Summer learning loss

[Kungfupanda67]

Inspired by another thread where I’ve just read about the idea of summer learning loss, which I’ve never heard about before.

My son is going into year 2 and before summer holidays we had a meeting in which the head of yr2 asked us to not let them not do any learning over the summer, so make sure they’re reading and writing and doing some maths. My son’s done what he wants, I’m lucky in that he likes reading and doing puzzle books and playing cards and things.

What does everyone else think about summer learning? Do you plan in learning opportunities or do you just take them out, let them play and assume they’re going to learn something?

So AIBU to have never heard of the summer learning loss and not really do anything about it?

It's a real phenomenon. I get DD doing the library reading challenge and she has some education apps on her tablet (I work in elearning so she gets lots for free!) but I don't push anything. At the end of the day I want her to enjoy learning, not feel like it's something boring mums make you do

Forgot to add, while I was reading about it it seems to be assumed that middle class parents will give their children lots of chances to learn stuff whereas already disadvantaged students won’t get the same opportunities so it’s widening the gap even more. What learning opportunities are middle classes giving their children that others aren’t/can’t, is there anything that can be done about it?

I think it creates a culture in which children get the sense that there is no ‘downtime’ or that you will slip backwards if you stop. I’m not sure in terms of mental health wellbeing that that’s actually healthy.

I’d also be interested to know how other interventions would impact such as resourcing schools better so they can have smaller classes or more learning support to provide differentiated learning.

Also it’s highly likely to be an intervention that the well educated parents who already do the value added stuff anyway, are more likely to implement so it’s not going to close the gap.

While there is some learning loss over the summer I think it only takes a couple weeks for the kids to get back in the swing of things. English summer holidays are quite short (it was closer to 11 weeks for me). I don’t worry about it at all.
As for middle classes - not sure what that refers to as it doesn’t cost money to read to/with your child or engage in a few math exercises. Maybe that they are ambitious for their kids and will therefore make sure their kids do some work over the summer? Take them to more things like museums? On holidays abroad? I don’t know. My kids go to a private school I don’t think any of the other parents do more than encourage reading.

Also it’s highly likely to be an intervention that the well educated parents who already do the value added stuff anyway, are more likely to implement so it’s not going to close the gap.

I thought this too - I probably fall in the middle class camp, but my kids ‘learning opportunities’ have been library visits, country park trails, board games, card games, cooking etc. So mostly free or nearly free stuff, so I don’t think it’s a cost barrier. And if it’s not a cost barrier, then if they did put an initiative in place the only ones who would access it are the people who are doing all the right things already.

It is much more of an issue in the US and Ireland - where they have much longer holidays.

What is a real issue with the most socially deprived groups in England - is the real struggle of the summer holidays - with no School Lunches or Breakfasts. Add to that possible issues with proper child care whilst parents desperately try to work enough hours to bring in enough money, then there can be a loss of performance and learning over the summer.

@Pipandmum presumably because class isn’t just about money - middle class more likely to value reading etc so more like to have it as part of their day to day lives

@MollyButton do schools do free breakfasts? I know lots of children who are entitled to free school meals and none have struggled enough to not be able to buy a bag of potatoes and a multipack of beans for jacket potatoes. I’m not saying there aren’t people who are struggling that much, just that I’m not sure it’s as widespread as the news makes out at this time of year.

Yep, this is a very real phenomenon.

I make mine do the summer reading challenge and we have had a bedtime story every night since they were born anyway. When they have iPad time I ask them to spend 10 mins on educational apps such as Duolingo and DK times tables. They do 10 mins of workbooks every weekday. We also visit lots of museums, historical sites and art galleries.

Luckily for me they enjoy all of this so I’m not forcing them to do something they dislike.

My kids are doing 10 mins maths sheets and 10 mins English sheets a day. I don’t think 20 mins in an entire day is much to ask!

@whattodowith would you still make them if they didn’t want to? The work sheets and things?

do schools do free breakfasts?
A lot of schools in the most deprived areas work with schools (and Kellogg I think) to provide this. Even in my often considered wealthy town I know at least one school in the "most deprived" area which does this.
And I'm talking about the kinds of families who rely on Food banks (my town has 3 or 4 food banks).

