Summer reading

Consider programs to slow 'brain drain'; parents urged to make vacation a time to learn

'No more pencils, no more books …"

Lowcountry public schools will ring their final dismissal bell for the 2007-08 school year this week, but educators and other experts say that parents should encourage kids to keep up their learning during the summer.

Kids who don't will experience "summer slide" or "brain drain," a loss of academic skills, they say.

"Most teachers spend the first few weeks of the year reviewing material," says Charleston mom Kay Nichols, a former elementary school teacher who now stays at home with her three preschoolers. "It's easy to tell which students didn't think about school all summer."

The problem was first recognized by New York teacher William White in 1906 and has been confirmed by many studies in the century since. Summer vacation breaks the rhythm of instruction and leads to forgetting.

According to Sylvan Learning, after a month without reinforcement, approximately 80 percent of recently learned information can be lost.

"Summer brain drain can make it more difficult to understand and retain concepts taught at the beginning of a new grade," says Richard E. Bavaria, Ph.D., senior vice president of education outreach for Sylvan Learning. "Fortunately, by engaging children in learning activities over the summer, parents can avoid a 'learning leak' and help prepare and excite their children for the new school year."

Children from lower-income families are hit particularly hard. Johns Hopkins University researchers recently found that 65 percent of the achievement gap between poor and more advantaged children comes from unequal summer learning experiences during elementary school years.

"Summer is a time when the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer," says Ron Fairchild, executive director of the Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins. "If kids aren't engaged in ongoing learning activities, they lose ground academically. We would expect an athlete's or a musician's performance to suffer if they didn't practice. The same is true for our nation's young people."

In fact, some states are beginning to rethink summer vacations. Last year, New Mexico's Kindergarten Plus offered 40 extra instructional days during the summer, and Chicago Public Schools' Keep Kids Learning provided students with six weeks of morning classes in reading, math and science.

The Center for Summer Learning is urging Congress to provide $50 million for a federal initiative that targets summer learning. Last year, Congress authorized — but still hasn't funded — STEP UP (Summer Term Education Program for Upward Performance), which aims to stem summer learning loss by providing five weeks of programs for students in high-poverty communities.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act, which went into effect in 2002, holds states accountable for ensuring that students are proficient in reading and math, but, "if we are to achieve the NCLB goal of having all students reading at grade level by 2014, we must ensure that all students have access to learning opportunities in and out of school. However, when they return to school after summer break, some students are showing as much as a two-month loss in reading ability from the previous school year," according to "Stop Summer Academic Loss," a 2007 paper by MetaMetrics, an education measurement company that developed The Lexile Framework for Reading (www.lexile.com).

Read up

But there is an easy remedy.

"Kids can help keep their learning skills strong by reading four or more books during the summer," says Francie Alexander, chief academic officer at Scholastic, a children's book publisher and distributor.

With all the other things there are to do, how can a parent encourage a child to read during the summer? A 2005 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that children ages 8-18 read an average of just 43 minutes per day. That's less time than they spend watching TV, listening to music or on the computer.

It doesn't take an expert to encourage kids to read, but at the same time, Reading is Fundamental cautions that during the school year, children often have required reading for classes and summer is a time when they can read what, when and how they please. Instead of setting daily time or progress requirements, parents should make sure their kids pick up books for fun.

Children are more likely to read when the experience is entertaining, relaxing and enjoyable, the American Library Association says.

Local libraries try to do that by offering incentives and prizes, such as tickets to local sporting events, as part of summer reading programs. Such programs have been around since the 1890s, according to the association.

"Catch the Reading Bug" is the theme for this year's National Collaborative Summer Library Program reading program for youngsters. For teens, the theme is "Metamorphosis."

Sign-ups began Sunday in Charleston County, and start Thursday in Dorchester and on Monday in Berkeley County, and the programs run through July. They do not require regular visits to the library.

In conjunction with the progam, local branch libraries also are offering story times, puppet shows, musicians, movies, games and other activities throughout the summer. The programs are free, but many require reservations. To find out what's going on at your local branch, visit the library Web sites: Charleston County (ccpl.org), Dorchester County (dcl.lib.sc.us) or Berkeley County (berkeley.lib.sc.us).

There are also countless Web sites that offer book lists and activities, such as the Scholastic Summer Reading BUZZ! program (scholastic.com/buzz), which includes a "reading for charity" program and a sweepstakes for a trip to Disney World.

Major League Soccer is teaming with Summer Bridge Activities (summerbridgeactivities.com) and the Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University to offer "Active Bodies Active Minds," a program to promote both mentally and physically activity. Details are at MLSnet.com/works.

Sylvan created a site, bookadventure.com, that allows children up through eighth grade to create personalized book lists from more than 7,000 recommended titles, take quizzes on books they've read and earn prizes.

"Parents always say summer is the hardest time to make sure their kids have productive things to do," says Fairchild. "Summer should be fun and memorable, but parents shouldn't let it be a break from learning. High-quality summer learning opportunities are fun and engaging for kids, while keeping them healthy, safe and on track in school."

READING TIPS

The following are ways to encourage reading:

1. Scout for things your children might like to read. Use their interests and hobbies as starting points.

2. Leave all sorts of reading materials, including books, magazines and colorful catalogs, in conspicuous places around your home.

3. Notice what attracts your children's attention, even if they only look at the pictures. Then build on that interest; read a short selection aloud, or bring home more information on the same subject.

4. Let your children see you reading for pleasure.

5. Take your children to the library regularly. Explore the children's section together. Ask a librarian to suggest books and magazines they might enjoy.

6. Present reading as an activity with a purpose; a way to gather useful information for, say, making paper airplanes, identifying a doll or stamp in your child's collection, or planning a family trip.

7. Encourage older children to read to their younger brothers and sisters.

8. Play games that are reading-related. Check your closet for spelling games played with letter tiles or dice, or board games that require players to read spaces, cards and directions.

9. Perhaps over dinner, while you're running errands or in another informal setting, share your reactions to things you read, and encourage your children to do likewise.

10. Set aside a regular time for reading in your family: the 20 minutes before lights-out, just after dinner or whatever fits your household schedule.

11. Read aloud to your child, especially a child who is discouraged by his own poor reading skills.

12. Encourage your child to read aloud to you an exciting passage in a book, an interesting tidbit in the newspaper or a joke in a joke book. When children read aloud, don't feel they have to get every word right.

13. On gift-giving occasions, give books and magazines based on your child's current interests.

14. Set aside a special place for children to keep their own books.

15. Introduce the bookmark. Remind your youngster that you don't have to finish a book in one sitting; you can stop after a few pages, or a chapter, and pick up where you left off at another time. Don't try to persuade your child to finish a book he doesn't like.

16. Treat your children to laughter and entertainment featuring books. Many children regard reading as a serious activity. A joke book, a story told in riddles or a funny passage read aloud can reveal another side of reading.

17. Extend your child's positive reading experiences. If your youngster enjoyed a book about dinosaurs, follow up with a visit to a natural history museum.

18. Offer other special incentives to encourage reading. Allow your child to stay up an extra 15 minutes to finish a chapter; promise to take your child to see a movie after he has finished the book on which it was based; relieve your child of a regular chore to free up time for reading.

19. Limit your children's TV viewing to make time for reading. But never use TV as a reward for reading, or a punishment for not reading.

20. Not all reading takes place in a book. What about menus, road signs, food labels and sheet music?

Brenda Rindge can be reached at 937-5713 or at brindge@postandcourier.com.

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