Every year at this time, parents begin thinking about and planning for the activities that they want their children to participate in for the upcoming summer. As we are educators, it should come as no surprise that we think that a summer tutoring program is one activity that should be considered for part of your child’s activities.
There are a variety of reasons that we believe summer tutoring is a “no brainer.” A big one has to do with minimizing the “summer slide” in student knowledge that invariably accompanies two or in some cases, two-and-a-half, months away from the learning environment. This is a phenomenon well known by teachers. In fact, many autumn curriculums build in accommodations for it.
We think that a good summer program, where care is taken to ensure that the student gets exposure to learning without making it burdensome, boring or “just like school,” is a great place for students to work on a variety of skills without the pressures of a packed schedule and homework.
What does that look like? Well, for one, in all but the most specific of circumstances, we think it means NO HOMEWORK. The overarching goal of a summer program is to keep young minds working. That can be done without assigning work that needs to be completed at home. The one case where we deviate from that rule is in the area of building vocabulary in preparation for a standardized test like the ISEE. Keeping homework out of the equation keeps the sessions from seeming like “school work” and prevents a potentially negative dynamic from developing when homework goes uncompleted.
Summer options can be designed to accomplish one or more of the following: review/clarify difficult material, preview an upcoming class, improve school and study skills, and acquire new skills and strategies for the upcoming year.
There are also ways to keep the summer slide at bay while a student is home. See our post from last year for a list of tips.
Keeping students from losing ground in their education over the summer is critical to their success come the new school year. There are many different ways to keep kids’ minds engaged and to continue their educations after school ends. The best part is that all of these ways still allow for a fun and relaxing summer, which is equally important for their mental health.