The thing is the ones who really can’t afford are not likely to discuss it with other parents who can. The uptake of food bank usage is a proven fact- how are those families meant to make things stretch even further than they already are?
And those with lower paid jobs may be working and unable to prioritise creating learning opportunities for their children in the summer. It may have nothing at all to do with how ambitious they are for them, do you see what I mean?

My kids do a lot of music and DS1 is very serious about his music so the music ramps up over the summer. He could easily be practising 3-4 hours a day. The rest of the time is for fun, swimming, cricket etc. But I make sure they read a lot and are read to, we sometimes do a project over the summer together on a topic of interest (current one is on London 2012 Olympics), and yes they do 20 mins of some worksheet straight after breakfast. It’s built into their routine so there has never been any fuss. I sit down with my laptop, they work, I work, I then leave for work, and usually over the summer I come back early 3 days a week so we can go to the park or swimming then. Surely it’s about balance.
For his music, for DS1 summer is where he can really consolidate, put in longer hours and learn a wider repertoire. As soon as that is done, he’s outside with his brother kicking or hitting a ball. And yes we do the usual museums, galleries, kids theatre week in London, Proms.

I think middle class parents are more likely to read to their kids, let them watch less TV, museum trips, asking questions like how much change there will be at the shop etc, I knew about the phenomenon but thought it was this rather than more formal 'sit down at the table and so some spelling / sums'.

Mine have spent half the holidays at various grandparents - not even here! (Grandparents live a long way away so don't get to see them much in term time)

My one going into year 2 is absolutely knackered and really just needs the downtime - so I've left everything at the level of if they initiate something themselves I'll help them but I'm not going to push it - as a result they've decided to write stories, make endless registers for their classes of playmobil children and award certificates for the classes - which is all the writing work that DD2 desperately needs to do... but since she was getting very distressed about writing in the middle of Y1 (she has dyspraxia and increasingly uses an iPad to type longer passages of work to try to keep her engaged and enthusiastic about school) I'm not going to force the issue and make it a "thing" again. Both read avidly through choice - I just keep providing the books for 'em.

Think the one thing I did push was watching the new Numberblocks... because I wanted to see them basically!

This generation of kids have the most horrendously crammed school curriculum and academic expectations going, assessments out of the eyeballs and are generally overscheduled and micromanaged to fuck - so I'm quite happy for mine to bake, chill out, read through choice and then go to their grandparents who've taken them to beaches, book shops (one grandmother is the queen of free activities), build dens in the woodland part of one grandparents' house, go walking up hills and see dinosaur footprints, go fishing and everything else they've got up to - times tables and chugging through reading schemes can take a few weeks off - mine need the social skills and wider opportunities to expand their little bubble more.

My sil is a teacher and her school changed the book list policy about 3 years ago, to only give it out almost end of August, with them supplying most of the texts in class as they found there was a distinct group who my sil would describe as always the middle class families, arrived back in September having already read and in case of workbooks completed some work with mummy at home. Leaving sil with a group of very bored kids who had to wait till others did the work.

DS goes into Y6 in September and sits the entrance exam for his senior school after Christmas. He came home with a HUGE pack of work to do over the holidays, historic maths, English, verbal and non-verbal reasoning papers, as well has having to do a summer reading challenge.

This is a lot more than previous years but school always set one or two projects to do over the holidays, I think it's good to keep them 'ticking over'.

Personally I think breaks actually help the brain to organise what they have learnt so far. They might need s quick refresh when term starts but I think the break benefits them more than lots of extra learning. I home Ed though so my philosophies won’t match a lot on here.

I think it is actually ok to go up and down during life and this is a good example. You practice, you get better, you stop practicing, your performance declines, you pick it up again, you get better.

Ie it is fine to take a break, life is to be enjoyed along the way. Not to finish schooling and then enjoy yourself.

My ds is going into year 1 and his school sent a letter home (to every year group)on the last day of term saying no homework has been set, that kids should play, run about, read and have a nice holiday. So we've done that! As ds is so young I was worried he might just forget how to write but he wrote a comic yesterday and he seems no better or worse than 5 weeks ago tbh!

I think it's hard to learn to read, write, add and spell so little and often is ideal. Having said that, my DD is extremely resistant to doing any of the holiday work set by her school. She's 6 though! I have made her read a short book a week and have done sneaky literacy - games, lists, fortune tellers etc.

I do set my year 12 A-level students holiday work as they can certainly go backwards in a new subject in 2 months.