Summer is everyone’s favorite season of the year. Students grab their backpacks and rush out the door as soon as the last school bell rings, leaving behind all thoughts of dangling tenses, quadratic equations, and compounded adverbs. So, what happens after that? Sometimes it is summer reading activities, other times summer camps. More often than not, it involves a lot of screen time, video games, social media, hanging out with friends, and avoiding anything that resembles a book.

After you have had some time to unwind, you should attempt something new this summer to refresh your mind. This will boost learning by causing additional neural pathways to grow in your brain. Summer can also be used to help level the playing field by providing high-quality summer learning programs that have been shown to improve math, reading, and social and emotional skills.

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Why Is Summer Learning Necessary?

When the data is evaluated, it becomes obvious that summer learning programs should not be viewed as a luxury or something to do when there is nothing else to do. Summer learning, whether at a camp, a charter school, or a traditional high school, has a significant impact on student’s academic and social-emotional development. It gives structure to children's summer activities, increasing their chances of remaining involved, focused, and out of trouble. It also allows individuals to maintain their academic skills and, in certain situations, allows them to advance.

One of the best aspects of summer study is that children can go at their own tempo, with less pressure, and concentrate on one subject at a time. This type of environment is perfect for rekindling youngsters' motivation to learn. It allows students to learn at their own pace, boosting their confidence and making them feel more prepared for the start of the next school year—getting them ready to succeed right away! Students who do not experience the summer learning gap are significantly more likely to maintain with their peers.

Summer learning programs that achieve the highest levels of student success include the following three elements:

1. Classes are kept small
2. Instruction tailored to the individual
3. Involvement of parents

Tools and Resources That Come Handy

Summer learning is especially important to help children accelerate and restore ground lost over the previous months. It's not too late. Even a short summer program can assist students to get ready for the upcoming school year.

To avoid summer learning loss, check out the following tools and resources:

1. Texas Instruments has formed a STEM Squad to keep kids learning over the summer. Texas Instrument’s STEM team will tour school campuses around the country from now until September, offering project-based learning activities that make essential STEM topics applicable in real-world, meaningful ways. Throughout the summer, Texas Instruments will also provide live, virtual field trips to encourage even more children to get involved in STEM.
   
   
2. The Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge began on May 7 and will end on September 7, 2018. Students can log their reading minutes online to receive digital prizes as they complete weekly reading challenges and obtain access to 18 reading activities (one per week) based on the Harry Potter series, including games, quizzes, and videos. The challenge is free, and it can be completed online or on a mobile device.
3. Casio America Inc. recommends youngsters avoid the "summer slump" by using ClassPad.net to sharpen their mathematical skills. Casio's ClassPad.net is an all-in-one web-based mathematics resource designed for K-12 mathematics and beyond, designed as digital scratch paper.
   
   
4. JAM offers a variety of kid-friendly online courses at affordable rates. Students get access to a large library of uplifting films and creative projects, and parents can track their progress on the ad-free and bully-free site.
   
   
5. Summer activities for differently-abled kids begin with new sensory exercises that can assist improve sensory processing while also reducing stress. Furthermore, activities are necessary for children on the autism spectrum to strengthen their social and physical abilities. Parents can use the Otsimo Child app to play educational activities with their children to help them learn and grow. They will be able to choose from a variety of games and will have access to traceable progress as well as new games that are added weekly.
   
   
6. The list of online summer camps maintained by Common Sense Media can assist parents in finding fun and educational activities for their children. Check to see if the online camps are still functioning since the list was produced in May 2017.
   
   
7. ORIGO Education's math education experts have put up a list of activities and tools that parents can perform with their young children. Students can lose an average of 2.6 months of learning in mathematics class. Child-friendly cooking recipes, for example, can help to reinforce volume and measuring abilities. Hopscotch games can include addition and multiple counting.
   
   
8. Participants are invited to model or create solar-powered systems and submit their ideas for admission into the Virtual Solar Grid during the Solar Energy Design Challenge, which runs from June 1 to July 31. Participants in the contest will have free access to Energy3D, a computer-aided design simulation tool that can be used to model existing solar energy systems or create new ones. Contestants can pick among public buildings, schools, parking lots, utility-scale solar farms, and any other suitable location.

Make the Most of Your Summer Learning

Students should begin by determining who would most benefit from a summer program. Students are eager to interact with and learn with their friends. Allow students to attend in person as much as possible when designing summer programs, build activities that combine academics and play while following health guidelines, and assist students in taking a vacation from screens.

Educators frequently tell us that the freedom and liberty they enjoy during summer learning allows them to be more creative or focus on certain topics. While it is always important to ensure that instruction is connected with course objectives and curriculum, this does not exclude us from making learning enjoyable or applying it to real-life situations. Students will be more engaged and their learning will be more relevant.

Vnaya is one of the leading online tutoring websites that offers various interactive summer courses and camps. It also helps in preparing well for many tests and other activities mentioned above. Happy Summers!