Learning through play – how to fight the Summer Slide
Happy National Summer Learning Day! Keeping brains sharp and curious over the summer helps kids stay on track for a successful school year each fall.
Summer learning loss is a reality on a national scale. Studies show that youth who are not exposed to educational enrichment during non-school summer months may experience up to 22% of learning loss. This means that during just one summer, a student who is not engaged may lose a fifth of what they learned the previous school year. These trends are even worse for students from underserved communities-resulting in a disparity known as the achievement gap.
Every summer, Boys and Girls Clubs of the Portland Metro helps fight summer learning loss before it starts by striving to ensure all youth have equal opportunities to learn and grow year-round.
This year, more than 2,300 kids will enroll in horizon-broadening BGCP summer programs. Over the summer at Clubs, kids thrive in a safe environment with hands-on experiences and academic support, fostering exploration and growth.
BGCP summer programing makes a difference. Over the past two summers, the majority of kids in our programs not only avoided summer learning loss, but they headed back to school with a 1 to 2% achievement gain!
“Summer Brain Gain gives kids a positive environment to learn for a portion of the day and then they can go outside, around the gym, and be active and use what they learn to play games. Whether they know it or not, they’re learning while they’re playing. It’s really helping them retain knowledge during the summer and it’s making them way more prepared for school.”
-Rubi, Summer Brain Gain lead staff at Wattles Club
Help kids in our region fight the summer slide. Together we can make an impactful and enriching summer for kids and teens in Portland. Here’s how you can help:
- Celebrate on social media. Join our Thunderclap to raise awareness about summer learning. Post on social media using our hashtags #learn365 #keepkidslearning and #smartersummer.
- Share academic resources. Take a look at Summer Learning’s resource guides to find activities to help bolster learning at home!
- Support our Summer Programs! Give $50 to send a kid to a summer camp at the Club or $25 to support a kid throughout the entire year with an annual membership to Boys & Girls Club of Portland.
