Photo: Alyssa Haywoode for Strategies for Children

The first of a three-part series on summer learning.

It’s summer! The perfect time for kids to eat hot dogs, swim, and, forget big chunks of what they learned in school – especially math.

It’s a problem that parents, teachers, academics, and think tanks have pointed to; and this spring, the Herald-Tribune reported on summer learning loss – also known as “summer slide” – noting:

“While school is out, kids can lose up to two to three months of the skills they learned in the classroom that year.

“And while summer slide disproportionately affects low-income families who can’t afford high-quality summer camps that build on the reading and math skills learned in the classroom, all kids are at risk.”

Back in 1906, William White found the same problem when he conducted a very small study. A math teacher at the State Normal School, in New Paltz, New York, White tested the math skills of 15 fourth and eighth grade students in June and then tested them again in September.

The results? Over the summer kids forgot what they had learned.

“… among fourth graders, the number of right answers fell by twenty-six per cent, with the students taking almost twice as long to respond,” a New Yorker article explains. “The drop-off for seventh graders was less pronounced, but still evident.”

The good news? National Summer Learning Day – an advocacy effort sponsored by the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) — is Thursday, July 12, 2018. So this month, the blog will highlight some creative summer learning programs around Boston — and the nation.

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What makes a good summer learning program?

“When we nurture and cultivate a child’s natural brilliance and curiosity, there are positive ripple effects throughout every area of life—both for children and their families,” the NSLA adds on its website.

Ron Fairchild, NSLA’s former executive director, provides answers in this video. Fairchild is currently a senior consultant at the Campaign for Grade Level Reading. He says that the pillars of good programs include strong leadership, high-quality teaching, a focus on reading, and “structured nutrition” to ensure that children have summertime access to healthy meals.

In Massachusetts, museums, libraries, community organizations, and schools have a range of summer learning programs that early educators should be sure to share with parents.

For example, every day is a day to learn at the Boston Children’s Museum, but here are a few special summertime events:

• Under the Tent – the museum “expands its programming to the outdoors and the Boston waterfront on Fort Point Channel.”

• National Summer Learning Day Storytime

• Berklee Summer Sessions Concert

In Springfield, Mass., Reading Success by 4^th Grade, a local nonprofit, has released its 2018 Summer Programs Guide a list of local camps and other programs and activities. The guide encourages parents to have their children participate so that children “will be learning while they’re having fun.”

The Boston Public Library has a summer reading program for kids that includes weekly read-ins. Go to the webpage and click on the “And more!” link to access a calendar of events.

The YMCA of the North Shore has a Summer Learning Loss Prevention Program that has served hundreds of local children.

And Boston Public Schools has a summer learning, early education program that we will blog about next week.

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Although summer learning is getting national attention, more advocacy is still needed.

“Funders, policymakers, and community leaders can help schools and local organizations address summer learning loss by supporting strong programs engaging more children in summer learning opportunities,” the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading says on its website.

The campaign notes that:

“Low-income students lose an average of more than two months in reading achievement in the summer, while their middle-income peers tend to make gains in reading.”

And: “By the end of fifth grade, disadvantaged children are nearly three grade equivalents behind their more affluent peers in reading.”

Fortunately, programs can help: “Studies show 6-week summer learning programs can produce statistically significant gains in reading performance.”

So please help get the word out about summer learning.

NSLA has posted a digital toolkit here – and a range of other resources including reading lists and reports are posted here.

“Summer is the most unequal time in America,” Matthew Boulay NSLA’s founder and CEO recently said in a video on summer learning ideas that can be pitched to journalists. “As a nation, we devote enormous resources to our children, as we should. But the vast, vast majority of that support is through the school year and dries up in the summer months. So inequality is exacerbated.”

With the right investments, however, June, July, and August could become a more democratic – and educationally fun – season where all children have the opportunity to achieve meaningful summertime success.