The school year is almost over. My students and I have spent an entire year together learning new concepts and reinforcing old ones. I'm so excited at the level of mastery that students have achieved in terms of critical main ideas and skills. Yet, I know in my heart, that when we return to school that many of these understandings will be forgotten. It's very frustrating! Does anyone else experience this frustration? I read an article on Edutopia by Barbara Dianis that makes recommendations for students and their families to help retain a lot of that learning.
Dianis suggests the following, which can help in many subject areas:
1. Make time for learning
2. Learn and practice affixes
3. Develop math skills
4. Improve reading comprehension
5. Review and build grammar skills
6. Encourage creative writing
7. Focus on specific skills
I can see how these suggestions might seem boring to students. However, if families can think of a way to make them fun, the payoff could be great for students! Dianis says "a nonacademic summer can cause students at every grade level to digress two to three months in their academic skills. Half an hour to an hour set aside daily can help students close learning gaps and perform at higher levels during the upcoming school year. Summer is an ideal time for students of all ages to strengthen their academic skills while still having plenty of time left over for summer activities." I think these suggestions are great and would be very beneficial to both students and teachers!
Dianis, B. “7 Ways to Prevent Summer Learning Loss.” Edutopia.com. Web. Retrieved 13 June 2013. <http://www.edutopia.org/blog/7-ways-prevent-summer-learning-loss-barbara-dianis?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EdutopiaNewContent+%28Edutopia%29>
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