June 2, 2016

The Benefits of Summer Camp: Avoiding the Summer Slide

As we head towards the last few days of school, you and your child might be discussing how they should spend their summer. Should they take enrichment classes? Is summer camp an option? Maybe they are burnt out from the school year and need to spend some time at home.

Recent studies have shown the increasing importance of active academic and social stimulation throughout  the summer. Researchers have linked an excessive amount of time off during the summer to lower test scores and a gap in a student’s academic knowledge. This phenomenon is typically referred to as the Summer Slide.

What happens during the Summer Slide?

• Children forget fundamental concepts learned from the previous school year. According to research, kids lose an average of 2.6 years of math computational skills over the summer. Studies also show comparable declines in reading and writing skills.
• Nutrition falls by the wayside, as kids consume three more ounces of sugary drinks per day, leading to weight gain.
• Younger students watch an average of twenty minutes more of television during the summer than the school year, while maintaining the same exercise schedule.

How can you prevent the Summer Slide?

• Read to your kids, and have them read to you, every day – Even if it’s the sport’s page, the comics section or the book they are reading on their summer reading list. This activity will increase their knowledge and expand their minds through text. Encourage them to visit their local library and check out their summer reading list or ask your child’s teacher for their school’s summer reading list.
• Prepare healthy food options for your kids – Limit the amount of sweetened beverages they drink and increase the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables they consume. Involve your children in food preparation to get them enthusiastic about healthy eating.
• Social activities – Sign them up for a summer camp, or an enrichment activity that engages them with other children.
• Make an effort to get your kids to exercise for at least 30-60 minutes per day, through morning or afternoon walks, bike rides, summer sports teams, or daily trips to the park.
• Use technology such as ebooks and mobile applications to make their summer learning interactive.

How Ivy Kids Prevents the Summer Slide

Ivy Kids understands the importance of summer education as it relates to your child’s academic and social development. With the idea of preventing a Summer Slide in mind, we’ve developed eleven themed Summer camps that are filled with reading, writing, science and math activities, and engaging field trips. Our camps also focus reversing the knowledge deficiency that takes place over the summer by providing school preparedness in math and writing.

Our summer camps cater to all children with various interests. Your kids can discover their inner Paleontologist during Dinosaur Camp, learn how to cook a scrumptious Sunday night family dinner dish at Bon Appetit Camp, and channel their inner Olympian (while getting plenty of physical activity) at our Olympics Camp… just in time for the Rio Olympics. There’s even a Back to The Future Art camp for the next  Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerbergs of the world who love anything tech-related.

The learning never stops at Ivy Kids. We understand that development truly begins at a young age, and our preschool and camps are designed to help spur that among our camp-goers.

The stakes are high for your child’s intellectual and physical growth! Do you want to give your child an advantage their development by investing in summer camp and wiping out the Summer Slide? Contact us today for help on which summer camp will be best for your child.