Preventing Your Child’s Summer Academic Slide

Date:
7/2/2009 | 12:00 pm

This Health eTalk will provide parents with tips, strategies and suggestions of how to keep your children's minds active during their summer school break.

Commonly, the first few weeks back to school in the fall is spent re-teaching information forgotten over the summer. The transition from school to summer and then back to school can be difficult for families and may pose special challenges if your child has learning and/or attention problems.

Richard Selznick, Ph.D., Director of the Cooper Learning Center and author of The Shut-Down Learner: Helping Your Academically Discouraged Child, will answer your questions about your young students and provide ideas to engage your children this summer.

My 10 year old only seems to want to play video games. How can I interest him in reading? Do you have any book suggestions? Thanks. Heather from Cherry Hill

7/2/2009 12:04:07 PM

Richard Selznick, Ph.D.: Hi Heather:  I think some of it is linked to the setting.   The home doesn't  often create the right mood.

Get them to the library (or bookstore if you want to shell out the cash).  These places help to create the mood.  Talk to the librarian when you are there.  They are expert in keying in on kid's interest. 

Boys are very tough, in general and having them do reading at home when all of the electronic nonsense is surrounding them becomes a losing battle.  Make it (going to the library and reading there for an hour and a half) a part of your routine. 

If he is into sports the Dan Gutman books are wonderful.  He also writes on a wide range of topics.

Doctor - I read your answer to Heather and I'm wondering what you think of the Harry Potter books for boys that age, and The Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the others written by that author? Joanie from Philadelphia

7/2/2009 12:05:24 PM

Richard Selznick, Ph.D.: I think the Harry Potter books are great.  You just need to make sure that the text can be managed.  You may want to have your son read a couple of pages out loud to you to get a sense as to whether the book is in his ability level.  If is, then go for it.

I haven't read the other book you mentioned, but the title sounds like it would be appealing.

My 10 year old struggles with reading. What tasks should I have him do this summer so he doesn't lose ground? How hard should I push him in the summer? Kevin from Berlin

7/2/2009 12:08:06 PM

Richard Selznick, Ph.D.: Well, Kevin, perhaps your child likes sports...There are many wonderful books that can capture his imagination  I mentioned the Dan Gutman books earlier.  These are great for 10 year olds. 

Why don't you give him credit for each hour to an hour and a half he logs in with reading.  You can keep track of the credit, somewhat like a check book. 

Then at a later date he can cash in his credit for something like staying up late on a Friday night in the fall - something like that.

Change the "state."  Get him out of the house and to the library.  This sets the tone!

Are there any 10 - 15 minute exercises that I can do with my 9th grader. Carla from Mt. Laurel

7/2/2009 12:12:46 PM

Richard Selznick, Ph.D.: Carla:  Yes. there are many books on the market that lend themselves to that format.  You may want to look for a book called "501 Reading Comprehension Questions." 

Also look for "504 Absolutely Essential Words."  Building vocabulary is a wonderful summer (or anytime) activity!

I am a family care provider and have included the summer reading program from Pennsauken public schools into our day. We started working a little each day, about 20-30 minutes. The children mindset are basically, its the summer and I don't want to study, but I believe some skills are LOST during the summer. What ideas do you have do keep them motivated? What can compete with the mindset of just having FUN and sports? (grades lst, 5th and 9th.) Two of the boys are have ADHD. Our goal is to help the 9th grader develop some or more self-control throughout the summer without taking his meds. This is because he is at the max dose and medication for his age and weight/height. (Hoping the medication with still be as effective when he start 9th grade in September.) The 5th grader with ADHD cannot afford to stop taking his medication at all. So we will continue it throughout the summer. Any suggestions for me? Thank you. Joyce from Pennsauken

7/2/2009 12:17:51 PM

Richard Selznick, Ph.D.: Hi Joyce:

The summer and its lack of structure can be difficult to overcome the inherent resistance.  I strongly advocate for kids to have a certain amount of structure, though,  in their day, even in the summer.

You may want to try and make it part of your routine by committing to an hour and a half each morning.  I would also change the "state," meaning the setting.  For example, taking the kids to the library each day at a set time (10 - 10:30), three or four days a week may build in the structure.  That  would be their job, so to speak.  This may help get them into the mindset and routine of learning in the summer. 

Really it's not a lot to ask especially if they are just laying around watching TV or playing video games. 

Be strong! If they whine, and complain, don't be so willing to take them to fun places...it should be "give and take."

I am concerned that my 10 year old never wants to go outside?  While people are concerned about adademics, I am concerned about how he plays and his lack of outside activities. Linda from Haddonfield

7/2/2009 12:20:40 PM

Richard Selznick, Ph.D.: Linda:  This is a concern and it is a major issue across the country. 

There has been a phrase coined, "Nature-Deficit Disorder" and it refers to kids who spend hours with electronics instead of being outside.  See the book, the Last Child in the Woods" about this topic.

I also am including an interesting quote here from www.education.com.

Here you go -

In a recent article in Kappan, Clare Lowell (2008) writes of “videophilia” as the tendency “to focus on sedentary activities involving electronic media” and says this new love object of our kids has “virtually supplanted the need for ‘biophilia,’ or the urge to affiliate with other forms of life” (p. 219). She cites researchers Hofferth and Sandberg (2001), who found that “the proportion of 9-12 year olds who engage in outside activities such as hiking, walking, fishing, beach play, and gardening has declined by 50 percent ...(and) children’s free play time in a typical week has declined by a total of nine hours over a 25-year period” (p. 220). Hofferth and Sandberg state:

“After a full day at a school desk, the American child comes home to spend, on average, three or more sedentary hours in front of some kind of screen. What’s worse, school budgets have slashed physical education programs in cost-cutting moves that have resulted in plummeting participation in daily physical education – down to 25% from 42% 17 years ago”

So, Linda, get themn out of the house! Limit the TV, computer, video, game time. You have to break the habit!

Is there any correlation between how much TV a child watches and their academic development? My daughter loves watching Dora the Explorer, Diego and other "educational" cartoons for a couple hours a day, but I wonder if I should be limiting that her to an hour or less. Any advice would be great. Bill from Pitman

7/2/2009 12:27:05 PM

Richard Selznick, Ph.D.: Bill:

I think anything in moderation is fine.  Certainly, the more passive forms of interaction (e.g., watching TV) are not correlated with increasing academic achievement. 

With that said, we all need a little down time so allowing her to enjoy "Dora" or a couple of other shows for a period each day is fine.

You just have to be careful that it doesn't start to take over and become her primary activity mode (see my other answers above).

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