familiar to many former students.
Studying everything all at once right before a big test seemed to prove decent results.
However, an 1885 study conducted by Hermann Ebbinghaus found while this method worked for short-term learning, the memory of what the participants learned didn’t last.
Those in the group that spaced out when they prepared for the test were much more successful.
Children do need a break from learning.
Insisting they spend their entire summer break on math and spelling will cause stress and unhappiness.
Additionally, research has proved this kind of learning is unhelpful.
Spacing out when they go back over what they’ve been taught improves their recall skills.
This is much more effective for test-taking and long-term retention.
4. Use Online Resources
Thanks to the internet, plenty of learning materials are available on tons of websites.
As parents and teachers are trying to find reliable ones, see if there are any reviews or testimonials by those who have used them.
If a child has a different learning style, checking out what other people have said will help find the best resources available for them.
Summer is a time to try out new things, so kids and adults have the opportunity to discover what works best for each of them.
Make Summer Vacation Educational and Enjoyable
Summer is a time to unwind and have fun with family and friends.
But with that relaxation often comes unfavorable outcomes for a student’s education.
Parents and teachers can find ways to encourage learning during summer vacation to avoid losing what kids have learned during school.
