In Taking Summer Seriously, the Packard Foundation examines a growing trend in California to improve access to high-quality learning after 3 p.m. and in the summer.
As part of the Summer Matters campaign, schools across California are building new models of summer enrichment programs designed to engage kids in a more hands-on way. Advocates say these expanded learning options are vital for low-income children at risk of falling further behind.Learn about the latest research and hear from school administrators, educators, parents and the students themselves about how these new models are making a difference for California's children on the Packard Foundation's website.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Summer Learning -- even after 3 pm.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
How the Summer Matters campaign is changing the course of “Expanded Learning” in California.
Barbara Ray, Sarah Jackson
During his first few years of elementary school, Miguel Mena spent his summers mostly on the couch. A shy kid growing up just southeast of Los Angeles, he would watch TV or play video games with his little brothers. His great-grandmother cared for the boys while their parents worked, but taking active young kids to the park or a museum was often more than she could handle.
Things changed dramatically in third grade when Miguel’s mother, Victoria Rios, heard about the Whittier City School District summer program.
Whittier was no typical remedial summer school with worksheets and worn textbooks. Miguel and his friends spent their days reenacting scenes from science fiction books, working on group projects, or leading hands-on lessons for their peers.
Summer school at Whittier is part of a trend in California to improve access to high-quality learning when children are traditionally out of school (after 3 p.m. and in the summer). Advocates say these “expanded learning” options are vital for low-income children at risk of falling behind.
Summer school back in the day “was more like tutoring,” says Becky Schultz, Whittier’s director of expanded learning. “And it really didn’t work, sitting there all day long in a math class. It’s really changed now, and I hope we never go back.”
Unlike some of his peers in neighboring districts, who saw summer school as a punishment for poor performance, filled with vocabulary quizzes and math worksheets, Miguel came home talking about books and begging his mother to make the healthy meals he had learned about in cooking and gardening. He didn’t want to miss a single day.
…awareness of the importance of high-quality summer learning is growing.
“We’re trying to create an opportunity for kids that falls in between the boring remediation model of summer school and the kick-up-your-heels fun and carefreeness of a summer camp,” says Katie Brackenridge, senior director for expanded learning initiatives at the Partnership for Children & Youth, an Oakland-based nonprofit that advocates for afterschool and summer programs. “It’s that sweet spot—called summer learning—where they’re having a great time and at the same time they’re intentionally learning something through those activities.”
The Whittier program was part of 12 communities whose new programming was supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation under the Summer Matters campaign. Thanks to Summer Matters and advocates around the state like Brackenridge, awareness of the importance of high-quality summer learning is growing. Districts in California are experimenting with summer school models designed to engage kids in a more hands-on way
And Victoria Rios says the approach works. Miguel “was a little shy and wouldn’t open himself up to teachers if he had a problem,” she says. “Now I see so much confidence. His grades started going up.”
full article above...
Post a Comment