It is called the summer ‘brain drain’, the time when children are liable to forget all about what they learned in school. But it is not as simple as that. Experts from several American Universities have found out about this ‘brain drain’ and how time away from school during the summer actually effects what children remember or forget.
They found that most students, regardless of family income or background, lose about 2 months of maths skills. (This is American research, results may vary depending on the length of the summer break).
They also found that students who do not have the opportunity to go to camp, go on vacation, or have fun experiences during the summer also lose reading skills during the summer.
However, many children actually gain reading skills during the summer and not just because they read more books (Although that would certainly help!).
The researchers suggested that some children increased their reading ability because they gained more background knowledge that helps them with reading comprehension. Once children are able to decode and decipher the words on the page they need to be able to understand what they are reading. This is very difficult to do if yo have not had any experience of the context in which the words are placed. By having more experiences, experiences they may not usually have, children may actually be increasing their reading ability.
So what does this mean for parents?
First, the loss of math skills.
The researchers say that facts and knowledge based on specific procedures are more easily forgotten than the concepts behind them. That means that children may forget how to add numbers on paper, but, once they understand the concept of addition, they would remember much more easily. This is good news because it is much easier for parents to help their children understand concepts than actual strategies.
For instance, children learn the concept of addition by actually adding things! So, get your child to add the grocery bill, or the number of plates needed on the table – that way he or she will be using the concept and be more ready to relearn the strategies when they get back to school. This is only one simple way of helping children remember math concepts, I am sure you can think of many more.
Next, reading skills.
This is obviously not so much of a problem. Children can read books, or, they can have fun doing things and gaining new experiences! If they can do both, so much the better. It is always a good idea to talk to your child about new experiences, both to help them gain the new vocabulary associated with the experience and to help them make sense of what is happening. That way you are making the new experience doubly useful as a learning tool.
The message is, yes your child might forget some schooling over the summer, but there are things you can do to help, things that are not onerous either for you or your child.
Time to rethink summer school perhaps?
