5 ways to make the summer count for students

For students, summer break often feels fleeting. In what seems like minutes, sunshine and freedom are quickly replaced by books and backpacks once again. 

However, if you are a parent trying to engage your child for the summer, these same two months are anything but fleeting as you balance planning for your child with other obligations. 

And if you are a school or district leader in 2021? Summer offers two months to reignite a love of learning in students and support unfinished learning through acceleration or remediation. You also face questions about how to best help staff and students return to school after a tumultuous year.

Whether you’re working to engage kids at home, or planning for how to engage them in school, we’ve rounded up tips for schools and parents to make the summer of 2021 one that your students remember.

Schools: Focus programs on the future, not the past. Our kids are listening and internalizing phrases like “learning loss.” For some, the topic is stressful to think about. It brings up questions like, “Will I still succeed this year?” “What did I miss and did the other students in my class miss it, too?” For others it might be an excuse, “I didn’t learn it last year so I don’t even need to try this year.” 

Frame these as a way to support students in their next grade, rather than a scramble to make up for unfinished learning from this past year.