'The summer slide is real': PPS program helps students fight learning loss
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- As summer break nears an end, students and teachers are preparing to head back to the classroom. And with that preparation comes the concern about learning loss over the summer.
After a few months away from the classroom, just about any teacher will tell you more time is spent reteaching than covering new material. But there are ways to combat the summer slide ahead of the new school year.
"We tell our campers, you know, your brain is a muscle. If you don't use it, you lose it," said Pittsburgh Public School curriculum coach Leslie Mayben.
While everyone looks forward to summer break, researchers suggest that a months-long vacation can potentially have negative effects on students who aren't exercising their minds daily.
"That summer slide is real, it's real -- for all of our students," said Tracy Calhoun, a math academic coach and camp director for Camp Hollywood with Pittsburgh Public Schools' Summer BOOST program.
According to a study by Scholastic, about 20% of students in third through fifth grades lose their gains in reading over the summer and 27% lose their gains in math, making it more difficult when they return for the next school year.
"We're finding that teachers, staff are really trying to get our kids to catch up in the beginning of the school year," Calhoun said. "And that takes a lot of time and it's that repeating that we have to do to get them caught up to remind them of what they've learned before.
Every year, Pittsburgh Public Schools offers a Summer BOOST Program, offering fun and free academic instruction to kids to fight against potential learning loss.
"My DIBEL score went up and I felt like I can read better," said Isaac McCoy, a 10-year-old going into fifth grade.
One way they test their progress is with a DIBELS report and McCoy says since he started camp, his reading has improved.
"I was reading good but I was reading slow and stuff, but I think I made an improvement now," he said.
And 12-year-old Akshaya Damodaran, who is going into seventh grade, says she too believes camp has made a big difference.
"I couldn't write that fast at the beginning of camp but I can write like a whole paper pretty faster," Damodaran said.
While the Summer BOOST Camp has come to an end, organizers say there's still plenty parents can do with their kids to prepare them for the upcoming school year, and it all starts with reading.
"The more they're reading, you know, they're still thinking and those reading skills come in handy for math as well with our word problems and problem solving," Pittsburgh Public Schools fifth grade math teacher Sara Sporrer said.
Or you can practice math as a family by doing something as simple as cooking in the kitchen.
"You're looking at area and perimeter when you're cooking in the kitchen. You know, have your child with you to be able to do some cooking with you then we can always measure using those fractions," Calhoun said.
There are plenty of other ways to fight that summer slide. Researchers encourage parents to use kids' interests to help them focus and find hands on activities like crafting, drawing or even writing a story to help prepare them and keep them in learning mode ahead of the school year.