Is Your Child Ready for the New School Year?
Have you heard of the “summer slide”?
As the school bell rings for the last time in June, and children rush out of their classrooms they are filled with glee as they are finally free from the grasps of school, and homework. No more pencils, no more books, just fun!
But studies show that the two months of summer break they so desperately longed for may actually be a setback for their educational future. This phenomenon is known as the “summer slide”.
Over summer vacation our focus shifts from learning to fun, and so the progress students have made on skills like reading, writing and math may start to suffer. When children go back to school in the fall, they will need to play catch up to sharpen those skills again.
As a caring adult, you are your child’s first and best teacher and luckily, it does not take a lot to keep those young minds active and learning. Reading aloud, writing grocery lists, counting change, cooking a recipe together or taking a discovery walk as a family can spark memorable conversations that can fill your child with wonder—and if you do it right, your child won’t even know they are learning!
School started this week, are you ready?
If you slid down the slide this year, don’t panic. The library is a great resource for fun-filled learning all year round. Many branches offer author visits, art and writing workshops, LEGO clubs, STEM and robotics programs to help keep those young minds sharp and engaged. Check out the Kids & Families page to see what's happening at your branch throughout the school year.
Here are some books to keep your child learning for fun all year long:
The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman
Clara Humble: Quiz Whiz by Anna Humphrey
What Do You Do with an Idea? by Kobi Yamada
Small Wonders by Jean-Henri Fabre & His World of Insects by Matthew Clark Smith
The Incredible Magic of Being by Kathryn Erskine
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