Summer "PRIDE" Program 

Summer Program Aims to Stop Summer Slide

Entering its thirteenth year, the Scholastic Summer Challenge is again tackling the dreaded “summer slide.”

The free program encourages students to track their reading minutes during the summer while teachers and parents work together to promote independent reading. Experts say independent reading is effective in preventing the loss of student academic skills known as the “summer slide.”

Those same experts estimate that when students don’t read over the summer, teachers typically need four to six weeks in the fall to reteach material students have forgotten.

The Scholastic Summer Challenge is all about making reading fun for kid’s weekly challenges, fun sweepstakes, virtual prizes and a chance to be in the Scholastic Book of World Records for the most reading minutes. Kids love to compete for anything, so the fact that they can participate in personal reading challenges and collect virtual rewards in their prize center is motivating, fun, and rewarding at the same time. (Reprinted from EDUCATION WORLD)

This is just one example of a program the summer PRIDE program will be using. As the Title 1 para here at Twin Bridges, I look at the data from the MAPS testing from the spring to the fall of the next year. A large majority of our students do experience the “summer slide.” Their test scores in reading and math are better the previous spring than when they come back in the fall. As a teacher, we have to reteach so much in the fall that children have not retained over the summer.

This summer I have built in daily reading and math blocks everyday (Monday-Thursday). In hopes of offsetting some of this loss. I know kids complain that it is summer and they need a break. Each subject is only a half hour each day though and PRIDE will be 5 hours every day. There will be plenty of times for meals, outdoor play, games, and STEAM(Science,Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) activities. We also have fun field trips and swimming planned. Through the 21^st Century Community Learning Center grant, there is no cost to families. I encourage you to sign up your child. Attendance isn’t mandatory when signing up. Families can use the program as often as necessary to work around summer schedules. Our first day will be Monday June 10 at 8 A.M. We have three weeks in June and take the first week in July off. We resume July 8, and finish July 25.

Everyone have a safe and wonderful summer!

Miss Mel